I NEED A GOOD AGENT!

[NewWriter22980]

Anyone know of a good agent that works mostly by email?

[James D Macdonald]

Why email?

Anyway -- to find a good agent, go to a bookstore. Find books similar to yours. Find out who represented those books. Write to those agents, following their guidelines to the letter.

Best of luck.

[NewWriter22980]

I just like e-mail because my postman is a drunk and is always loosing mail my mail.

Where do you find the agent listed in a book?

[Hapsburg]

you won't find the agent listed in the book, you have to do research. A lot of author's state their agent somewhere on their websites, some you have to just did around. Preditors and Editors website has an extensive list of agents...

[Greenwolf103]

I just like e-mail because my postman is a drunk and is always loosing mail my mail.

NewWriter, do I have your postman?? ;) Actually, that reference brings to mind the postman from the movie, Funny Farm.

Sometimes E-mail is more convenient for us. There's a lot of pros and cons about E-mailing agents instead of snail mail, but I'm sure that's already been discussed here.

[HollyB]

Go here:

Association of Agent Representatives (http://www.aar-online.org/database.html)

login as "guest,"

then click on "accepting e-mail queries."

Voila!

[AnneMarble]

Where do you find the agent listed in a book?

If you write SF, fantasy, or horror, you can get this information from Locus magazine and from Chronicle magazine. Both have sections at the front where they list book sales, including agent name, author, publisher, etc. Depending on your genre, there might be other professional organizations you can join that will provide similar information. (Some of these organizations only take on people who have professional sales, but they may have a membership option for unpublished writers.)

Other tips I've heard:
1) Look inside books by your favorite authors. Sometimes they will dedicate the book to their agent. (Note: If it's an old book, keep in mind that the editor may be dead by now. :grin )

2) Check authors' web sites or blogs. Some authors will mention their agent's name. (Many will refuse to do this.)

3) Read Publisher's Weekly as they list sales by agents.

Oh, and Victoria Strauss has a great article called The Safest Way to Search for an Agent (http://www.sff.net/people/VictoriaStrauss/agentsearch.html)

[Sgt Spanky]

So do I. If you find one, lemme know. :thumbs

[Kempo Kid]

Another possibility is to rent a mail drop box, either from the P.O. or from someplace like UPS Store or PakMail. A small one doesn't cost a whole lot, and if you get mail or packages that won't fit or have to be signed for, they'll keep them for you.

If the agent you're researching has a web site, it should tell there if they accept e-mailed queries.

[kevacho]

New Writer,

You can always go to your local bookstore, or a Barnes & Nobles, and hammer down 20 to 50 bucks for the Novel and Short Story Market book. That has lists of the majority of the agents in the country.

Good hunting.

Kevin
www.kevach.com

"COFFEE......." :coffee

[James D. Macdonald]

On the Getting of Agents (http://nielsenhayden.com/makinglight/archives/004772.html)

[J. Y. Moore]

Go here:

Association of Agent Representatives (http://www.aar-online.org/database.html)

login as "guest,"

then click on "accepting e-mail queries."

Voila!

You don't have to login (as a matter of fact, it won't take a login without a password). However, go here: http://www.aar-online.org/mc/directory/viewsimplesearch.do and do your search. There is a link on this page to click on to search for agents who accept e-mail queries.

[Ken Hoss]

To date I have 4 rejections, albeit nice ones, out of 13 queries sent out. Can anyone point me in the direction of a good agent that represents Crime fiction/Police Procedurals. Preferably one that responds back within a few days and not a few months. Thanks.

BTW, it is a completed novel, 81000 words, and I have started on a second book in the series.

[Gravity]

You're asking for the moon. Getting anything other than a scam agent is a long-haul process. You shortcut that process at your peril.

[gothicangel]

To date I have 4 rejections, albeit nice ones, out of 13 queries sent out. Can anyone point me in the direction of a good agent that represents Crime fiction/Police Procedurals. Preferably one that responds back within a few days and not a few months. Thanks.

BTW, it is a completed novel, 81000 words, and I have started on a second book in the series.

Do your own legwork.

[Ken Hoss]

Do your own legwork.


I am doing my own legwork. I just thought someone here would have a suggestion. Is it wrong to ask for a little assistance from the community? I just started the query process last month, and I am still searching agents on my own.

Gravity, it isn't my intention to "short cut" the process. As I stated above, I just wanted to see if any one had a suggestion.

