Agent guide books: worth getting?

May people use it. I just used Agent Query on line, together with ma googling skills and a subscription to Publisher's Marketplace (that latter is optional but very helpful for seeing what particular agents are actually selling).

No, IMO.

You can find all you need online. I did 100% of my research on Preditors & Editors.

Too many exclamation points in the title for me.

I've seen used-car dealers less excited about their product.

If you're curious get the title via Interlibrary Loan. Most libraries can borrow books from other libraries all over the country.

Hit the 808 section of your local branch to see if they have it on the shelf. If not, then the librarian can get it for you.

Save your money and borrow it. That title is in too much of a hurry and trying a little too hard to make you want to buy it.


What do agents want? A well-written book they can easily sell.

Nothing secret about that!

I looked through the book at the store, but the emphasis was not on agents in my genre, as far as I could see. I use the online resources, too, including the above, plus Writer's Digest Online and Publishers Weekly Online.

Agents move around as do editors. Any printed guide to agents is yesterday's news. As others have said, agentquery.com and Publishers Weekly online are very good places to do your search.

Personally, I felt it was a waste of money.
Writer's Digest sells an agent listing book that did a much better job. I know there are places online to obtain a listing both for money and free of charge, but I'm old school; hence, prefer a book that I can highlight, tab, earmark....you get the gist.

The library and the internet are you friends. Especially when your as poor as I am. However, if you got extra money that you don't need go ahead. Or better yet, send it to me.

I never found that book useful because the scenarios were too pat and unhelpful for someone in my situation (and, I suspect, most writers'). They'd talk about a highly successful cardiologist, member of three different professional associations (and president of one), who was writing a diet book. As if someone like that were a common case, applicable to everyone reading the book and a really, really difficult sell, but you know, that's what being a savvy agent's all about.

I'm with the others on this. Borrow from the library, go on-line. In my experience, on-line sources like AgentQuery are more accurate and up-to-date than the books, but it never hurts to compare sources . . . which seem never to agree.

Novelhistorian said:

They'd talk about a highly successful cardiologist, member of three different professional associations (and president of one), who was writing a diet book.

Click to expand...

You've made an excellent point--the books they want to sell are non-fiction, so the rules are different.

I suspect the book in question is geared toward non-fiction writers, not novelists, so its information would be useless to a fiction writer.

A book on avoiding heart disease written by a cardiologist will have a better chance at a publishing house than an unknown neo's fantasy epic about a magic whatsis.

And diet books? Those sell themselves.

I think I'll write one this week. The refried beans and Ex-Lax diet! Sounds like it'll go great guns! (Well, there's bound to be some kind of explosive noise involved.)

It's true. I purchased the book...but in the end found querytracker.net much more helpful.

I don't think so. P&E will give you a fairly complete list, plus they highlight the ones you want to stay away from.

The web is becoming more useful and comprehensive, but you won't find everything you need there. And things like AgentQuery are a great asset that didn't exist until recently.

But some very good agents make themselves hard to find. And many web resources don't give as much detail as you'd like.

P&E only tells you who to avoid and who's made sales. Useful, but it's a little bit like deciding what to have for dinner by making a list of what's not poisonous.

If you're being specific and targetted in your search, you really need to use all the resources you can find. That includes books like Herman's, news of deals, mentions in acknowledgements--anything you can lay your hands on.

Like all research, ninety percent of your research will either lead nowhere, or will tell you things you already know. Hunt around and you will find tidbits that won't show up on the agenting websites.

Or, that's my philosophy. Some people think hurling 200 e-mails at 200 targets is the best way. Who knows? It's like dating.

Hi,
I have the Herman book and it's great for marking out which agents are positively wrong for your genre. I like doing that in hard copy so I can make lists of what I've done, who to research further and so on. It's $29.95 and that's not that expensive when you consider that I used to spend that much on booze and cigarettes and meals out sometimes. I have different priorities now.

Yes, hard copy is good, but with agentquery, you can do a search and print out your results. You can make notes in the margins of your print-out. And you can cross-reference with Publishers Marketplace and their website, if they have one, and also google them for any comments from other websites, writer's boards, etc. As I said, some of those listings in the books are outdated as soon as they're on the bookshelves. Agents move around, as do editors.

If you do go with a book, still cross-reference the info with the Internet.