With National Novel Writing Month and 2021 ending soon, it’s a good time to assess your 2022 writing goals with me. I imagine thousands upon thousands of writers will be polishing their NaNoWriMo manuscripts over the next weeks and months. At the end of this process, many will need literary agents. Millennial Writer Life is here to present our first Writing Guide.
What is a literary agent and why are they necessary?
In US markets, it is typically for editors and publishing houses to not accept “unsolicited manuscripts”, which are manuscripts that have been sent by an author themself. A “solicited manuscript” is one that an editor has requested or one that has been submitted via a literary agent.
A literary agent’s job is to represent a writer. Some agents help with developmental edits more than others. Some have very open communication styles. But a reputable agent will only charge a percentage of what you earn, will communicate effectively with your editors/publishing house, and will not make decisions on your behalf?
Where do I find literary agents?
There are a variety of ways to find a literary agent, but the most common ones are searching for one via:
Google Search can help if you are just searching “literary agents for X genre” or if you are searching for the agent of a writer whose work or career you admire.
Twitter is helpful because so many people in the literary world use it. Use the search feature and check out people’s bios to see who is a literary agent and what agencies they work for. There are also plenty of Twitter lists too that can help.
Publishers Marketplace is a longstanding tool that was used before the internet. Can be found at pretty much any franchise bookstore.
Query Tracker is a useful way to find agents and to see other writers’ past experiences while querying and submitting portions of their manuscripts. This tool is amazing for helping you keep track of how many people you’ve queried as well.
PitMad is… “the original Twitter pitch event, where writers tweet a 280-character pitch for their completed, polished, unpublished manuscripts. No previously published works. Agents and acquiring editors make requests by liking/favoriting the tweeted pitch.”
Conferences or workshops sometimes host events where writers and literary agents meet up or do “speed dating”. I’ve seen variations of this as Associations of Writers and Programs Conference, as well as Breadloaf Conference (which has an application that is open now and due by February 15, 2022)
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