So far I have queried:

Bent Agency - nice rejection
Henshaw Agency - nice rejection
Trident Media Group - still waiting
Fine Print Literary - still waiting
Dominick Able Agency - not accepting new clients
LJK Literary Agency - nice rejection
Marianne Strong Agency - still waiting
Laura Langlie Agency - nice rejection letter
Artist and Artisans - still waiting
Signature Literary Agency - still waiting
Larson-Pomeda Literary Agency - still waiting
Dunow Agency - still waiting


Okay, so it's 12 and not 13. I miscounted. I am currently researching 5 additional agents.

[Anaquana]

Ken, check out www.querytracker.net and www.agentquery.com. You can search agents by what genres they say they represent.

As for wanting an agent that responds back within a few days, good luck. Responding to queries is at the very bottom of an agent's to-do list and if you follow the agent threads here, you will see that every person who queries has a different experience with agents. An agent who responded promptly to my query took six weeks to respond back to somebody else. It all depends on what the agent's workload is and how far behind they may be with their signed clients' work.

And one final word of advice - be patient. It can sometimes take years for a writer to find an agent. It took me 11 months of serious querying before I signed with my agent.

[Ken Hoss]

Ken, check out www.querytracker.net (http://www.querytracker.net) and www.agentquery.com (http://www.agentquery.com). You can search agents by what genres they say they represent.

As for wanting an agent that responds back within a few days, good luck. Responding to queries is at the very bottom of an agent's to-do list and if you follow the agent threads here, you will see that every person who queries has a different experience with agents. An agent who responded promptly to my query took six weeks to respond back to somebody else. It all depends on what the agent's workload is and how far behind they may be with their signed clients' work.

And one final word of advice - be patient. It can sometimes take years for a writer to find an agent. It took me 11 months of serious querying before I signed with my agent.


Thanks, Anaquana, this is just the feedback I was looking for. I really appreciate it. As for waiting, yes I understand that it takes time. I guess I'm a little over anxious. I had one agent reply back withing 2 hours! It really surprised me. Granted it was a rejection, but it was a very nice rejection. I'll check out the links. :D

[Anaquana]

*laughs* I know what you mean about being overly anxious. The very first *serious* query I sent out (I was a dumbass and had queried several agents when I knew I wasn't ready so I don't really count those queries as part of my totals) netted me a response within fifteen minutes. That agent requested a partial and then a full. She ended up passing on it several months later, but what a way to get my hopes up.

[firedrake]

Yes, best advice, keep on querying and don't anticipate a swift response or, indeed any response. When you have a look at an agents website, you may find they have a 'no response means no' policy.

My advice is to query and while you're doing that bury yourself in the next book. Watching for emails is addictive, frustrating and may lead to heavy drinking. :D

[Cyia]

Thanks, Anaquana, this is just the feedback I was looking for. I really appreciate it. As for waiting, yes I understand that it takes time. I guess I'm a little over anxious. I had one agent reply back withing 2 hours! It really surprised me. Granted it was a rejection, but it was a very nice rejection. I'll check out the links. :D

You get a range around here of anything from ten minutes (for both requests and rejections) to more than ten months (for both requests and rejections). It really depends on the agent, the house and the time of year you send.

I even had one quick responder come back almost immediately because she opened her email to scan a few during lunch and mine happened to pop into her inbox at that moment, so she read it first.

There's no real pattern, but do check Query Tracker's comments on each agent to see how long it took for others to get responses.

[wheelwriter]

It may also be helpful to look at successful query letters here in the Query Letter Hell section of SYW (it's a sticky) and in the Ask the Agent section. It may be that your query letter isn't as strong as it could be. You could always post it in Query Letter Hell, but please read the stickies first. Good luck.

[tarak]

I have to third, fourth, etc. query tracker. I also check back on the bewares thread regularly and if I don't recognize the agency in a particular thread, I check to see if the agents rep my genre.

[Ken Hoss]

Thanks everyone for the assistance. I didn't know about Query Tracker until today. I got out 8 more queries, including one to a publisher. Now the waiting process begins.

[Purple Rose]

You might also want to try Pubisher's marketplace. $20 a month for subscription to access their database but well worth every cent. Once you short-list your agents, it is still best to cross check against their websites for the most updated information on agent reps and submission guidelines. Third party sites, though excellent sources, may not update their information quite as regularly. All the best!

[Anaquana]

Ken, be wary about sending queries to publishers if you're searching for an agent as well. From everything I've heard/read (and I know somebody will correct me if I'm wrong), once a publisher has received a query for a novel and passed on it, that avenue is dead. If you query too many publishers and receive too many rejections, most agents won't want to take on your manuscript because they will have limited places to submit it.

[Ken Hoss]

Thanks, I will remember that. It was only one publisher, so I will make sure not to send it out to any others.