Literary agents are considered the gatekeepers of the publishing world. Essentially, they introduce author’s manuscripts to publishers to get you a book deal. They will review your book contract with a fine-toothed comb, and most importantly, protect your literary rights. In addition to negotiating the size of your advance and the percentage of royalties you will receive, other rights a literary agent will negotiate for you are “subsidiary rights.” Subsidiary rights involve all electronic rights regarding your manuscript, audio book rights, article excerpt rights, foreign rights, bulk sales, and more. 

Not every publisher requires that your book be submitted by an agent, but if your desire is to find a top-tier publisher, your book must be agented. 

While there are numerous ways to hunt for a literary agent, not all of them are guaranteed to capture an agent's attention. Literary agents often tell me they receive 1000 submissions a month. A few top agents have asked me to text them when I have a manuscript for them to consider, because they just can’t keep up with the amount of submissions entering their Inbox every day. The result is that the majority of submissions are not even going to be opened. 

1. In spite of these very real obstacles, there are ways that you can still get your project noticed. One great way is to attend conferences that literary agents attend. There are many great writer’s conferences around the country, but here are three of my personal favorites:

• The Writer’s Digest Conference is held yearly in NY Times Square in May. This conference offers a Literary Agent Pitch Slam where you get to “speed date” with a number of agents over an hour’s time. Your pitch has to be under 1 minute, and if an agent is interested in what you can tell them about your book in 1 minute, you’ve just opened a door for yourself.
• The San Francisco Writer’s Conference is another great venue for meeting literary agents and learning about the specific genres they pitch to publishers.
• Book Expo America is “the feeding frenzy” for the publishing industry in the United States. Literary agents go there to meet with publishers, authors attend to find agents, publishers look for new distribution channels, librarians search for great books, distributors look for new publishers to engage, and more. At Book Expo America, the literary agents hold meetings in a special rights section. The agent’s area cannot be accessed without an appointment with a literary agent that has been made prior to the Book Expo. However, literary agents will usually walk the show floor. Every literary agent has a badge that identifies them as being an agent. With a smile and a great, quick pitch you just may be able to capture someone’s attention while roaming the show floor and mingling with other publishing industry professionals.

1. If you still want to try the email route to get a literary agent, one of the strongest ways to draw interest in your manuscript is to use the Subject Line of your email to write a quick pitch that is so compelling it will make an agent stop in his or her tracks. Here are some examples:

• “Query: “[your book’s title], author w/ heavy industry endorsements”
• “Query: “[your book’s title], author’s podcast, 30,000 downloads”
• “Query: “[your book’s title], author w/25,000 LinkedIn followers”
• “Query: “[your book’s title], author w/100,000 YouTube subscribers”

3. Address your Cover Letter to a Specific Agent

One of the most common mistake authors make when writing a cover letter to a literary agent is failing to address it to a particular agent. Never address a letter to: 'Dear Agent/Editor.’ If you want to attract an agent who will be interested in representing you, address them by their name. 

4. Create a Social Media Presence

Agents sign authors who have an online presence, as it shows that they already have an audience, which is crucial when the book is finally published. If an agent is potentially interested in your project, they will automatically look you up online and instantly take note of the number of followers you have on Facebook, LinkedIn, YouTube, Instagram or elsewhere. They will also look at the amount of engagement you have on your social media channels. One way to create greater engagement is to ask a question, rather than issue a statement. More people will often respond to questions than they will to statements. You don’t have to be every place and everywhere on social media, but you do have to grow at least one of those channels very strongly. Choose the social media channel where you are the most comfortable, and grow that one the strongest.

Now that you know some of the best ways to find a literary agent, don't wait any longer! We have 20 years of relationships with literary agents. You can kick-start your agent search today by contacting us.

Randy Peyser
Literary Specialist & Speaker
AUTHOR ONE STOP, Inc.
Your book pitched to agents & publishers
We Perform "Book Appendectomies"
Carlson City, NV 89701    (831)726-3153
randy@authoronestop.com
http://www.AuthorOneStop.com

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