A silly question really...but for those of you on here that do have agents - how did you get them?

As in, was it through the slush-pile?

...or was it through networking, networking, networking?

As a person trying to suss out the current state of the market - i think this would be useful information.

Of course, if you'd rather not say - that is fine.

Thanks

Dan

No problem, Dan - I got my agent, John Jarrold, through finding out (I think from memory either from this site or another writers' resourse) that he had in fact recently become an agent in crime (my genre) and fantasy. I then sent off my stuff to him on spec, he read it, asked for the rest, liked it and took me on.

There were other agents who were also interested, but no-one else was quite as enthusiastic as he is. I also think it helped as he was new and building up a client list in certain areas, and I happened to fit the bill.

I would therefore say that the best way to go about it is to (a) research the agent market (b) pinpoint those who deal with your genre and (c) send them the stuff. But most of all (d) keep your ear to the ground and be aware of what's happening in the writing world.

Good luck!

A
xxx

I've had three agents - one died, one stopped agenting. I heard of each of them through friends in the trade who suggested names. Along with the standard submission, I wrote a letter saying, 'XXX, who is a friend of mine and has read my novel, suggested that I send you this as she thought you might be interested...' (Whatever you do, make sure it doesn't sound as XXX read it professionally and turned it down.)

This last novel I sent to eight agents, at least four of which took it further; two ringing back after so long that I was able to say, 'terribly sorry, you've been beaten to it.'

I suppose you could call that networking, but it was really slush pile in the sense that it was a classic unsolicited submission. The recommendation may have got me higher up the pile, but my work was still being read against everyone else's - it wasn't like meeting them in person and being able to pitch it. (Mind you, even if you're a demon networker in this way, they still may not like your work and reject it. Whereas, if they like your work, they won't care how good or bad a pitch you can make).

I think HollyB's advice is sound, especially if you're writing in a genre that some agents specialise in - it's tougher to work out who likes what in general fiction. What I'd add is, pounce on every opportunity, keep your ears and eyes open, and if you are given a lead, don't be afraid to send your work to someone who may not sound quite right. You're courting another rejection, but they just might pass it on to someone else in the firm, or the rejection may still say something encouraging and/or helpful.

Emma

I got quite far via the slush-pile method, in that I kept getting very encouraging letters from a particular agent who was always keen to see more, and always requested the full scripts. The rejections were many, but as time went on, became more and more constructive. For this reason, I would always advise that if you redraft a novel, don't be afraid to send it back to an agent that has already rejected it. Tenacity is a good thing!

The agent I have, I met by pure chance, and I didn't know she was an agent when we got talking, but when the subject came up, she asked me to send some stuff. She rejected two novels, but contacted me about some commission work. That's what I'm doing now, while working on a new novel.

Colin

I'm American, so not sure how helpful this is or how much this is different over there. Sorry got long-winded here.

I sent simple one page query letters (HA- since when are query letters simple, eh?) after researching my top agent choices. I kept about five out at a time, which then resulted in requests. I ended up with three interested and was incredibly fortunate that two offered at the same time. That let me have the confidence to ask some important questions without worrying that I'd annoy them.

I have a friend in the children's writing biz (he's had a good 200 books published so I trusted his opinion)that gave me some good advice that the dynamic of your pre-signing relationship often follows you throughout your time together. Agent One was very businesslike but very excited about my work and tried to sell himself and what his agency could offer, Agent Two was a best friend hand-holder type who was a hot seller but newish with a small agency, and Agent Three had a very grudging manner that made me feel like he was doing me a great favor to bother to look at my work, even though he stated his interest and requested it.

Minutes before the second offer came I was all ready to sign with the Agent Two, who I ended up passing on. She was great, but wouldn't have been the best for me, considering I write in many different genres.

The agent I signed with was actually my top pick, a dream agent with an agency I sort of thought might be out of my league but I hoped my story would intrigue him. It did and he sold my first novel last week (shhhh, ink not dry yet so haven't announced here officially) and has another bunch of editors waiting on my second which he is sending out today. So I would say, aim high, never hurts- they can only say no thanks (okay, so that hurts- I hated the agent search thing- but it was worth it in the end).

