{"id":725,"date":"2005-05-03T21:51:00","date_gmt":"2005-05-03T21:51:00","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.lucysnyder.com\/index.php\/secret-literary-agent-man\/"},"modified":"2017-02-26T20:58:28","modified_gmt":"2017-02-26T20:58:28","slug":"secret-literary-agent-man","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.lucysnyder.com\/index.php\/secret-literary-agent-man\/","title":{"rendered":"Secret (Literary) Agent Man"},"content":{"rendered":"

The Traditional Path To Being Agented<\/h3>\n

When you’re trying to sell your first novel, you’re stuck in a terrible Catch-22: many publishers won’t look at your work unless it’s represented by an agent, but it’s very hard to get a legitimate agent without a published novel under your belt or a publishing offer in hand.<\/p>\n

Joe Haldeman once told me that the single best way to get a decent agent is through a combination of shopping your own novel around and networking with other writers. The best way of getting noticed in the slush pile is to have a track record of short story sales — even a few credits look a whole lot better than none. Novel writing is<\/i> very different from short story writing; some folks do the one well and the other poorly. However, having short fiction credits shows that you have marketable skill writing fiction. Heck, in some instances the editor might actually recognize your name. Whatever you can do to get your manuscript out of the slush pile and into an editor’s hands is a very good thing.<\/p>\n

If you’re starting to get short work published, joining professional writers’ organizations like the National Writer’s Union, SFWA or HWA can be a huge help; these organizations will help you develop professional relationships with established authors who’ve already been around the block a time or two when it comes to agents and who can recommend someone when you’ve finally got a bite from a publisher. They’ll also help steer you clear of known scam artists.<\/p>\n

In some instances, these professional organizations offer you other opportunities to get in touch with publishers. For instance, the Horror Writers’ Association has set up pitch meetings with book editors at this year’s World Horror Convention. While pitch meetings can be a terror some writers don’t want to deal with, they can yield very good results for those who present themselves and their work well in person.<\/p>\n

When you get an offer back from a publisher, that’s the time to call up your author acquaintances and see if they know of decent agents who’ll be willing to look over the contract. The 10%-15% agent commission is well worth having someone knowledgeable check the contract to make sure you’re getting what you should and, possibly more important, aren’t selling away important rights.<\/p>\n

Evaluating An Agent<\/h3>\n

Sometimes, though, you don’t have contacts, and you’re not a story writer. What then? How do you separate the hordes of scam artists and bogus amateurs posing as legitimate literary agents from the real ones?<\/p>\n

You should look elsewhere if an agent:<\/p>\n