The Most Important Aspects about Literary Agents

For an aspiring author who has just completed a manuscript and wishes to get published, there is a good news and that is, there is no shortage of either publishers/agents or resources from where one can find them.

The bad news however is, a new unpublished author can get lost down the dark tunnel of search, confusion, more search and more confusion while finding a literary agent.

In the United States, there is the annual Writer’s Market directory, which is being published since 1920 and gives more than 8,000 listings of where one can get published. It includes literary agents as well.

That is just one part of the story.

The other one is, finding a literary agent, and a good one is an uphill task.

Some attributes like a few mentioned below are important to consider during the search process.

To avoid ending up in a bad alliance and a probable collision.

1. Sales Track Record - A thorough review of the client list and the publishers of the agent is needed. Usually, these are found on the website of literary agents. Also, it needs to be checked if the publishers the agent sells are suitable for the kind of work the new author wants to publish.
2. Professionalism - whether the agent sounds enthusiastic, gives prompt response to emails and gives feedback on time, guides on royalty issues, copyrights, oversees licensing agreements, terms of their contracts once a deal is made with a publisher etc.
3. Proposal Pitching - A good agent helps an author, especially a new author, to improve the pitch/ query proposal ensuring that it is primed for success. This almost always requires at least one round of feedback and revision.
4. New Agents Worth Trying - Sometimes it is easier to get represented by a new agent who is trying to build a roster of clients. Especially for a new author with a potentially small deal who is less likely to interest an established agent. A new and "Hungry" agent can work out just as well. Even if an agent's track record is still developing a careful look at the agent’s previous experience in publishing often helps. For example, was the agent formerly an editor or writer?
5. NO universal truth - The same agents may not equally be good for every book they might represent. What tends to be most important is the agent- author chemistry. That needs to match.

Similarly, size does not matter. It does not necessarily correlate with the quality of the agent or the size of the deal that a new author expects.

Some writers really dislike conducting this kind of research. For them joining PubMatch could be an easy and better option.