How possible is it to get an agent if....

I have met agents in person at my MFA program and am friends with published writers, but that won't get me published. I am querying agents now for my book the same way that almost everyone else is. I found their names by finding out who represents authors that I like or who my work may be similar to and I am querying those agents. Unless you are incredibly well-connected, I don't think having published friends is any advantage. I am not asking anyone for favors. Maybe to look at my synopsis, but that would be it.

Random Data said:

Hi, everyone. I was wondering something that's been on my mind for awhile. It seems as if most novelists who get published either have met agents in person, are friends with published writers, or otherwise know someone connected to the publishing industry. I've wanted to be a writer for most of my life, but I don't those advantages, and I don't have the financial means to go to conferences and such. (As it stands, I barely have the financial means to buy lunch. )

If you have no connections at all, but have written a decent story (not necessarily brilliant, but good), what are one's realistic odds of getting a reputable agent? Thanks in advance for your input.

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It may seem that way, but it is not true.
If you've written a great story then your chances of getting an agent are good. It has happened for many people on this site, seems like someone gets an offer every week.
However the standards by which great is judged may be higher than you think.

Random Data said:

If you have no connections at all, but have written a decent story (not necessarily brilliant, but good), what are one's realistic odds of getting a reputable agent? Thanks in advance for your input.

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You don't need connections to get an agent.

If you have zero connections but have written a BRILLIANT AND COMMERCIALLY VIABLE story, and you query through proper channels, your chances of getting an agent are extremely good.

If you have zero connections but have written a "decent story (not necessarily brilliant, but good)" your chances of getting an agent are meh. The further from Brilliant and Commercially Viable you get, the lower your chances.

"Decent" means "so-so". I don't know any agents looking for "so-so".

It does seem to like that for some writers, the ones we hear about usually have a friend/partner etc in the industry.

However, they are a very small percentage of the writers out there, and the majority of published writers are those who have figured it out all by themselves.

Don't loose hope. Keep plugging away and you'll get there.

... there ain't a "casting couch" in the publishing industry, simply put.

If you've written a good novel, but not great, your chances of getting an agent for it are fair, so long as the work is commercially viable and the genre or type of story is in demand. Most novels on the shelves are 'just' good. Very few great ones out there. So chin up. You've got no call to be pessimistic.

• Write an awesome book.
• Look for agents who rep that kind of book.
• Vet your list of agents by checking them out online (Bewares&Background checks here, Preditors&Editors, Google [name of agent]+[scam], etc.)
• Write an awesome query letter.
• Send awesome query letter to agents -- include your contact info...
• Agents read awesome query letter.
• Agents locate your contact info conveniently placed in query
• Agents ask for pages to read
• Agents love book
• Agents offer to rep

None of this requires you to even be in the same state with the agent, much less meet them in person.

Every single one of my author friends and myself got agents through the good old fashioned slush pile. No connections, no nothing. It happens all the time.

Toothpaste said:

Every single one of my author friends and myself got agents through the good old fashioned slush pile. No connections, no nothing. It happens all the time.

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QFT!! Both of my agents were cold query/slush pile successes. Happens all the time!

I was a slush pile query (though I did pitch the agent I ended up signing with at a conference). But I would have queried her the old fashioned way had I not been going to that conference at that time, so I think the result would have been the same. And I got offers from two of the slush pile queries. Two other writers friends got their agents the same way.

If you write a great book, the odds are good. That's what's important, not who you know.

Random Data said:

If you have no connections at all, but have written a decent story (not necessarily brilliant, but good), what are one's realistic odds of getting a reputable agent? Thanks in advance for your input.

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To get a good agent, it's zero. To get any agent who's not a scammer, it's so close to zero that you might as well round it off.

Everyone here has said great stuff. I guess the only thing I would add, just for "research" purposes is that while I did end up going with an agent I met through a contact, I also got an offer on my own the old fashioned way...by blindly querying. And a good friend of mine got her agent the old fashioned way as well.

Four out of five of my writing group (including myself) signed with agents with nothing more than queries out of the slush pile. Another five or so who I met on AW also signed with agents after querying without conference meet-ups, recommendations, etc. All great agents with reputable agencies.

To get a good agent, it's zero. To get any agent who's not a scammer, it's so close to zero that you might as well round it off.

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I respectfully disagree. I signed with my first choice agent, who has the reputation of being the top agency in Canada. And I did it through a cold query, nothing more or less. I also had 2 fulls at the time in NY, also through cold queries.
Then again, I don't think my book is decent. I'm presumptuous enough to think it's brilliant.

