The Best Way to Get an Agent? Don’t Give Up

If you’re not around any of my social media channels, you might not know that after two years and more than 150 rejections on two different novels, I finally signed with an agent. I am incredibly excited and am currently working on revisions to my middle grade historical novel written in verse, which we’ll be sending out to potential publishers this month.

But I knew that I couldn’t share this news without also sharing my story. If you’re new here, you might not know that I’ve self published a few titles — but what my dream has always been, since I was a little girl, is to be a traditionally published author. So securing an agent was always in my plans.

After I wrote my first novel, which was an adult literary novel written in verse, I researched all the agents who might be open to receiving something like that. There were about 140. So I put them all on a list, and in a matter of months, I’d emailed them all with a query letter and, depending on what they asked for in their submissions process, a few pages of my novel. I had a few bites on it, but nothing really serious, so I turned my attention to my second novel, which was a middle grade historical novel written in verse.

For this one I executed a different strategy. I stalked places like the twitter hashtag #MSWL, where agents will post about certain types of books they’re looking for. I had a much more targeted list. I sent my story out to 13 agents. Six of them asked for the full manuscript — which is almost half.

What this tells me is that targeting your queries is a much more effective process than simply looking for what agents accept. Sure, they might accept literary novels, but they’re looking for a specific one.

Target your agent queries based on current submission calls. It’s much more effective.

I received my first offer from an agent about six months after all those full manuscripts went out. This allowed me to turn around and let other agents, who still had my full manuscript, know that I’d received an offer, so if they wanted to make an offer, they could. This resulted in another offer, some non responsiveness and a decline. So I had a choice on which agent I wanted to work with — which was probably the hardest thing I’ve ever had to do. But, in the end, I made it, and I signed with my agent.

Querying projects is a long and arduous process. We will be knocked down and picked up and knocked down again. My best advice? DON’T EVER GIVE UP. Even when your fragile self esteem can’t take another rejection. Even when you can’t possibly do this anymore because it’s too disappointing and hard. Even when you think you’re finished for good.

Keep learning, keep querying, keep improving and writing, and it will happen.

My best advice for securing an agent? NEVER GIVE UP.

My (other) best tips for securing an agent:

1. Do you research.

Make sure you’re sending your query to the right person. Make sure it’s something they would want to see. Make sure you’re not wasting your time or their time. Obsessively scour places like #MSWL on Twitter and the Manuscript Wish List blog. Find new agents looking for something that sounds similar to your own project. And don’t just look for agents who want “literary fiction.” Look for agents who want “literary fiction with a death at the center and a new definition of family in its pages,” if that’s the kind of book you have. You’ll waste a lot of time querying the generalizations. Go for the specific.

2. Pay attention to your rejections.

Sometimes agents will include a short note that might help you improve your manuscript so that the next agent you send it to won’t reject it so easily. Which is why it’s always better to send queries in waves instead of all at once. My first querying process was one large tsunami of queries. I sent them all within a week. The next querying process took place over six months — one agent one week, another the next week, and so on. Sometimes a couple of months passed between queries. I wanted to make sure I was learning from the feedback I received (and when you actually get some feedback, you know you’re almost there. So be heartened.).

3. Keep your ego in check.

Try not to let the rejections bother you. Writing is a very subjective process. We know this, as writers. We don’t all like the same books. Neither do agents. So try not to take a pass on your manuscript personally. You are more than your work.

And never, ever, ever diss an agent, no matter what kind of response you get. You’ll pretty much be blacklisted.

4. Never give up.

I’ve already mentioned this one already, but it really can’t be underestimated. If there’s anything you can learn from my story, it’s that you should never give up. If you have a solid book and you’re willing to work hard enough to secure representation, it’s going to happen. It may take a while. It may even take until the moment you’ve given up on it all. But with perseverance and dedication and willingness to learn and improve your craft (because we can ALWAYS improve, even if we think we’re the greatest writer ever (we’re not)), it will happen.

Rachel is the author of the kid-lit fantasy series, Fairendale; the poetry book, This is How You Know; and the Family on Purpose series. She writes about writing on her blog This Writer Life, contributes regularly to Huff Post and faithfully writes 5,000 words of fiction and nonfiction every day.