Getting An Agent: Alternatives To The Traditional Method

From Writer's Relief staff:

Although it seems that the majority of writers who land a literary agent take the traditional approach of writing and sending query letters, some authors connect with agents in different ways.

We at Writer’s Relief have been helping authors craft and target traditional query letters since 1994, but here are alternative methods that writers have employed in recent years to meet, schmooze and impress literary agents.

1. Conferences. Literary agents frequently attend writing conferences—in part because they hope that writers who are willing to fork over significant fundage to take classes and hobnob with important people might just be the kind of writers who are more likely to offer quality work. Having a ten-minute chat with a literary agent at a pitch session might give you an edge up on the competition. Hint: Bookmark this free, regularly updated list of writing conferences.
2. Writers Groups. Professional writer organizations, like Romance Writers of America or Mystery Writers of America, provide great opportunities for networking. Chapter meetings frequently feature panels with literary agents, as well as cocktail parties, award assemblies and general who’s who gatherings. Be there—and with a little finesse and luck, you just might catch an agent’s eye.
3. Blogging. When it comes to blogging, some writers have great success while others flounder (see Lisa Dale’s free e-book "10 Simple Facts That Can Make Or Break Your Author Blog" for her thoughts on why this happens). If you start a blog that has a strong, unique commercial hook, you could end up with a literary agent and a book deal. Case in point: "Julie and Julia" or "101 Uses for My Ex-Wife’s Wedding Dress," by “Kevin Cotter, author of the famous blog.”
4. Self-publishing. Some self-published books are showstoppers. They float to the top and break through the surface like a great white shark chomping a seal. If your self-published book takes off, you can bet literary agents’ interest in it will too.
5. Social media. Let’s say you have a self-published book. Or perhaps a book that you’re publishing in installments. Or you’ve amassed a huge fan following for your blog, your Facebook page, or your Twitter account. A good rule of thumb is, if lots and lots of people are paying attention to your writing, there might be a literary agent or two in that crowd as well.
6. The (un)lucky writer. Did you have a crazy experience that made the news and caught the attention of the world? Literary agents might come looking for you—even if you don’t know your bare from your bear.
7. Publish short pieces in literary journals and/or newspapers. Here at Writer’s Relief, we’ve seen a number of clients—some who weren’t even writing books—gain interest from literary agents who “saw something” in their writing. We’ve also seen writers offered representation based on little more than an op ed in a major paper. Some people get lucky.

There may be more alternative methods when it comes to getting a literary agent. In most cases, having personal contact can help. Being in the right place at the right time can help too. But you’ve probably realized that some of these “methods” are little more than crapshoots.

Most writers we know aren’t willing to leave things to chance or take a passive “wait to see if somebody notices me” approach. And that means agent hunting the way most writers do it: writing query letters—to agents you’ve schmoozed and/or agents you haven’t—and hoping for the best.

QUESTION: What’s your strategy for getting an agent? Going the traditional route? Or breaking new ground? Let us know in the comments!

Writer’s Relief is an author’s submission service that helps writers research, target, and prepare their submissions. Learn more!

Comments

[Max Vohra]

07:58 PM on 09/29/2011

Can't people publish print books without literary agents?

[Bar Mitzvahzilla]

03:31 AM on 09/23/2011

I also spent years learning my craft, taking classes, workshops, attending conferences, being in writer's groups and earning a Master's in English. When my book was ready, I submitted queries to 11 agents and had three requests for full manuscripts and one partial. I became represented by an agent, however, one year later ended our professional relationship. I continued to work on my book and on my "platform" while the publishing industry and bookstores were changing before my eyes. Because I couldn't imagine that in this tight market an agent would actually be interested in a book that had already been through an agent, I recently self-published. Although my book's doing well, there are certain walls I've run into that have been somewhat overwhelming. There is still prejudice against self-publishing and there is some (well-founded) assumption that people who self-publish can't write or they'd have a "real" publisher, some of which has been expressed in these comments.

As someone who has now self-published I can say that I've gotten something I didn't anticipate: with no one else involved, not anything but my book and me, we stand together or we fall together. It's been an incredibly humbling experience to know I can write but to have people assume I can't. And, although obtaining an agent wasn't my goal in self-publishing, I can safely say that it's not something I would turn down now.

