Choosing and Finding an Agent

Tracy asked, "How can I find an agent?"

First, you should know that BEFORE seeking an agent, you should have an idea of what you're looking for. Different types of personalities require different types of agents. Some authors need a contracts manager, some need a career counselor, some need an editorial type, etc. If you haven't explored your own strengths and weaknesses a bit, if you don't know what sort of person you'd partner well with in a business relationship, and if you don't know what you actually need in a literary agent, I suggest spending time researching those issues.

Second, go into this with your eyes open. Be aware that there are no requirements to call yourself a literary agent -- so I've seen complete dipsticks try to pawn themselves off as agents. And...it's not like I can name then on a web site, since I'd quickly find my derriere in a sling. But don't take someone's word that they're good just because they say so. Check out their reputation. Learn to ask good questions (like "who do you represent?' and "what books have you contracted in the past year?" and "who did you contract those books with?").

Third, you can find lists of agents in books like the Writers Digest Guide to Literary Agents. (There are numerous others -- check on Amazon.com or go to any big bookstores and look in the "writing reference" section.) Sally Stuart's Christian Writers Market Guide has a list of agents who focus on the CBA. Some other organizations (such as the Writers Information Network) post a list of "approved" agents.

Fourth, you can search some of the helpful web sites, including some that name names on the real stinkers (such as Writer Beware and Predators and Editors).

Fifth, if you subscribe to Publishers Lunch and Publishers Marketplace (and if you're planning a career in writing, you should consider doing so, just to keep tabs on the industry), you'll find a database of all the announced publishing deals for the last several years. That would allow you to see WHO has represented WHAT.

Sixth, to be fair to some of the CBA types, they haven't always participated in Pub-Mar, so perhaps all their deals won't be listed. I was doing deals for years, but it wasn't until I had a book hit #1 on the New York Times Bestseller list that some of the agency watchdog people bothered to even list my name.

Seventh, be aware that some are NOT members or fans of the national literary agent organizations. Those organizations have had a tendency to be slightly to the left of Ralph Nader, so unless you endorse every nutcase liberal cause, you may not be a fit. (I, for example, can't ascribe to the divinity of Hillary Clinton.) However, I'm a member of AAR (The Association of Author Representatives) because I think it's important to show people in the industry that I'm part of the only self-governing body for agents in publishing. 

Last, I want to encourage you to listen to the wisdom being shared by some of your fellow writers -- the BEST way to find an agent is to go meet some. You wouldn't normally pick a lawyer or a doctor or a realtor out of a book. Don't rely on that method to find yourself a good business partner in your publishing career.

Comments

[Sharon A Lavy]

And in the meantime keep polishing your work.

Thanks Chip.

[Cherie]

Oh Chip, Chip, Chip -- If it were only so easy and if only the author had any real control. I have a killer concept, a great query (really) and sample pages that grab. How do I know? Because agents who have read partials and the full have told me so. An agent I'd offer my firstborn to told me she had no doubt I would find an agent for the ms, that there was nothing she'd change about it, and that she expected it to sell, but that in the end it wasn't quite the genre she was looking to expand into.

Despite a strong "resume" agents who appear to be a perfect match for me and for the work aren't even requesting a partial. On the flip side, agents who seem marginal for the genre, with solid sales but little online presence for me to get to know them, ARE requesting. I blew past the "perfect fit" agents long ago. Nowadays, an author seems to need a top 50 rather than a top 5. And authors landing good deals are sharing they've queried well over 100 agents, got requests from maybe 5 or 10, and got an offer of rep from 1, often an agent they knew precious little about before finding their name in a database. I'd say query anyone who's even remotely interested in your genre as long as they're a legit agent. Once (if) someone offers, THEN go do the rest of the background check, chat with them, and decide if you share an equal vision for the book.

Everything is contracting in publishing with publishers offering on fewer books and agents offering to fewer writers. How many new clients have YOU taken on in the past year?

The difference with choosing other professionals vs choosing an agent is that those pros aren't generally only taking on 3 or 4 new clients per year. I don't generally have to impress a doctor with my symptoms (although I'm likely to be either recovered or dead before I can get an appointment to see a really popular one). And if my case or my house isn't up to the standards of my lawyer/agent of choice, then the second one on my list will likely be hungry for business. Time is short on my side, too, and while I'll do my due diligence in finding a professional (and yes, I'm likely to start with a directory of some sort), I'm not going to interview more than 3 or 4 them or travel to another city to meet up with them for a 10-minute pitch session. The comparison just doesn't work.

[patriciazell]

I would add one more strategy--read blogs by agents and regularly comment on them. I am finding out a lot about agents just by reading what they write, and I can interact with them through comments. I am hoping that when I do query agents, they will at least have some concept of who I am.

[Michael K. Reynolds]

Well done Chip. If the answer to the question, "Who should you choose as an agent?" is, "Whichever one will take us," then we're probably not ready to be agented. We may need some time to remove the spinach from our teeth and tuck our shirt in properly before we're ready for primetime. And since it is primetime that we're seeking, we need to know this is not the lottery and there are guidelines to follow (even though as writers we naturally abhor them). I believe being patient and getting the right agent is critical to our career success.

[Ami]

I was going to post a lengthy comment, but read what Cherie said and decided to just say "ditto."

[Cindy]

I'll pitch in with Cherie and Ami here. Cindy Pon queried over a hundred agents, Kiersten White was almost fifty. They didn't get their first choice and they kept trying. These aren't writers with spinach in their teeth, these are excellent authors with blockbuster novels.

It's nice to hope that the agent you met at a conference will love your novel but writers who give up after submitting to their ten, twenty or even thirty "perfect" agents are not likely to end up with a contract.