Literary agents are bombarded with pitches and proposals. Often it is more difficult to sign with a literary agent than to get a publisher. One of the best actions you can take to get the attention of these professionals is with an excellent book proposal.
To find the right literary agent is a consistent challenge for writers. I recommend an out-of-print book, Literary Agents: A Writer’s Introduction by John F. Baker (MacMillan USA). For many years, Baker has written for Publisher’s Weekly and in this book, he profiles a series of literary agents in the business. You will learn a great deal about agents through reading this excellent book, and it may give you some ideas about which agent to approach with your project. While the good agents usually have a full list of clients, they are always looking for a great idea that meets their interests and markets. You may find your match through a careful reading of Baker’s book. As a second resource, you can get my free list of over 400 agents with their websites and contact information through this link.
Agents, like editors, are looking for projects they can be enthusiastic about, and they like to convey that enthusiasm to their publishing contacts. If you have crafted an excellent proposal, then you have positioned yourself as a writer for an agent to represent your project to some major and minor publishing houses.
Perhaps, however, you are worried about the economics and giving up 15 percent of your earnings. From my experience, it’s better to have 85% of something than earning nothing. If you never place your own proposals with a publisher, what have you managed to accomplish through this process? On the other hand, what if your proposal interests an agent and he turns around and sells your book to a publisher that only takes projects submitted through literary agents (and there are many of these publishers in today’s market) and gets a $8,000 advance for you? This is $8,000 you didn’t have before he came into your life. Even if it’s $5,000, from my perspective that would still be worth it. The agent is someone who can review your contract, encourage you when you need it and run interference with your editor or publisher, if needed.
Agents need excellent projects (and clients) for their own work needs. If you can find that agent relationship, it may begin with your hard work on a book proposal. To find the right agent connection will take a lot of hard work and possibly even some trial and error. While many editors move around from publisher to publisher, many authors stay with the same agent for years. This agent becomes a trusted friend, encourager and a source of work and inside publishing information. It takes a lot of effort to produce a well-crafted book proposal yet when created you can use this tool to get the attention and effort of a well-connected literary agent. It could be the difference maker with your next book. Begin with crafting an excellent proposal.
W. Terry Whalin, a writer and acquisitions editor lives in California. A former magazine editor and former literary agent, Terry is an acquisitions editor at Morgan James Publishing. He has written more than 60 nonfiction books including Jumpstart Your Publishing Dreams and Billy Graham. To help writers catch the attention of editors and agents, Terry wrote his bestselling Book Proposals That $ell, 21 Secrets To Speed Your Success. Get a free copy of his proposal book (follow the link). Check out his free Ebook, Platform Building Ideas for Every Author. His website is located at: www.terrywhalin.com. Connect with Terry on Twitter, Facebook, his blog and LinkedIn.
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