April 22nd, 2008 by zen2008

How do I find an agent?

Once you’ve written your book–and polished and edited and reworked it until it’s as good as you think it can possibly be, you’re ready to look for an agent. With publishers and agents being inundated with thousands manuscripts and proposals every month, you need to do everything you can to stand out from the pack. Writing a great book is the easiest way to do this, but first and foremost you’ll need to write a great cover letter that will entice an agent into reading your book.

A good one-page query letter should accomplish the following:

1) Give a brief (one or two paragraphs at most) synopsis of your book.
2) Give an idea of the target audience for your book.
3) Give a brief biographical sketch of the author, including any information pertinent to your book.

Now let’s look at these one by one.

1) Give a brief (one or two paragraphs at most) synopsis of your book.

Nobody says it’s easy to sum up a 400 page novel in a couple of paragraphs, but agents don’t expect you to do that. What they do expect you to do is whet their appetite to read more. A good way to plan out your synopsis is to read the dust jackets and back covers of other books to see what works and what doesn’t. Cover copy works in the same way as your query letter: both are basically teasers whose #1 goal is to get the customer to go from reading the copy to reading the book.

As important as this is to stay faithful to the agent in question’s submission guidelines. If they ask for a one-page query, don’t send a three pager. This immediately sends up a warning signal that you feel you don’t have to play by the rules. When you’re Stephen King you can try rewriting some of the rules, but as an aspiring author you’re doing your work a disservice by thumbing your nose at people who could potentially be your representative and business partner. Hey, if you were interviewing someone for a job and they showed up with a mustard stained t-shirt, uncombed hair and smelling like beer, would you pick this dweeb over the dozens of other applicants who bothered to show up prepared?

2) Give an idea of the target audience for your book.

If you’re looking for an agent, you’re looking to be a professional writer. Which means that most likely the work you’ve written will be read and enjoyed (hopefully!) by readers. But who are those readers? Did you write a spy thriller that will appeal to fans of Gayle Lynds? A hardboiled P.I. novel that will get Michael Connelly lovers to embrace your stuff? Literary

fiction that you hope will give NBA winners a run for their money? Whatever your book, there is an audience for it. What agents–and eventually publishers–want to know is:

a) who is this target audience?
b) how big is the audience?

The more specific you can be the better. If you’ve written a blood-soaked crime story that will make Martin Scorsese cover his eyes, don’t say your work will appeal to fans of Lisa Scottoline. If you’ve written a humorous novel about a wacky family growing up in the burbs, don’t say reader of “The Onion” will flock to it. And never ever slag your peers. Don’t say, “My books is a million times better than THE DA VINCI CODE” or “I put Joan Didion to shame.” First off, no you don’t. Second of all, you have no right to have that kind of ego. Very few people do. Humility gets you into the game, confidence makes you stick around.

3) Give a brief biographical sketch of the author, including any information pertinent to your book.

If you’ve written a medical thriller, wouldn’t an agent love to know that you yourself are a licensed physician and therefore give your books a sense of authenticity that is unmatched? Or that you used to be a writer for Letterman and have the background to give your comic novel that extra zing? Or that you’ve been published in some respected literary journals and are now trying your hand at a novel? You’re darn right they would.

Of course you don’t have to be a doctor, comedian or published author to land an agent. But any biographical information that helps you stand out from the pack will work to your advantage.

One thing to stay away from, DO NOT say how much your mother/wife/husband/optometrist/golf buddy loved your book. Everybody’s mother will love their book. Rave reviews from unbiased parties are worth infinitely more than from friends and relatives. If you happen to have gotten a nice advance blurb from a respected author, include it. If you happened to share your novel with a local bookseller and he/she liked it, mention that. But a blurb from Uncle Morty will not open up those pearly gates.

One more tip: Proofread. Go over your query with the same fine-toothed comb you did your manuscript. Make sure everything is spelled right , make sure the agent’s name and address are correct, and make sure you conform to whatever their query guidelines are.

Resources

I find that Publishers Marketplace is the most helpful site when it comes to finding an agent. It lists every book deal since 2001, and has a database searchable by genre, publisher, agent, and keyword. It will cost you a few bucks to sign up, but a few bucks is pocket change if it means finding the agent who can change your life.