How I got my agent…like a noob

An amazing thing happened recently. At least it’s amazing to me. Perhaps not the holy grail for a new writer, but a scaled down, still just as gleaming, slightly less voluminous cup which is but one step closer in the long and seemingly impenetrable process of becoming traditionally published.

Ladies and gentlemen, boys and girls, genders of all sizes and identifications, I have found an agent for my novel, currently titled, Deity Six. Cue brassy horns and angelic fanfare. Or, ya know, just sit there, in all statistical likelihood, not reading this and going about your day. Whatever. I don’t care anymore. I got an agent! There’s a “nah, nanny, boo boo,” joke in there somewhere, but what do I look like, a writer?

What an agent means:

An agent is your ferrywoman/man across the rapid strewn and violent river Styx  separating you from the publishing world. First let’s be clear. You don’t actually need an agent. If you’re highly self motivated, a great self editor, or just simply aren’t seeking the external validation provided by traditional publishing, then self-publishing is probably for you. It comes with its own pitfalls, but that’s an assessment for another day. A good agent will help you edit your book, make sure it fits squarely into the genre it needs to be in, review and negotiate any publishing contracts for you, and pull your head above those rough literary waters when it inevitably feels like you’re about to go under. All for the nominal fee of some money off the contract and any future royalties they’ve managed to secure you, as well as a reasonable portion of your immortal soul.

To sum up: if you don’t want to worry about self publishing, about doing your own leg work and wish to grasp tightly to the more confident leg of another person whilst they bodily drag you, kicking and screaming, through the cliche tossed waters of publishing, then an agent is definitely for you!

Some details:

My contract was fairly straight forward. One year contractual obligation on my book, wherein I would not seek alternate representation. They would do the best of their abilities to find it a good and loving home, as well as help me with some basic editing to make sure it fits the genre it’s supposed to. After that period of time, if no sale/deal has been made, the rights and ability to do what I wish with (the book) return to me. There were some other things involved with it, but at that point my mind wandered off and I went in search of a cheeseburger. So, sorry about that! The contract also stipulated that the representation was for the book/novel in question, only. Not for me as a writer. Meaning, that I was free to pursue different realms of publication or representation for any/all of the other works I currently have tucked into my questionable belt.

How I actually did said agent wrangling:

For me, finding an agent had a great deal to do with connections. Keep in mind the process will likely be very different for you, as this is not a “how to” guide/one size fits all for literary agents. This last April I attended my first writer’s conference where I met a super cool person (currently my editor on this blog post, as a matter of fact), who is a professional and published author. This author, who shall remain nameless *cough, sputter* J.A. Kazimer *cough, cough* became my friend. She then convinced me to attend a second writing conference. (For my take on writing conferences check out what I had to say about them here!) Now here’s where it gets tricky. At this conference, this friend I’d cultivated (because, social skills), then…INTRODUCED ME TO HER AGENT! See. Personal connection. Word of your behavior and professionalism transcends boundaries. From there it was up to me. After speaking with my once and future representative, it was discovered that we got along well (an important element), she was interested in the premises of my writing (equally important), and my physical presence didn’t send her eyes into uncontrollable and rather unpleasant twitching (possibly less important). Following the conference I sent her my query and some pages (I think 30, according to her request). She requested more. And upon reading my full manuscript she then showered me with lavish and much deserved praise and promises of riches, then told me of her interest in representing this book, and by default, me.

A summation to end…like, one other summation:

In total I queried in the neighborhood of about thirty different agents in the genre of my book, DEITY SIX, if I neglected to mention it before, which happens to fall under Young Adult Science Fiction. Between one third to a half of those agents queried did not respond…make of that what you will. Finding an agent, in macrocosm, is about a few things: Persistence (don’t give up). It’s a numbers game (also don’t give up). And subjective luck. You could have written the greatest novel to have ever been written, but if you’re not putting it in front of the right eyes it will still never get picked up. And to be fair about the whole thing, finding yourself an agent isn’t the end…it’s the beginning. The work starts there, and will probably get harder and more frustrating in many ways. So prepare yourself. I’m only just getting into the suggested edits from my agent **tee hee** and it was enough to cause a minor panic attack. So if there’s anything to be taken away from this post it should be this: Don’t give up. Revise when you need to. Do your research. Attend events and conventions. Be professional.

And…don’t…give…up.