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Get a Literary Agent
by Fern Reiss, CEO, PublishingGame.com
Finding a
literary agent for your book can be extremely challenging— or
it can be a piece of cake. And you can get a literary agent
even after you’ve self-published. In fact, that might
make it easier. Here’s how:
Keep in mind that in today’s publishing world,
marketing is more important than ever. You might have
the perfect manuscript—but without a strong marketing
plan, it’s unlikely to be saleable. A mediocre
manuscript with a stellar marketing plan has a better
chance of being published than a great manuscript with
no marketing plan. So make sure you submit a well thought-out
marketing plan along with your proposal. (The Publishing
Game: Bestseller in 30 Days provides hundreds of marketing
ideas for your plan.)
Remember that attracting a live agent is like engaging
in a mating ritual. Move too fast and you come across
as pushy and undesirable. Move too slowly and you risk
being overlooked because you’ve been too modest.
Imagine yourself on a first date: Divulge enough to be
interesting, but not so much that you bore. Send the
agent just a one-page pitch letter to start with. If
they express interest, send a proposal (with marketing
plan!) Only if they are still interested, send them the
complete manuscript.) (Details on exactly what to send
agents, sample pitch letters and proposals, and complete
contact information for more than 300 agents can be found
in The Publishing Game: Find an Agent in 30 Days.
If you’re finding it difficult to get an agent,
consider self-publishing first. Then, once you have strong
book sales figures, you can reapproach agents with better
ammunition. Here again, the importance of an aggressive
marketing plan is clear. If you’ve sold 5,000 or
10,000 copies of your self-published book, agents and
big publishers will be much more interested in discussing
acquiring the book—because you’ve shown a
track record. (See The Publishing Game: Publish a
Book in 30 Days for more details on how to self-publish.)
If you can demonstrate strong bookstore and library sales
for your title—and the ability to do sustained
publicity—you will be an attractive property for
agents.
How do you actually land an agent? The best way to make
the initial contact, if at all possible, is in person.
See if you can’t get an introduction from a friend
or professional acquaintance. Or go to a writing conference
where writers are always cruising for new authors—Shawguides.com
has a good listing. Or read “Hot Deals” in
Publisher’s Weekly magazine to get names of agents
who’ve brokered recent sales.
And good luck!
Fern Reiss is CEO of PublishingGame.com (www.PublishingGame.com) and Expertizing.com (www.Expertizing.com) and the author of the books, The Publishing Game: Find an Agent in 30 Days, The Publishing Game: Bestseller in 30 Days, and The Publishing Game: Publish a Book in 30 Days as well as several other award-winning books. She is also the Director of the International Association of Writers (www.AssociationofWriters.com) providing publicity vehicles to writers worldwide. She also runs The Expertizing® Publicity Forum where you can pitch your book or business directly to journalists; more information at www.Expertizing.com/forum.htm. Sign up for her complimentary newsletter at www.PublishingGame.com/signup.htm.
Copyright © 2011 Fern Reiss
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