Agents
Tiaga said:
Thanks Jamesaritchie, I appreciate your advice. I'm starting to think this whole "you must be published before an agent will look at you but you need an agent to get published" was thought out by the government.
Nah, as Liam says, it was started by vanity publishers. Agents and publishers are both on the lookout for new writers. Without new writers, agents and publisher would both go out of business.
What you need to get a good agent is simply a novel she believes will sell. No agent has ever said, "I think this is a great novel that will sell like mad, so I'm going to refuse to handle it because it was written by a new writer."
Likewise, no editor has ever said, "This is a novel the public will love, so I'm going to reject it because this guy has never been published."
But I will add this, no matter how well your novel is written, unless you can write a query letter that will make an agent or editor ask to see it, you're in trouble. When this is the case, I think writers should look for agents and editors who will look at sample chapters, rather than just queries.
A good rule for new writers is "Send a query letter if you absolutely have to, but send sample chapters whenever possible."
It's always better to have an agent or eeditor read your writing, rather than have them read a query letter that just tells them about your writing.
