agent huntin'

Gee, talk about a loaded question! LOL! Well, as far as these boards are concerned, you should check out the "Beware & Backgrounds" forum and wander through the Sticky Notes. In there, you'll find discussions about any number of agents -- good and bad. (Don't presume that everything in there is negative information, because it's not. Some agents get rave reviews.)


Since you're just starting out, I'd recommend Writer's Market, which is a book you can find in any bookstore (or at least can be ordered.) Writer's Market has a lot of detail about agents with the genres they represent, submission guidelines and the like. You can also visit the Association of Author's Representatives (http://www.aar-online.com ) Members of this organization have agreed not to charge any upfront fees to their clients, and abide by a set of ethical guidelines. Now, there are plenty of agents who aren't members of AAR who are good upstanding agents, so it's not the be-all, end-all on whether or not they're a member. But many are. You can also check out Agent Query (http://www.agentquery.com) You can select your genre and it will give you a list, and there are discussion areas where you can find out about them.

It's trial and error mostly. But don't presume that because you're just starting out as a writer that you CAN'T get a top-notch agent. It's simply not true. If the manuscript is terrific, agents will want to represent it, whether or not you have previous credits.

Good luck!

There is a section in the forum called Book World. This is from Ask The Agent, it might be of help.

http://absolutewrite.com/forums/showthread.php?t=13531

Agents

Find three or four published novels you like, ones by mainstream publishers, and that are written in a style fairly consistent with your own, and in a genre similar to your own. Then find out who the agent for those novels was. Then write these agents query letters, and mention in the letters that you've read these books.

Jamesaritchie said:

Find three or four published novels you like, ones by mainstream publishers, and that are written in a style fairly consistent with your own, and in a genre similar to your own. Then find out who the agent for those novels was. Then write these agents query letters, and mention in the letters that you've read these books.

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James, not picking on you here, as I've heard this advice before. I've heard it very often, but I rarely find authors mentioning their agents in their acknowledgments, and a google on matching authors with their agents doesn't often give me a hit either. I'm not saying don't bank on this, but don't bank on this.

What's a good way way to find the agent of these books that are similar to yours?

In the Writers and Artists Yearbook, you'll see agencies listed, and the clients they represent. It would of course be handy if in the Yearbook, they listed the authors themselves, alphabetically and then against each author listed who represents them.

gp101 said:

What's a good way way to find the agent of these books that are similar to yours?

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1) If the author has a web-site, look there. Many authors mention their agent somewhere on their website.
2) Email the author and ask nicely. The worst they can do is say no.