Literary Agent Blog – By a Former Literary Agency President

How Literary Agents Work - This article reveals how book agents work. Do they make decisions about which authors they represent, based, in part, on personal taste—or, based solely on whether the books they're considering are marketable? Scroll below to find out. You...

Literary Agent First Five Pages - One of the things that frustrates authors most, is literary agents who only let writers submit a few pages of a manuscript, and then reject it. How can agents decide if a book is worthy of representation based on so little material?...

This article puts a new twist on literary agent rejection letters. If you’re like most authors (including my coaching clients who work with me to find a literary agent), you probably already know it can be difficult to get an agent. Really difficult. So, I wrote this...

Updated 9/16/17: This post now includes the text transcript of Miri's interview. During this insider interview on our literary agent blog, Miri Leshem-Pelly, author of the children's picture book Scribble and Author, shares her best tips for authors of all...

After I published last week's article about Authors Behaving Badly, an award-winning author (who asked to remain anonymous) sent me a moving response. It was so powerful (and insightful), I asked permission to share her letter with you. Her story (below) is...

What's your favorite writer's block quote? Read the quotes below to stay inspired and get rid of writer's block. And, click here to read my article about How to Stop Writer's Block. It reveals my definition of writer's block and my 35 best strategies regarding how to...

Want to know how to stop writer's block? This article shares the most complete and nuanced definition of writer's block you'll find online, along with my best tips about how to deal with writer's block. No matter what type of material you're writing, or how long...

During this insider interview on our literary agent blog, Carol Plum-Ucci, author of more than half a dozen young adult novels published by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt, in hardcover and paperback, including The Body of Christopher Creed, shares advice for authors of all...

Literary agent rejections can be difficult to interpret and overcome. This article will help you comprehend and cope with the often-cryptic and sometimes-insensitive missives of book agents. It was inspired by an author who recently posted the following comment on one...

This article has information about both "author platform" and literary agents seeking diversity. It's a follow-up article to one I published a couple weeks ago called, Are Literary Agents and Publishers Prejudiced? After I posted the original article, a lot of authors...

During this insider interview on our literary agent blog, Erika Armstrong, author of the memoir A Chick in the Cockpit (Behler Publications) shares her best tips for authors of all genres about how to write, publish, and/or promote a book. During this special...

Are literary agents and publishers prejudiced? In other words, are books sometimes rejected because of an authors' gender, age, race, politics, religion, sexual orientation, relationship status, religious beliefs, etc.? Of course, but it's not as often as you might...

During this insider interview on our literary agent blog, Karen Sargent (author of Waiting for Butterflies (Amphorae Publishing Group / Walrus Publishing) shares tips for authors of all genres about how to write, publish, and/or promote a book. Karen also talks about...

Authors sometimes say interesting things when they visit my websites. That’s partly because I provide a lot of information to help writers get literary agents, publishers, and book deals. I also say things like, “Getting published isn’t luck, it’s a decision!” And, a...

During this insider interview on our literary agent blog, Melissa Burch (author of the memoir My Journey Through War and Peace: Explorations of a Young Filmmaker, Feminist and Spiritual Seeker, published by Mosaic Press), shares tips for authors of all genres about...

During this insider interview on our literary agent blog, Laura Moe (author of the young adult novel Breakfast with Neruda, published by Adams Media/F+W/Merit Press), shares tips for authors of all genres about how to write, publish, and/or promote a book. Laura also...

One of the main reasons that talented authors don’t get top literary agents, publishers, and book deals is that they don’t understand the best strategy to use when coordinating their submissions to literary agents. As a result, those authors often get confused and...