For this week's Spotlight Saturday, since I am doing a Spotlight miniseries on what I am learning during my journey to getting published, I will be talking about literary agents. And for those of you who have not already heard, I recently finished my #WIP2, titled CRIMSON which I plan to make the first in a series, The Grimm Chronicles, of fairy tale retellings.
What I have learned about those who are also on the path of getting published often ask "Do I really need an agent?" Well . . . In my personal opinion, ABSOLUTELY. Literary agents are literary agents for a reason: They know what the hell they are doing. Whereas, us amateurs as just that, amateurs. The publishing business is stormy waters and literary agents are the captains that can navigate and get us where we need to be so that our beautiful bundle of manuscript gets into the right publishing hands.
Or into any publishing hands for that matter!
In case you did not already know, a literary agent is:
a professional agent who acts on behalf of an author in dealing with publishers and others involved in promoting the author's work; represent writers and negotiate the writer's contract with a publishing house.
- Google
The Need to Know about Literary Agents:
1. Common Interest: Find an agent who has an affinity for what you wrote; YA? Thriller? Romance? All three?
2. The Hook: Your query letter should get the literary agent hooked; they read hundreds of queries each week so you want to stand out.
3. Listen: No two agents are the same; each agent has their own preferences so remember #1 and pay attention to what they want to see in your query letter (going back to #2, submission guidelines)
4. Polish: Just as you would polish yourself up for a job interview expect to do the same for your manuscript even before you land an agent. *Think about passing your manuscript through Critique Partners and Beta Readers before you begin the querying literary agents.
5. Hope: DO NOT LOSE HOPE! Even the greatest writers in history got shot down so keep your head up. There is always room for improvement so improve and keep the hope alive.
Having said all of that, keeping tracking of the agents you queried and what they want when you query them is no small feat. Luckily, I stumbled upon a site where you can do just that. And so more! Check it out: QueryTracker
Anything you would like to add? Advice when querying agents? Any secrets that would boost chances of landing an agent? ;)
Happy Reading!
0 comments:
Post a Comment