Once you've finished your Great American Novel, how do you go about getting published? You can either shop it out to various publishing houses or get an agent to do that for you. Unless you go the small press, e-pub, or self-publishing route, you'll find that most editors don't accept unsolicited work and won't work with unrepresented authors. Agents have the connections you need to get your manuscript to just the right editor and keep your work out of their K-2 of a slush pile. They will also advocate for you to get a publishing contract that is fair. I'm not going to belabor the Why any further, since there are plenty of blog posts about that. This post is about the How.
Step 1: Finish Your Book
Nonfiction can sell on proposal alone, but with fiction, your agent wants to make sure the book they're representing isn't going to be just another drawer novel (you know, that novel you gave up on after page 50 and have stashed away with your other 50-page magnum opuses).
Make sure your manuscript is polished, and I mean POLISHED! Don't just run spellcheck and call it a day. Your plot and subplots need to hang together in a believable manner. Your characters should feel fully developed and not be cardboard cutouts. Make sure your sentences absolutely sing! I've heard too many horror stories of writers who do Nanowrimo (which is a great way of forcing you to get that first draft on paper, by the way), rush to shop out their 50,000 words, then gripe about the rejection letters that roll in.
Repeat after me: Polish that mutha first!
Step 2: Write Your Query Letter and Synopsis
I find these things intimidating myself. Agent Query and Query Shark have great tips on writing query letters. The query letter is your sales tool, a teaser, the first impression an agent gets of your work. Sometimes it's the only thing they want you to submit before they'll look at a single page, so it has to redefine the word "awesome." To put it on a bumpersticker, you give the book title, word count and genre; then you give a paragraph to summarize the plot (think book jacket blurb) and a tell little about yourself if you've got relevant credentials.
The synopsis summarizes your novel and gives the agent an idea of whether or not you can plot a story efficiently. Condensing your 400-page manuscript into less than five can feel about as pleasant as tearing off your eyelids with a potato peeler; just Google "the dreaded synopsis" and you'll come up with a bazillionty hits. The key is to introduce your main characters, put in the key plot points and leave out the extras like subplots and minor characters.
Agents usually ask for something in the 2-3 page (double-spaced) realm, but you also should have a copy you've condensed to one single-spaced page just in case they ask for the short version. Once in awhile you'll get asked for an outline, which is basically a chapter-by-chapter synopsis (you'll devote about a paragraph for each chapter). It's rare that you'll get that request, but do it anyway. If you don't have it, Murphy's Law dictates that they'll ask for one.
Step 3: Do Your Research
First, make sure the agent you're seeking represents your book genre. It sounds like common sense, but according to a lot of agent interviews, they get so many queries for genres they don't represent. Go to Agent Query, Query Tracker and the Writer's Market to start. Select your genre and get a list of appropriate agents. Cross reference their submission requirements with the requirements on the website.
Follow their submission requirements. Some want only e-queries and others prefer snail mail. Some agents want just the query letter, others want a query and synopsis, and still others want both the above plus some sample pages or chapters. When they ask for sample chapters, they mean chapter one up until whatever specified page or chapter number. Don't get cute and give them something from the middle; you've gotta hook them from the first page. If the agent doesn't specify what to send, you can either send just the query, or send the query, a short synopsis (1-2 pages), and your first 5-10 pages.
Before you do any of that, make sure the agent is legit. If an agent is seeking you out, run. This person probably charges reading fees and sends you off to the book doctor who gives them kickbacks. Legitimate agents have more clients banging on their door than they can handle. Also, a legitimate agent makes their money strictly by commission (15% domestic is the standard). A fee-charging scam artist makes their money in reading fees and kickbacks, so they're not going to shop your manuscript out to publishers. Remember: Money is supposed to flow to the writer.
Also, make sure your agent has the industry experience and contacts they need to get your book to the right editors. If the agent is new, they should have made their bones apprenticing at a reputable agency or working for a legitimate publisher so they can get the aforementioned contacts. You don't want you new agent to have just woken up out of the blue, decided to be an agent and hung out a shingle. That person might not be a scam artist, but they won't be able to get your manuscript out of the editor's slush pile. Check out sites like Preditors and Editors, and go to the Absolute Write Water Cooler forum and check out any agent you have questions on.
It also helps to do a spreadsheet as you go. That way you can put in notes like how long they take to respond, the date you queried, whether you're allowed to query multiple agents in the same agency. Don't blow your wad all at once, either. Query 5-10 at a time and wait about a month to 6 weeks to hear back. Then query 5-10 more. That way you can keep track of who you queried and when. Also, this helps you to see if the query letter you're sending out now is actually working or if you need to tweak it.
In the meantime, keep writing your next book because it's all about the wait now. You will get rejected too. I'm not saying this to be discouraging, I'm just saying this as a fact. Everyone gets rejected, even the greats did at some point.
So finish your book, do your research and start developing that callus on your entire epidermis, because you're gonna need it.
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