The Safest Way toSearch for an Agentby Victoria StraussSearching for an agent is difficult enough without worrying about whether the agent is dishonest.Unfortunately, you do need to worry. Too many agents engage in abuses--chargingup-front fees, participating in kickback referral schemes, urging writersto pay for expensive editing services--for you to assume that every agentwho expresses interest in your manuscript is reputable. 1. Begin with a couple of good market guides. For US-based writers,I recommend Literary Marketplace (available in your local library), Jeff Herman's Writer's Guide toBook Editors, Publishers, and Literary Agents, and Rachel Vater's Guide to Literary Agents. In the UK, Writers' and Artists' Yearbook and Writer's Handbook are both comprehensive resources. I suggest you use more than one guide,because all have a different mix of information (and some can be out of date). Also very helpful is John Baker's Literary Agents: A Writer's Introduction--notso much for the agent listings, which though useful are somewhat idiosyncratic, but for the insight it providesinto the way agents work. Unfortunately, there's not a market guide in existence that doesn't contain at least some questionable agents--hencethe steps below--but the ones listed above seem to have fewer than others. I don't recommend Writer's Market,which contains a lot of marginal and amateur agents, as well as a good numberof fee-chargers hiding out in the non-fee section. 2. Use the information in the guides to make a list of agents who are appropriate foryour work. This list can be as big as you like. 3. Expand your list by picking books you think resemble yours, and finding outwho agents them. This is not as difficult as it might seem. Some writers thank their agents in theAcknowledgements sections of their books, or name them on their websites. A websearch on the author or the titlemay yield the information--through a newspaper interview reproduced online, for instance--as may a search of Publisher's Weekly or PublishingNews, which regularly report on who's selling what to whom. If you're a genre writer. here's another resource, Locus Magazine reports on science fiction/fantasy/horror sales. Also, some publishers maintainrights guides on their websites, where agents for recently-published booksare listed. (For links to some rights listings, see my related article,Researching an Agent's Track Record.) 4. Obtain the membership roster of the Association of Authors' Representatives (US)or the Association of Authors' Agents (UK). You can obtain these rosters by visiting the AAR website or the AAA Website. Membership in these organizations is an indication of legitimacy:agents must meet competency requirements in order to join, and abide by a code of practice that excludes manycommon abuses, such as referral kickback schemes. 5. Place a question mark beside any agent who isn't a member. Non-AAR or -AAA membership doesn't necessarily indicate a lack of reputability--anumber of successful agents choose not to be members, or are still too newto have fulfilled the membership requirements. But it's wise to dosome extra research on agents who aren't members. 6. For agents with a question mark, do any or all of the following:
7. Some additional recommendations:
Some Practical Advice on Querying 1. Queries should be precisely targeted.Pick only agents whose interests and specialties are a good match foryour work (apart from the fact that you're more likely to find representation this way, it's simply a waste of time and postage to query an agent ifyour work doesn't match his/her tastes). Be sure to take the future shapeof your writing into account--ideally, your agent won't represent just this one book, but your writing career as a whole. 2. Use up-to-date sources. Print market guidesare expensive. I often hear from writers who've picked up a two- or three-year-oldedition at a used bookstore as a way to save money. But things change fastin publishing, and even a year-old guide may contain a lot of outdated information.Bite the bullet and spring for a new copy. 3. Be businesslike. Yourquery letter is your chance to snag an agent's attention. It needs toprovide a dynamic and intriguing snapshot of your work--but remember thatit's also a business document. Keep it professional, and keep it brief (asingle page if possible). Really unusual or inventive or passionate queryletters that break the business mold can also work, if you're able to writethem--but not many people can. Unless you're really sure you have the skillto carry this off, stick to a business format. 4. Pay attention to the agent's submission requirements.How-to-write books often give general guidelines for what to send (queryletter, synopsis, first three chapters). This is fine when an agent doesn'thave specific preferences--but many do, and don't want to see all of thisinitially. Sending a submission that doesn't conform to agents' stated preferences may provide a good reason to set your submission aside. Also, don't sendsubmissions electronically unless the agent's guidelines specifically sayyou can do so. Most agents still want to receive work in hard copy, via snailmail. On a related note: keep it plain. Fancy packaging such as coloredpaper or elaborate binders, or extras such as author photos or mockups ofyour book cover, are not welcome. They will make your submission stand out--inthe wrong way. 5. Spread a wide net. If an agent asks for your entire manuscript, s/hewill often request an exclusive reading, but you can query and/or send partials to as many agents as you want. 6. Be bold. Query every agent who might be appropriate,no matter how established and successful they may be. Many new writers limittheir queries to small or new or never-heard-of-'em agencies because theybelieve, or have been told, that established agents don't work with first-timewriters. But this is the best way of getting stuck with a scammer or incompetent. Certainly it's hard to attract the attention of an established agent.But while agents do sometimes close to new submissions (if their listsare full, for instance), no agent worth his or her salt will turn awaya promising manuscript simply because the writer has never published anythingbefore. Agents' lists