Do Agents look for Authors?

defyalllogic · Mar 15, 2010

i didn't find a thread about this in my searching so sorry if these is one.

I sse articles about thes randome people being sought out by agents and publishers and such to make books from their blogs and lives, and general awesomeness.

Is there a person at an agency who looks for people to publish who haven't sent out queries?

...or is that just a lucky man finds million dollar lottery ticket in trash kind of story?

desperadium · Mar 15, 2010

If someone has a really successful blog they can catch an agents eye, but its not common, i've only heard about that happening once actually. There certainly wouldn't be someone whos job it is do that, but agents keep their eyes open to that sort of thing.

waylander · Mar 15, 2010

Sometimes writers get an approach from an agent based on short fiction the agent has seen published somewhere. I know a couple of people that has happened too.
I don't think agencies regularly have people who do this as part of their job for fiction, possibly for non-fiction

Hedgetrimmer · Mar 15, 2010

Some agents browse the boards here in SYW looking for potential clients. One contacted me last fall and came close to signing me. A different agent contacted another AWer and did, in fact, sign her as a client.

Parametric · Mar 15, 2010

I know several people at this forum have been approached by agents out of the blue. Our own Rachel (Race) Mercaldo recently signed with an agent who approached her based on her blog. I've also heard that fantasy author Scott Lynch was approached by an agent (or maybe it was an editor) who read excerpts posted on his blog, though perhaps this is apocryphal.

Albannach · Mar 15, 2010

I know Elizabeth Moon was signed by an agent who approached her after reading her short fiction, but I doubt that there is anyone at agencies who spends their time browsing the internet looking for authors.

Jamesaritchie · Mar 15, 2010

Agents often look up a writer who has short stories published in decent magazines, and about once in every other blue moon, an agent finds a writer thorugh a spectacular blog.

Other than this, it's pretty rare. Thousands of writers contact agents each year, so the task isn't finding writers, that's the easy part. The tough part is deciding which writer to take on.

Old Hack · Mar 15, 2010

James is right: agents and editors have so much work sent to them for consideration that they really don't have to go out and look for it.

Having said that, I've been approached by a very good publisher who is interested in publishing a book of my blog; and I've now been asked by two agents who I met on Twitter to send them some of my work (although I've not signed any contracts with anyone yet: it might yet all fall through). So it can happen, but it is very unlikely.

Toothpaste · Mar 15, 2010

I'm not sure how often agents actively seek out writing forums and the like for representation reasons. I think some agents who are members on forums might then look around, or even mention it to an agent friend. I also think once in a while an agent, when she has the time, might do some surfing to see what's out there.

But for the most part agents are pretty busy people who have to take care of existing clients and queries sent their way. It happens, but it isn't good to rely on it happening. And I'm not sure there's any real answer to your question as I'm sure all agencies work differently.

Though I wouldn't be surprised if some of the bigger ones had scouts or something who's soul purpose was to seek out writers from unusual situations.

Hedgetrimmer · Mar 15, 2010

What everyone has said is very true. Agents are extremely busy and don't have time to seek clients. So I certainly wouldn't count on this method as opposed to the traditional query process. Still, the agent I referenced above happens to be quite new (one year agenting) and also closed to queries. The agency she works for (over 10 years in the game) also has a closed-door policy. From what I can tell, the newer agent doesn't attend a lot of conferences (two projected this year), and without receiving a ton of slush everyday basically has to beat the bushes looking for clients. I know several she's found through writing contests held on blogs and such. But again, this is only one agent in a pool of hundreds.

Inkblot · Mar 15, 2010

defyalllogic said:
i didn't find a thread about this in my searching so sorry if these is one.

I sse articles about thes randome people being sought out by agents and publishers and such to make books from their blogs and lives, and general awesomeness.

Is there a person at an agency who looks for people to publish who haven't sent out queries?

...or is that just a lucky man finds million dollar lottery ticket in trash kind of story?

Yeah, like they look for mosquitoes.

But seriously, in the children's arena -- where it is more possible to be published and NOT have an agent -- sometimes they do approach writers to see if they might be interested. This is usually after being exposed to the person's writing -- it's been critiqued in a workshop, or won a contest, etc. I have been approached both during and after a conference (already had an agent though).

inkspatters · Mar 15, 2010

I'd say that agents do sometimes look for writers. I got a request after an agent read my work on my blog (which is not popular in any way, really) and liked my style. It happens sometimes, but I don't think it happens often enough that you can bypass querying

defyalllogic · Mar 15, 2010

I'm not planning to just out awesome everyone and get noticed.

I was just wondering if that was someone's job. Like a real job, to make try to discover talent. like model scouts or corporations making sure their copyrights aren't violated...

Hedgetrimmer · Mar 15, 2010

defyalllogic said:
I'm not planning to just out awesome everyone and get noticed.

I was just wondering if that was someone's job. Like a real job, to make try to discover talent. like model scouts or corporations making sure their copyrights aren't violated...

You know, there is actually a job called literary scout. I only heard about this last year when I was considering querying an agent at a very reputable company. Come to find out, she had left agenting to become a scout. I had to look it up to see what it even is. Like sporting scouts, they apparently read a bunch of stuff--magazines, blogs, books, literary journals--and bring the writer to publishers' attention. I don't know if they work independently, for a particular publisher or scouting agency or what. But do a search and you should find something.

Do Agents look for Authors?

defyalllogic

i'm a girl. (i have tendonitis)

desperadium

waylander

Who's going for a beer?

Hedgetrimmer

What happened, just there?

Parametric

Albannach

AW Addict

Jamesaritchie

Old Hack

Such a nasty woman

Toothpaste

THE RECKLESS RESCUE is out now!

Hedgetrimmer

What happened, just there?

Inkblot

New kid, be gentle!

inkspatters

The coordinates keep changing...

defyalllogic

i'm a girl. (i have tendonitis)

Hedgetrimmer

What happened, just there?