Random Data said:

Very funny. By "Decent," I meant "Competently written and probably a good read, though not dazzlingly, mindbendingly awesome." In other words, like most of the stuff I see on the shelves right now. I'm not presumptuous enough to think I'm especially gifted..

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The truth is, comparing it to books of known authors is not helpful, because they have followings and it's more likely their followup books will be published. You need to know that it is as good if not better than the debut novels in your genre. So, it's gut check time. You need to objectively decide if your book is as good if not better than the debut books in your genre over the last 5 years - and by good I mean as well crafted and written, and as commercially viable.

And if you're not sure, find some beta readers. But good is no longer, in most cases, good enough.

Random Data said:

Thanks. I think I'm having trouble grasping how I can demonstrate commercial viability in a query letter. I've learned from past experience that just describing a good story doesn't seem to be enough..

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You don't demonstrate commercially viable in a query - the query is just to hook the agent's interest in the primary story arc and vocie enough to read the pages - and then the pages have to demonstrate it is commercially viable.

Random Data said:

The truth is that I've been at this for several years, but I very, VERY rarely get past the query stage. When I do send writing in, I get responses like, "I enjoyed this story, but I didn't fall in love with it." So, I have no idea what to improve or exactly what went wrong. But that might be a topic for another thread.

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This, in my opinion, means either not good enough yet or you haven't found the right agent yet. Which is it? Well, how many agents, who rep your genre and are actively building their lists, have you queried? 10? 20? 200?

If you haven't queried all of the agents who rep your genre that you would be happy to have represent you, then you can't know if it's just not good enough yet, or if you just haven't found the right agent yet.

Are you getting any full requests? if not, then it's the writng or the concept.

Are you even getting any partial requests? If not, then it's the writing or the concept, or your query is really bombing.

But even a good query can not land an agent if the book just isn't really good and commercially viable.

I'll second the advice to check out Share Your Work - for your query and your first chapter. But read the sticky threads and some of the critiques before you post.

~suki

Julie Worth said:

To get a good agent, it's zero. To get any agent who's not a scammer, it's so close to zero that you might as well round it off.

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Is this your response because of the OP's characterization of his/her book as "a decent story (not necessarily brilliant, but good)" or do you think even a commercially viable and brilliant book has near zero chance of landing a reputable agent?

Because if it's the first, I agree - decent isn't going to cut it.

But if it's the latter, I respectfully disagree and think there are many, many, many active members on this board who disprove your opinion.

~suki

Brilliant is subjective. Since the majority of first time authors were picked out of the slush pile, and every agent claims that they only pick out brilliant authors, it appears that someone thought most books published were brilliant.

Now it's claimed (by slushkiller) that 60%-75% of slush is wretched, truly bad, irredeemable, 95%-99% is either wretched, or decent but meh, and 1-5% is good enough to be published, although not necessarily salable. The key then, is to write something reasonably salable and also good enough to be published. Brilliance is relative--but you need to be in the top 1-5 percent.

It's a common fallacy among aspiring writers that you have to "know" someone in the industry to get published. It's just not true. Seriously. I got my agent via her slush pile--had two agent offers and a TON of partial and full requests, all via agent slush piles--and I did not know any of the agents personally. I also did not know any of the three editors who ended up bidding on the project. While I'm sure that personally knowing agents and editors CAN get your projects looked at more quickly in most situations, the simple fact is that no agent or editor is going to sign on an author for that fact alone. The project HAS to be a strong, viable book they truly feel they can sell.

suki said:

Is this your response because of the OP's characterization of his/her book as "a decent story (not necessarily brilliant, but good)" or do you think even a commercially viable and brilliant book has near zero chance of landing a reputable agent?

Because if it's the first, I agree - decent isn't going to cut it.

But if it's the latter, I respectfully disagree and think there are many, many, many active members on this board who disprove your opinion.

~suki

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I quoted what I quoted, including the "good but not brilliant" part, for a reason. If you have no track record and no contacts, you can't be just as good as people already published; you have to be brilliant. Or as Christine says, in the top 1-5 percent of those querying.

Julie Worth said:

I quoted what I quoted, including the "good but not brilliant" part, for a reason. If you have no track record and no contacts, you can't be just as good as people already published; you have to be brilliant. Or as Christine says, in the top 1-5 percent of those querying.

I've noticed some in the ABNA contest saying they thought their queries were pretty good because they made it through the first stage. But that only put them in the top 20% at best, which doesn't guarantee even a request by an agent.

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Thank you for clarifying - I thought that might be what you meant, but I felt your other post was being misinterpreted.

~suki

Write about vampires and zombies exploding during sex. Guaranteed to work.

caw