How To Get An Agent

I recently went to a ‘working with words’ careers conference during which there was a talk on how to get an agent. It was a rather depressing talk, consisting of horrifying statistics and assurances that most of us wouldn’t get representation and, even if we did, we might still not get published. But that’s why it’s so important to give yourself the best chance possible. So here’s the advice we were given:

1.       Follow the submission guidelines – Agents get hundreds of submissions across their desks weekly so, if they receive one that doesn’t follow the submission guidelines, they’re likely to chuck it in the bin. So go onto the agency’s website and look up their submission guidelines before you send in your manuscript.

2.       Have an entire manuscript ready – When you submit to an agency, you’ll probably send in a couple of chapters from your novel. If the agent likes you, they’ll ask for the rest of your manuscript. So have one ready to send them. If they have to wait a year for you to complete your book, they’ll probably have forgotten who you are by the time they receive it.

3.       Make sure your manuscript is as good as it can be – make sure you’re 100% happy with your manuscript before you send it. There’s no sense in rushing to submit prematurely when, in a year’s time, it might get more notice because it’s more polished.

4.       Don’t harass the agent – Again, agents get hundreds of submissions constantly coming in so it might take a while for them to get round to reading your manuscript, if they ever do. Don’t send emails asking why they haven’t read it yet. They won’t appreciate being hounded. Which leads me onto my next point…

5.       Be polite and professional – Agents know each other and they talk. If you’re rude to one, none of the others will want to work with you. If you’re polite and professional, even if that agent doesn’t end up representing you, other agents will know you’re easy to work with.

6.       If your manuscript is requested by one agency, inform the other agencies that you’ve submitted to – not only is this common courtesy but it’ll also put your manuscript to the top of the pile in other agencies because they’ll know you’re in demand.

7.       Lastly, use your contacts – If you can, try to contact an agent directly. If you have a friend who has representation, ask them for their agent’s phone number and for a recommendation. This isn’t possible for everyone but it’s usually better to try to avoid having your work end up in the slush pile. A lot of slush pile manuscripts do get representation, but a lot of slush pile manuscripts don’t get read at all.

I hope this will someday be helpful to you all. Best of luck and thanks for reading.