A lot of the agents I want to approach have listed that they're closed to queries except by recommendation. Does anyone have any strategies for getting one of an agent's clients to recommend you? I imagine you'd have to show them some of your novel, which makes me nervous. On the other hand, why would anyone recommend someone else's work sight unseen?
Recommendations
- Thread starter popmuze
- Start date
Chances are you won't get a recommendation from someone you don't know. Not even if you offer to let them look at part of your novel. (Which most wouldn't do anyway.)
I, personally, know one author who got her agent via recommendation but it was someone she already knew, not a complete and utter stranger she was hitting up for a favor.
When you say "a lot" exactly what are you talking about? Like "All the senior agents" or "50% of the agents" or what? When I put together my list there were maybe thirty out of over 200 that were closed to queries at any given point (but which thirty was always changing). If you're talking about senior agents at big established agencies you might be better off querying someone else at that house. Although I had better luck trying the most senior agents I could find in each agency, if they are closed to queries the chances that they'll open back up are smaller (unless they have periods of reading queries, which some do - check QueryTracker for more info).
Best of luck.
I, personally, know one author who got her agent via recommendation but it was someone she already knew, not a complete and utter stranger she was hitting up for a favor.
When you say "a lot" exactly what are you talking about? Like "All the senior agents" or "50% of the agents" or what? When I put together my list there were maybe thirty out of over 200 that were closed to queries at any given point (but which thirty was always changing). If you're talking about senior agents at big established agencies you might be better off querying someone else at that house. Although I had better luck trying the most senior agents I could find in each agency, if they are closed to queries the chances that they'll open back up are smaller (unless they have periods of reading queries, which some do - check QueryTracker for more info).
Best of luck.
You'll only get a recommendation if you have an established relationship with one of the agent's clients, or if another agent or editor suggests you to that agent.
Please don't approach writers you don't know and ask them to recommend you to their agents: it's inappropriate.
You could, however, spend time at writers' conventions and take advantage of the one-to-one sessions they run with agents and editors and if any of the editors you speak to like their work, ask them if they would recommend you approach any agents in particular. Then you can query those agents with the information that Editor A suggested you contact them.
Please don't approach writers you don't know and ask them to recommend you to their agents: it's inappropriate.
You could, however, spend time at writers' conventions and take advantage of the one-to-one sessions they run with agents and editors and if any of the editors you speak to like their work, ask them if they would recommend you approach any agents in particular. Then you can query those agents with the information that Editor A suggested you contact them.
A second vote for conventions and workshops. I met my agent a year before she took me on, at a local Romance Writers of America meeting. She's closed to queries, but that meeting and a rec from a mutual friend helped break the ice.
In the end, your writing is still going to be at least 90 percent of how you get an agent.
In the end, your writing is still going to be at least 90 percent of how you get an agent.
- Joined
- Mar 27, 2012
- Messages
- 4,624
- Reaction score
- 1,548
If the existing client is already a friend of yours to the point where you would feel comfortable sharing your work with them, that's one issue. If the existing client is not someone you already know, that's something else.
For the first one, I'm not sure how to handle that. I have friends who have beta-read for me who have agents I'd like to query, but I've honestly never asked for a referral so I don't know how you do that. I imagine you handle it with delicacy and tact, and ask if they think it's something their agent might be interested in. Or wait until they bring it up. But again, I don't know.
For the second one, that's actually a big no-no. Do not approach someone you don't know asking about their agent. They don't know you and have no basis on which to judge your work. And it's not appropriate to ask someone you don't know to read your work if they haven't come into the situation looking for that kind of thing (like at a workshop or on here, for example). It's pushy and unprofessional, in my opinion.
Your best bet, as others have said, is to try to meet these agents at a conference or workshop. Otherwise, there are many, many good agents who are open to queries. Don't get fixated on one dream agent because that person might not actually be a good fit.
For the first one, I'm not sure how to handle that. I have friends who have beta-read for me who have agents I'd like to query, but I've honestly never asked for a referral so I don't know how you do that. I imagine you handle it with delicacy and tact, and ask if they think it's something their agent might be interested in. Or wait until they bring it up. But again, I don't know.
For the second one, that's actually a big no-no. Do not approach someone you don't know asking about their agent. They don't know you and have no basis on which to judge your work. And it's not appropriate to ask someone you don't know to read your work if they haven't come into the situation looking for that kind of thing (like at a workshop or on here, for example). It's pushy and unprofessional, in my opinion.
Your best bet, as others have said, is to try to meet these agents at a conference or workshop. Otherwise, there are many, many good agents who are open to queries. Don't get fixated on one dream agent because that person might not actually be a good fit.