I think Sascha's advice is good for the UK too. Query letters do sort out the possible hits from the certain misses - particularly if you're working within a genre, perhaps (and I'm counting children's and YA as a genre in this sense), though it's worth remembering that your precious sample chapters may still come back looking suspiciously un-read. Some agents can't bear to think that they might be missing something and will always say yes, even if they're fairly sure they'll send it straight back.

Having said that, I've never been able to construct a query letter that made my work sound anything other than dreadful, so I've never done one. But that may be a problem more with general fiction than genre work. I've always had to rely (sometimes successfully, sometimes not) on the writing itself to catch an agent's interest, and put up with the expense of sending at least sample chapters out.

I do think that the mass-mailing approach in some ways makes the whole nerve-racking business bearable, in that each rejection (and you're bound to get some) is easier to take because it's diluted. When the first one comes back you'll know there are others still out there, and by the time the last one does you'll be onto something else, (if you've got any sense of self-preservation at all). Each individual dreadful moment as you pick your fat SAE off the doormat is less crushing.

Fundamentally, there is no guaranteed right answer, an assortment of perfectly reasonable ones, and some definitely wrong ones (green ink, pink ribbon ties, telephone harassment, death threats). The main thing to do is to see this part of the business as just that: a business whose job is to keep submitting stuff. Nothing to do with your writing itself. And your business self's other job is to protect your writing self as far as possible from the damaging effects of rejection.

Emma

Thanks guys really interesting.

I've actually sent off to a few places, and none of them have bitten yet - even though a few have given me some tremendously encouraging, (and perhaps undeserved at this stage,) praise.



With this post I was just trying to work out what the current climate is agent-wise, according to you guys who have got one. And it certainly seems to be a mixture of three things:

1)HARD WORK.
2)Networking.
3)Chance.

(Get's head back down to the writing then Dan.)

Cheers guys.

Good luck with it, and cherish that encouragement!

Emma

Will do Emma.

Thinking about setting up a rejection wall-of-fame.



Dan

Over here, anything personal is considered a victory.

That whole battle and war thing...

*goes and fetches battle-axe*

War you say..?

It's really interesting, as an un-agented writer, to see the different approaches here. It seems the main thing is to keep trying!

Gosh, Emma - three agents! I'd be interested to know how long the whole process took from you writing your novel, to finding agent one (then two and three0) and to getting your publishing deal. Did the first agent sell the book for you or was this much earlier on?

Sue

No, my current agent sold this book for me. After a couple of weeks' of revisions, she got a pre-emptive bid from Headline within about ten days of sending it out, which we accepted. (I had done some work on it with the previous agent). The first one tried to sell a couple of earlier efforts: one was a very near miss, and the other one I delivered when he was already very ill, rest his soul, and I've never been sure just how much he was able to do with it - after all, it wasn't my work that was paying his mortgage.

It's been a long haul, but recently I was thinking about what would have happened if the near miss had been a hit. It's the first piece of mine that I wouldn't be ashamed to show anyone, but my writing has grown and changed so much since then, and I don't think it would have if I'd got a deal; I wouldn't have been so driven to get better, and I would have been frightened to move off the track I knew worked. Not selling that one ultimately propelled me into the MPhil, which was one of the best things I've ever done. Plus the rest of my life is in much better shape to cope with what I think is looming for me in the next six months. So, hard as it may be to believe, the last eight years of rejections have actually been a good thing.

Emma

I feel in a similar sort of way, that "back then" I wasn't ready, but now I am, which makes me wonder that if my next novel is rejected, I'll be looking back at this moment in time and be thinking the same thing. Saying that, I know for a fact that I put a lot more thought into writing and plotting now than I did before; at least I tackle it in a very different way.

Sascha,

It did and he sold my first novel last week (shhhh, ink not dry yet so haven't announced here officially)

That's great news. Big whooooohooooo from me!

Colin M

Sascha, I was busy averting my gaze until the ink was dry, but if others are whoohooing, I'm joining in! Many, many congratulations. That's very exciting.

Emma