How to Get a Literary Agent – Tips to Get Book Agents

How to get a literary agent that’s perfect for you and your book – use this How to Get a Literary Agency Checklist. There are ten things you need to make sure you have prepared before you submit your work to literary agencies. How many of them do you have ready? Read this article to find out.

This how to get a literary agent checklist is part of a 17-part article series called How to Get a Literary Agent.

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How to Get a Literary Agent
Checklist

• Understanding Literary Agencies: The 1st thing on my How to Get a Book Agent Checklist is learning the basics of what literary agencies are, how they work, and what the requirements are to be a book agent. Begin by Reading My Guide to Literary Agents.
• Book: The 2nd item on my How to Get a Book Agent Checklist is making sure your book or sample chapters are ready. Has your material been edited? What is the word count or expected word count? How many chapters are there? How long will it take you to finish the book (if it’s not complete already)? Do you have a table of contents? Do you need to provide illustration information? And finally, which genre(s) or category does your book best fit into? Look at my comprehensive list of literary agents’ categories to find out.
• Agent List: The 3rd thing on my How to Get a Book Agent Checklist is identifying the literary agencies most likely to be interested in your genre that are also looking for new authors. Access My Directory of Literary Agents to make sure list is accurate.
• Query Letter: The 4th item on my How to Get a Book Agent Checklist is writing a 1-2 page literary agent query letter or “pitch” letter, positioning you and your book in the best way possible. Make sure you have an irresistible opening “hook” or “logline” to ensure that the remainder of your query letter gets read.
• Book Synopsis: The 5th thing on my How to Get a Book Agent Checklist is writing a short and long synopsis for literary agents. Most literary agencies want a short synopsis and some want a long synopsis, so make sure you have both.
• Book Proposal: The 6th item on my How to Get a Book Agent Checklist is a book proposal (this is mostly for nonfiction authors) with detailed information about the book and target market, competitive advantages, your biography, and  a publicity/marketing plan. Click here to learn how to write a book proposal for book agents.
• Submission Methods: The 7th thing on my How to Get a Book Agent Checklist is learning about the different ways to submit your book to a literary agent: mail, email, and online. Check preferred/accepted submission method(s) before submitting.
• Formatted Properly: The 8th item on my How to Get a Book Agent Checklist is making sure you’re aware of the different file format submission guidelines for book agents.
• Follow Up:  The 9th thing on my How to Get a Book Agent Checklist is learning about book agent turnaround times for query letters, manuscript partials, and complete manuscripts. That way you’ll know what to expect and when to follow up.
• Feedback: The 10th item on my How to Get a Book Agent Checklist is knowing what kind of book agent feedback to expect so you can manage your expectations and respond appropriately.

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Conclusion – How to Get a Literary Agent

Now that you have your How to Get a Literary Agent Checklist…

Click here to read the next article in this 17-part series and
learn How to Write a Literary Agent Query Letter.