are always in flux: writers move on, retire, die,or crash and burn. An agent who isn't willing to look for new talent will soonbe out of business. Plus, agents are well aware that future literary starsand bestsellers often come from the ranks of the previously unpublished.A quick check of the news and reviews in trade magazines like Publishers Weekly will show how many writers are sellingfirst novels via well-established agents. Here's another way to look at it. If you wanted to put your home on the market,would you use a real estate agent who'd been trying for years but had neveractually managed to sell a house? It's no different with literary agents.You want someone with demonstrated competence--i.e., a verifiable track recordof commercial sales. If an agent has been in business for some time and hasno real track record (or won't share sales information--a major red flag)it's a strong indication that she doesn't have the skills or the contactsneeded to get editors' attention. And if she isn't having much luck sellingher other clients' work, the odds she'll sell yours are pretty slim. Many writers believe that the words "literary agent" on a letterhead is a guaranteeof editors' attention, and that having an agent--any agent--will automaticallyopen doors that are closed to unagented writers. But this really isn't so. Editorsare well aware of how many incompetent and/or fraudulent agentsthere are; it's one of many reasons they prefer to work with agents theyknow, either personally or by reputation. Unknown agents may receive a littlemore attention than unagented writers, but not much. And if--as many amateuror fraudulent agents do--the agent uses obviously unprofessional methods (submittingsubstandard or inappropriate material, "blitz" submitting to a dozen or moreeditors at once, using form letters, using the client's own query letter,including a "marketing" plan with a novel submission, "bundling" severalqueries in a single submission...the list goes on) the editor will immediatelytag them as questionable and toss their submission onto the slush pile. So do query that successful agent--not just because you can, butbecause he's the only kind of agent worth having. 7. On a related note--be careful with new agents.First-time writers are often advised to query new agents just settingup shop, since these agents are usually actively looking to build their lists. This is good advice, with one caveat: not all new agents are created equal.Contacts and an inside knowledge of the publishing industry are essential.Someone with these assets will probably start making sales right away,but someone who's coming to agenting from a non-publishing-related fieldis going to have a much tougher time getting up to speed--if indeed theyever do. If you're thinking of querying a new agent, make sure s/he has eithersolid commercial publishing experience (as an editor, say), or has previously workedfor another (reputable) agency. Make sure also that s/he really is new--inbusiness a year or less--and not just using a "new to the business" claimto cover up several years of pitiful track records (a common tactic amongincompetent agents). As a general rule of thumb, a new agent should beginmaking sales within six months to a year of starting up. Resources Mentioned in This Article The Association of Authors' Representatives. The professional trade group for US agents. Their website hosts a membership roster and the AAR Canon of Ethics.The Association of Authors' Agents. The professional trade group for UK agents. Their website hosts a membership roster and the AAA Code of Practice. Agent Research & Evaluation News. Informative articles on agents and the deals they make. Publishers Weekly. The online version of the print magazine, very useful for news about agents and publishing in general. It's mainly US-focused, but covers international publishing as well. Publishing News Online. Also the online version of the print magazine. Comprehensive news about the UK market. Publisher's Lunch. A fantastic free newsletter that provides the most up-to-date information about the publishing world. A feature is the weekly Deal Lunch, which covers recent agent/publisher deals. Publishers Marketplace. An extensive professional websitewhere many established agents have listings. Apart from the AAR and the AAA, this is the most reliable agent listing on the Internet; but as with all Internet listings, there are a few bad eggs. Writer Beware. I maintain this website for SFWA. There's detailed information about literary agents here, as well as sections on book doctors, subsidy publishers, contests, copyright, electronic rights, and online publication. Preditors & Editors. Agent listings, with notations as to which agents aren't recommended. Agent Research & Evaluation Verification Service. Another place to check up on agents. AR&E will search their database for sales the agent has made, and let you know if there've been any complaints. Researching an Agent's Track RecordMy article suggests a procedure for researching track records, and offers some resources. Landing an Agent. This article by science fiction author Robert Sawyer includes advice on querying plus a list of agents who represent SFWA members. The Complete Nobody's Guide to Query Letters. An excellent article on crafting query letters, from author Lynn Flewelling. Order Books Mentioned in This Article Writer's Guide to Book Editors,Publishers, and Literary Agents, by Jeff HermanGuide to Literary Agents, by Rachel Vater Writers'and Artists' Yearbook Writer's Handbook Literary Agents: A Writer's Introduction,by John Baker __________________________________________ Victoria Strauss is the author of six fantasy novels, and a regular book reviewer for the online journal SF Site. Her articles on writing have appeared in Writer’s Digest and elsewhere. She’s an active member of the Science Fiction and Fantasy Writers of America, where she serves as vice-Chair of the Writing Scams Committee and maintains the Writer Beware literary scams warning website. She welcomes visitors to her own website: http://www.victoriastrauss.com. Used with Permission Copyright 1999-2008 Victoria Strauss 
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