[ignacio sanabria]

06:00 PM on 09/22/2011

Writers should keep writing. Soon or later readers will show up.

[TomHunter]

10:07 PM on 09/21/2011

I spent years learning my craft, understood story, read classics and other books that decoded those classics. I read a lot of modern novels too.
I wrote several novels before I submitted one to an agent. I read and wrote and studied the architecture of story. Then I spent two years writing a thriller based on a fantastic idea. Then I spent a few more years polishing and re-architecting my book based on this fantastic idea:

"Russia has a terrible problem with abandoned children who live in the sewers. The Russian Mafia uses these homeless kids for organ transplants. An American reporter in St. Petersburg discovers what the Russian Mafia is doing but he only succeeds in bringing their fury down on his own head.
In this fast-paced thriller, you will enter the raw underbelly of modern Russia. You will see depravity and vicious cruelty--things you cannot believe one human could do to another. You will see things that will shake you to the core of your being. By the time you come out on the other side of this thrilling odyssey into the dark heart of Russia, you will be changed forever."

I submitted a novel based on that idea to an agent. He accepted me and is now my agent. He gave me some feedback on that novel. In response to his feedback, I rewrote my book again. In short, I worked my tail off. There are no shortcuts.

[BlackJAC]

05:06 PM on 09/21/2011

One of the agents at the agency that now reps me stated on his webpage that self-publishing doesn't make you a writer.  It gels with another thing I'd read about how self-publishing can actually hurt you because it carries this subtle hint that there's something wrong with the book to make real publishers pass on it.

[Imago1122]

08:54 AM on 09/22/2011

You say self-publishing doesn't make one a writer. Perhaps, perhaps not. Nevertheless, I second Julia Cameron on this: anyone who writes is a writer, even if there might exist in this literary world, as in all things, striations of ability, a pantheon of gods and an earth-plane of mortals and lesser mortals---but that still doesn't mean a self-published author isn't a writer. Is the singer on the subway not a singer because he doesn't have a recording contract? I think not.

I'm inclined to think the statement made by the agent who "reps you comes from the elitist part of the writing world---you know the one where writers think they're some special strain of humanity with these "important" things to say, the very thing that I loathe most about this community. In my experience, writers can be some of the most pretentious people, ranking high in their self-involvement with the celebrities savored and eaten by the tabloids.

There are published books in the blue yonder which are hellish to read, quite frankly. There are so-called classics I'd turn away from each time. There is also a long list of wonderful books that were turned down by a gazillion publishers before one house took a chance on them. By the same token, there are self-published books out there that are, guess what, rather good.

[BlackJAC]

02:39 PM on 09/22/2011

I think his attitude has more to do with the notion that it doesn't count if you paid money out of pocket to get to a place that others had gone by demonstrating higher value.

[KHubbz]

03:04 PM on 09/21/2011

I get intimidated and awkward at conferences, so I've done my best networking in my writing groups because I'm more comfortable. It takes longer but I present my best self.

[Kyle H]

01:27 PM on 09/21/2011

I think meeting a lit agent at a conference goes a long way. A friend of mine had three agents asking for her full manuscript after she had the chance to pitch it to them.

[BlackJAC]

05:06 PM on 09/21/2011

Did any of them offer to sign her?  'Cause I've done the pitching myself at both conferences and Hollywood screenwriter pitchfests and while getting asked for pages is a good thing, I've still been passed on.

[WriterlyWoman]

01:16 PM on 09/21/2011

I took the traditional route of writing query letters to (researched) strangers the first time I tried to get an agent--and it worked but we didn't sell the book. I went back to square one.

The second time I (wrote a better book) then queried agents that I had met at conferences. And it worked again!

Fingers crossed...

[Literary Man]

11:55 AM on 09/21/2011

Most of the agents I've met are looking for a book they can explain in less than three sentences. They also want at least five different editors in mind when deciding to represent a book (or so I've heard).

[TFlint]

01:15 PM on 09/21/2011

I think you are right. But if they are sold on a book, they'll find a way to sell it.

[Lev Raphael]

02:45 PM on 09/22/2011

A bestselling author friend of mine told the story of his top agent despairingly calling clients to tell them how bad the fiction market was in New York right now. I hear this from other published authors as well. Sadly, having an agent, and having an agent love your book, doesn't guarantee a good deal or even any deal at all.