Great reminders. One thing I would disagree with is: agents asking for compensation. If you’re a new writer and you want to be traditionally published but your writing if way off, it may be worth investing in a few coaching sessions with an agent if they offer it. You may be stubbornly resisting to pay but if your writing is not at the level of getting commercially published, getting detailed feedback from a reputable agent may speed up the process. It’ll be way more useful than keep querying hundreds of agents without making changes.