Finding an Agent for Your Novel, Part II

The Kind of Agent You Are Looking For

How do you know what agent you want to work with. There are many, and many writers don’t always find the right agent for them the first time around. For more on that, see this excellent piece over at The Awl.

Ever since I started feeling as if I may actually finish a book, I wrote down every agent that a writer mentioned to me that they enjoyed working with (even if I saw a writer speaking and they said something like, “I’m lucky to have a very good agent.”) Many of these agents turned out not to be what I am looking for, but this was a good start.

How do I know what I’m looking for? Let me first emphasize that I absolutely do not know if I’ve got this right. I’m going off listening to the experience of lots of other writers. Here’s an incomplete list of things to consider:

• Read contemporary work so you have a feel for what is on bookstore shelves.
• Every book that you love, read the acknowledgements to see which agent and agency the writer thanks, and make a note of the agent. (I’m big on spreadsheets, not gonna lie.)
• Ditto for the writers you admire. Look at their books or use Google to find out who represents them.
• Note any agents you meet and feel comfortable with. (If you have a chance to meet them at workshops or talks, go for it!)
• Note any agents that reach out to you because of previously published work, such as short stories.
• Remember that your friend’s agent (or teacher’s or favorite author’s or the most famous agent, etc.) will likely not be the right agent for you. It’s an individual relationship, and you want the one that’s right for you.
• Pay attention to the kind of writing career you admire. Do you like writers who do their own work as well as ghost write, writers who put out a book every year or every five, writers who switch around genres (from literary to children’s, poetry to mystery, etc)? These things will be important to keep in mind when selecting agents to pitch and when making a final decision. Do they want for you the kind of career for you that you want?
• You want someone who is excited about your book.
• Again, you might get it wrong the first time. It’s okay to break up with your agent when it’s not a good fit. It’s a business relationship that should work for you both.

Continuing paying attention to these things until you have a draft ready to go: clean of typos, read over by some trusted readers, and no nagging issues left to fix. Only then will it be time to cull the list.

Up next: finalizing the list of agents you will query.

Do you have questions about finishing a book and seeking an agent? What has your experience been?

Share your questions and/or experience in the comments section.