Approaching an agent?

Stacia Kane

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Approach how?

And yes, of course, provided you don't mean "approach while they are on the toilet" or "approach while they are in the middle of their own wedding ceremony" or "approach by sneaking into their homes in the middle of the night and holding a gun to their head until they read your ms."

You should be querying agents who represent books/authors you feel are similar to yours; it should be a pretty big factor in your search. :)
 

quicklime

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as mentioned, define "approach"....you are SUPPOSED to query "relevent agents" as opposed to those who do not cover your work, but you're supposed to query, not snag them at a restaurant, knock on their door, etc.
 

AlishaS

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Yes, you want to Query (and I assume that's what you meant by approach, at least I hope it is) agents with similar novels, really any agent that is relative and accepts your genre, age group, and what not is good.

You might get a rejection that states "simiar to something I already have on my list" but you might also get good response because it's something the agent likes since she's already taken on someone similar.
 

Colossus

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If you mean approach on the street,.......no, that's stalking.

Ha, no actually I've had agents suggest to me that's the best way to sign a new agent. They're more apt to look at something in a field they're familiar with.
 

quicklime

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latian,

your links never really said anything about what you mean by "approach", which is the problem in this case.
 

Gordon

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I had one agent read my query and say "I just signed an author who has a similar story, so, no, not interested." The funny part was that their description of my story had only the vaguest relationship with what I actually sent them - she almost seemed panicked there was another story out there to compete with the newly signed author... Odd, I thought, but what can you do?
I guess my point is, it may be a two-edged sword if your manuscript fits too perfectly - a particular author's agent may not be in the market to sell a second writer's 'identical' sort of book. That said, no harm done if you do send and it's rejected for that reason; just means another agent, or another publisher, may want in...
 

MrsBrommers

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It's fine to QUERY agents who rep similar novels with the caveat that they may be similar in tone or style but maybe not content. I mean, if an agent reps one fairy cowboy author, he/she may not want a second fairy cowboy author in the stable--but they might be open to a fairy necromancer. When I queried my agent, I mentioned that fans of one of her author's work would likely enjoy mine because we both wrote dark, edgy paranormal books. My agent agreed.
 

kobold

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Here's something for which I have not located an answer, and believe me, I've searched the threads: When querying, do you always address the agent, or, if you should happen across the name of their assistant/reader (on the agency website or wherever), do you use that person's name instead?

And (bear with me), when querying and sending the first 5 pgs., should you eliminate any quotations (from other works, songs, etc.) that appear before your story begins?

Or do I worry too much?

I sure hope I'm asking in the right thread. The great-great-grandson of the designer of the Chicago Water Tower thanks you all.
 

Jamiekswriter

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And (bear with me), when querying and sending the first 5 pgs., should you eliminate any quotations (from other works, songs, etc.) that appear before your story begins?
.

Leave them in, if they're your words, in the public domain and/or you have written permission to use them.

Remove them from your MS entirely if you don't have the copywrite holders consent to use them.
 

quicklime

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Leave them in, if they're your words, in the public domain and/or you have written permission to use them.

Remove them from your MS entirely if you don't have the copywrite holders consent to use them.


that was my thoughts as well. Folks like King get to put lyrics from Copperhead Road in because they are folks like King, I don't know, but SUSPECT it is harder for a debut author because you may have just tossed one extra expense out there for the publisher to pick up.....anyway, for me, nothing requiring copyright will go into my first work. I haven't found anything that I can't lose while still writing a strong story, so if I don't NEED to incur the risk, I'll avoid it.