Literary Agents or Publishers?

[Jane Mitchell]

My roommate and I have published new books in the past few months which we are mostly handselling. Mine is crime fiction set in Alabama and Florida and his is interconnected short stories (of the roman a clef, bildungsroman tradition) set in Liverpool and Atlanta. We published POD with BookSurge and, naturally, would love either a savvy agent or commercial publisher. Any advice, other than the standard Jeff Herman's/Literary Marketplace/Writer's Market? All and any input will be appreciated.

Jane Mitchell

[Kathryn Lilley]

Hi Jane! You definitely need an agent. Write a killer query letter, append the first three pages of your manuscript, and send it off to agents from Jeff Herman's book that you think would be a good "match" for your book. But first, make sure that your manuscript is ready for prime time. I suggest that you read Miss Snark's blog at: http://misssnark.blogspot.com/
(She has, sadly, stopped updating the blog, but it's still the best source of advice on how-to-prepare-your-manuscript-and-find-an-agent on the planet.) You can go through the archives to find the information that you need.