How to find agents starting out?

gan_naire · Jun 11, 2011

This is probably a really stupid question, but is there a place to find agents that are just starting? Naturally I'd want to find one that has publishing experience, like having worked as an editor, assistant, etc.

In an old copy of Writers Digest it had an article on 25 agents that were starting out that were looking for writers. I wasn't ready to submit at the time, and I have no idea where that copy ran off to, but I remember seeing in there that if you're a new writer, trying a new agent might be a good idea. All the agents I've queried have been agents that already had a decent sized client list, great sales, etc.

The last rejection I got was actually very inspirational for me to keep trying to find an agent instead of self-publish, she said that she loved the premise of the book, but that it didn't fit her. Then again, that might've been just her being very nice to me.

Cyia · Jun 11, 2011

Check out established agencies and see who's listed as "new" or "junior" in the agency. Often they're people who were assistants or interns, etc.

kellion92 · Jun 11, 2011

The wonderful blog Guide to Literary Agents has an New Agent Alert series of interviews with new agents at good firms -- all highly reputable and building their lists.

RainbowDragon · Jun 11, 2011

http://www.guidetoliteraryagents.com/blog/ has a column called "new agent alert" that usually catches new agents at the outset. You can look through the backlist of these and find all who have started in the last year or two. . .

Then check their bios online (at the agency website or their own blogs, etc.) for their prior publishing experience (if any). A lot of times these announcements come out before they are listed on agentquery and querytracker, though not always.

gan_naire · Jun 11, 2011

Thanks for the weblinks and advice, I'll be sure to do that. Would it be bad if I were to go back to some of the publishing companies I got rejected from and send to their new agents? I've only submitted to the same agency for a different agent twice, and both only after I got rejected.

Only reason I ask is that a lot of the agents I sent to say on the homepage that if it's wrong for them but right for another agent in the company, that they'd pass it along to them to see if they liked it. Obviously that hasn't happened with me so far haha.

kellion92 · Jun 11, 2011

Gan_naire, unless the agency has a "no from one is a no from all" policy, you may query another agent if the first rejects you. Some agents definitely do pass queries along to others, but anecdotally, it seems to me that they are more likely to pass along a full or partial they like than a query. Queries are a dime a dozen -- I doubt most agents get invested enough in a query (or give them enough thought) to do any matchmaking.

kaitie · Jun 11, 2011

I'd send to the new agent. I figure that if the agent in question wasn't there, there's no way someone else could have passed it on if it was appropriate. Granted, I'd send to another agent at the same agency anyway.

gan_naire · Jun 11, 2011

Sweet, thanks for the input. I've been going through the sticky in the beware and recommendation thread that lists agents alphabetically. That's a long list, but so far I've been able to add a few more to my list, so I think it's working out.

Corinne Duyvis · Jun 11, 2011

Here's a small non-exhaustive list: http://querytracker.net/updates.php

It's the agents most recently added to the QueryTracker database. It's possible some of them aren't new but just weren't added before for whatever reason, but it's a nice place to start.

Filigree · Jun 11, 2011

Gan_naire, by all means consider new agents. But protect yourself by taking into account all their previous experience that might help them with industry contacts.

It's not just a case of hanging out a shingle and saying 'Now I'm an agent!'
This is a know-people-who-know-people business. If they haven't been involved in large-scale publishing, the entertainment industry, national writers' organizations, and the like, you may want to be very careful.

I'd like to give new agents their due, but I don't necessarily want them learning with my mms. I refuse to try anyone who hasn't been in business a few years, and sold at least four or five novels in my chosen genres. And sold them well, not with a boilerplate contract to an e-publisher who'll take unagented material anyway.

gan_naire · Jun 11, 2011

Thanks Corrine for the link, I'll be looking into those for sure. I don't mind doing the homework on agents, though I do have to stop myself from simply seeing a new name and adding it to my list out of anticipation. I've ignored my writing for over a month now and finally started outlining my new novel and already it's helping me calm down.

As for researching the agents, is preditors and editors the place for that, for checking their sales, etc.? I trust the beware and recommendation thread here more than anything, since I can actually talk to all of you, but with a new agent, most people here may or may not have even heard of them.

Other than their websites and blogs, what are other ways of checking the potential of an agent?

profen4 · Jun 12, 2011

Publishers Marketplace was the best investment I ever made when I was searching for an agent. That said, not every agent reports their sales, and not every agent that does report sales reports ALL their sales. It's a lot of work to research agents, but if you do it right it's worth the effort. I built a list that was +100 agents, then slowly hacked away at that by reading blogs, websites, interviews ... etc etc, until I had a list about 30 long of agents I would be thrilled to work with and who had flat out said (in above mentioned places) that they were looking for books like mine. Or, who had placed books like mine with publishers (publishers marketplace) It took several weeks, maybe a month, to develop that list, but like I said, it was worth it in the end.

Good luck.

How to find agents starting out?

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