More on agents

[Mike Dennis]

I have a theory that there are two kinds of agents (not counting the huge William Morris-type outfits). The first kind believes there really is talent out there worth finding. She doggedly sifts through piles and piles of poorly-written stuff until she becomes overwhelmed and just gives up. "Not currently seeking new authors" is a common mantra for this type.

The second kind believes there is talent out there, and after sifting through the slush pile, does not give up. Instead, she hires a reader. This reader is usually fresh out of college, armed with an English degree and plenty of attitude. He yearns to make it either as an agent or somewhere in the publishing business. Right away, he attacks the job with gusto.

But something's wrong. He quickly realizes that his future in the business will be dim if he starts recommending stuff to the agent that she doesn't like. After all, what can end a career faster than having your boss think you have no taste?

So this eager reader now becomes a professional rejector. You can see it now, can't you? The agent sticks her head in and says, "Anything worthwhile yet?" To which he replies, "Nothing yet, but I'm still looking!" In fact, he quit looking long ago, instead merely returning the manuscripts unread with form postcards attached.

I've met dozens and dozens of published authors over the years, some of them very famous, and I've always asked them one question: "How did you get your first agent?" I can say that not one of them was united with their first agent through the "carefully-constructed query letter plus sample chapters" routine. Every story was different, but each one involved luck, connections, or a combination of both. In one case, the author married his agent.

I have no doubt that people, maybe people on this forum, got their first agent via the standard query-letter route, but I think there's a message here. In general, agents really don't want to know you if you're unknown.

[Dana King]

Dotti here. Two agents. The first I found by talking to an author at a book signing, and she was kind enough to give me the agent's contact information. We parted amicably when I wanted to take the series in a different direction than she did. I feel as though I could still call her for advice, and I will give her an acknowledgment if I do sell something, as she taught me a great deal about self-editing.

The second agent I found the traditional way, through cold querying. I found her name in the acknowledgments of a book not unlike mine, so I knew she might have an interest. Our parting wasn't quite as friendly, as she only wanted to pitch to big New York houses, and I felt, after they had all passed, we needed to start smaller. The analogy I used was I wanted to get men on base and move the runners, and she wanted to sit around and wait for a home run. I had no objection to trying her way, but what if I only have warning track power? (Okay, enough of that.)

So agents are obtainable by unknowns in the traditional way, and not only for sure fire sellers. Both of these agents invested time and enthusiasm in me, and I'm grateful to both for their efforts.

I've also has numerous agent and small publisher rejections. The only way I've found to deal with them is to decide they either weren't the right fit, or the writing had to get better. Pick the thinks I can control, not rail about a system I can't change.

[B.R.Stateham]

Finding an agent. Hmmm, let's see, what's been my experience.
1. One said she would represent me--and died from an allergic reaction to something a month later.
2. One signed me up--and then disappeared with everyone's manuscripts.
3. One thought a historical mystery series I wrote was great and asked how many could I produce, and then six months later dropped me saying, 'fiction is hard to sell.'
4. One said the fantasy series I am writing was 'astonishing' but one year later dropped all fiction writers to specialize in non-fiction.
5. One thought a detective novel of mine was interesting. . . and I never heard from him again.
6. And just about every established 'lit firms' sent out photocopied rejection slips about four days after I submitted.

So I'd say either I am snake bit, I can't write worth shit (and I don't believe this), or there's more luck and timing involved in finding an agent than most people want to admit.

[I. J. Parker]

Yes, on luck and timing.

I cold queried for my agent. But I was lucky in that I could start my query with "I've just been nominated for a Shamus award". I think that may have made the difference. Luck and timing.

[Dana King]

There's no way to overestimate the importance of timing, though successful people do it all the time. Bill Gates wouldn't be Bill Gates if he'd brought DOS to market a year and a half earlier or later. He brought it out at the perfect time.

As for luck, IJ is in the perfect position to get lucky, because the harder you work, the luckier you get.

[I. J. Parker]

This has been a particularly tiring day. I hope you're right.

[Mike Dennis]

I think that your nomination for the Shamus award lifted you out of the unwashed, IJ. I should've said in my original theory that I meant it to include only unpublished writers. Obviously, if you've had success as a published author without an agent, then you have become a known quantity. And deserving of congratulations.

[Mike Dennis]

Sounds like you've had a lot of luck with agents, BR. All bad.

Now it's time for some good luck.

[B.R.Stateham]

What's the old wag about luck? 'If it wasn't for my bad luck, I wouldn't have any luck at all!'

[I. J. Parker]

What Mike means, is that you're due for a change.

[Eric Christopherson]

Just to play devil's advocate here, how do you know it's the "too difficult" light instead of the "writing doesn't stand out enough yet" light?

Agent contacts or no, in the end it's the writing that matters. You might be better served by focusing on how you can bump your game up another notch.

It's a bit of a catch 22 here. By the time your writing is really worthy of an agent, and agented authors are willing to go to bat for you, you'll no longer need any contacts to get an agent. Handy, yes, but superfluous.