Finding a Literary Agent

The best and most professional way to sell your book to a publishing company is through a literary agent. In fact, some publishing companies won’t accept unsolicited book proposals or manuscripts.

Are you seeking a literary agent to represent your book? This is easy to do but be wary of any agents who try to charge for representation. This is unethical. Any professional agent should agree to represent you by charging a 15% fee if they sell your book to a publisher. Charing for minimal costs such as copies, mailings, etc. is okay but try to set a ceiling amount of perhaps $250 and require that the agent receive your permission to spend more.

Locating literary agents is possible through the following: Publishers Lunch.com, where news and views about the publishing industry are posted every day and sent to subscribers through email. The cost is only $20 per month and you may see not only current news about what is occuring in the publishing industry, but every deal that is done on a daily basis. You will learn the name of the book, a bit about it and the author, the agent who sold the book, and the publishing company editor who bought it. Also, there is a link to “dealmakers” that provides information on agents and editors. Very, very helpful resource.

Other ways to discover literary agents include the Association of Author Representatives (AAR) page where legitimate and professional agents are listed, Writer’s Digest.com and the publications – Writer’s Market, Poet’s Market, Christian Writer’s Market, The Guide to LIterary Agents,  and Writer’s and Poet’s magazine.

Also, perusing the USA Today Thursday book page is helpful as is the New York Times Book Review. Looking to see what the bestselling books are and then checking the Acknowledgments section of the book provides a good way to locate a literary agent who may interested in your book.

And, finally, writer’s conferences are a terrific way to meet literary agents. They are held year round and you can find them by typing in “writers conferences” at Google or Yahoo.

Remember, literary agents cannot make a living without selling books and the only way they may sell books is if they have authors to write them. So they need you, and most are accessible through their websites where they provide information about the agency and guidelines for submissions. Requirements vary but usually what is requested is a well, written informative query letter and/or a book proposal. If there is interest, then the manuscript may be submitted.

Above all, never forget that it only takes one literary agent to say yes to representation, and one editor to say yes to publication. Never give up even when rejection occurs, and keep the faith since you never know when a miracle might be right around the corner.