Finding a good agent

Ok, for those of you who haven't read my blog, I just finished my book. Now, how do I go about finding a GOOD agent to help me get it to a publisher?

Have you got a recent copy of the Writer and Artist's Year Book?

That has a list of literary agents, and tells you which ones are a member of the Association of Authors' Agents.

Probably the best thing you can do after you have a list of potential agents who might like your manuscript, is to google the agencies and find out about what books they have represented previously, and what sort of reputation they have.

I'm just about to go down that road myself, and dreading it, so good luck in your search!

Finished as in you finished the first draft or finished as in, "I'm ready to publish now"?

Snoink has a point. Just because you 'finished' it doesn't mean it needs to publsihed straight away. Read it once, twice and edit edit edit! You may even find yourself just rewriting chapters. Good luck!

Another thing to consider is taking a look at the small publishers that don't require you to have an agent. Other than the fact that they publish very few books compared to the large ones, they are easier to get into. Also, how many short stories and poems have you published? In order to land an agent or have a book publisher take a serious look at you, especially considering how young you are, having a list of smaller credits would help you.

Thanks guys!

I'm just about to go down that road myself, and dreading it, so good luck in your search!

Yes, you won't like it!!! I'm scared to death of getting the wrong one.

And to Snoink and Aedomir, I am waiting a week to edit it because I have read on here to let it sit for at least a week so that I can come back at it with a fresh mind.

So, I would have to have a few other things? Well, I'll see how it goes when I send it in to somebody, and maybe they'll like it. But I understand what you guys are saying. I have nothing else published yet. Well, thanks again!!

Ye, I'd agree with you. Maybe post a selected extract frm your novel up here? We could give you some pointers and tips. Up to you,

Yep. I'm almost done with a novel my friend and I are writing together (not the editing part, that will definitely take a while...) Whoever said that it helps to get poems and such published is right. definetly post your novel in editing process here.

Good luck to everyone who is trying to find an agent!

~MV

khfan--


The best thing to look for is two things:

(1) The agent should not charge you for ANYTHING--no reading fees, no editing, nothing. They should be doing what they love enough to not charge you--those that do aren't worth having.

(2) You can check at several places (I won't list them here) to see an agent's credits towards selling a novel. Some of them will even post a list online of the books they've sold to publishers.

The first is something you can find out immediately; the second takes a bit more work. As a result, the second is the more important--just because you find an agent, it doesn't mean they can do anything with your manuscript. You need to find someone who has connections in the right places for your work.


Hope this helps,
Brad

I understand that the agent should not charge me for anything (thank goodness). I found this website and was looking at it. If somebody doesn't mind taking a look at it for me and telling me what you think. This doesn't mean I'm already set in stone with it. I've e-mailed to ask a couple of things.

http://www.nashvilleagency.com/Home.html

If somebody wouldn't mind to look around at the site and look at the section entitled "Literary", I would really appreciate it. I'm concerned about mainly one thing. The guidelines say that if you send it by regular mail to send just two or three chapters of the manuscript. Why wouldn't they want me to send the whole thing? Is that normal?

Thanks for any help, guys!

Yeah, a lot of publishers and agents will take an extract, so that they know what they working with, whether it is worth it and to get an idea of your style. This also saves LOADS on the delievery charges.

They don't charge you? Cool!

Alright, I just posted the beginning of it, so if you guys want to check it out, it's in the fantasy forum section.

Cool!

Yeah, it is normal for them to only want to see samples. Agents and publishers get so many submissions every week that they don't have time to read full manuscripts. In fact, many just want to see a query letter and a synopsis. They can tell from a summary and how well it's written whether or not it is the type of story they want.

Rei wrote:Another thing to consider is taking a look at the small publishers that don't require you to have an agent. Other than the fact that they publish very few books compared to the large ones, they are easier to get into. Also, how many short stories and poems have you published? In order to land an agent or have a book publisher take a serious look at you, especially considering how young you are, having a list of smaller credits would help you.

And how do you go about doing that? Published, as in novel published or literary magazine? Does a school literary magazine count? Would they be impressed if you were a staff of said magazine?
Sorry to bombard you with the questions, but knowledge is power.