How to Get a Literary Agent

338 Pages·2006·1.08 MB·English

by  Michael Larsen

LitAgent_Fullcover 5/17/06 3:48 PM Page 1
How to Get
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In today’s highly competitive publishing industry, you need a

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literary agent to get your book published. Here’s everything you
need to know to find an agent who’ll be as excited about your
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book as you are:
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Finding the right agent for your book
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Writing a cover letter that grabs attention
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Working with an agent once you’ve got one
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✓ ✓ How to find an agent
Everything you need to know about the book business ee
✓How to avoid the 7 worst pitfalls for aspiring writers rr ✓ How to make your submission stand out
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How to be the dream client
…And much,much more. rr
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Michael Larsenis the cofounder of the Larsen/Pomada Agency, one of California’s oldest AA
literary agencies. He lectures and presents seminars around the country on writing,
agenting and the publishing industry. Larsen is the author or coauthor of 11 books and gg
has represented dozens of successful authors. He lives and works in San Francisco.
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Reference/Book Publishing $14.95 U.S./$20.95 CAN Larsen
ISBN-10: 1-4022-0560-0
ISBN-13: 978-1-4022-0560-6
C N
P A
U E
Michael Larsen, AAR
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How to Get
a Literary
Agent
Michael Larsen, AAR
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Copyright © 2006 by Michael Larsen
Cover and internal design © 2006 by Sourcebooks, Inc.
Cover photo © Getty Images
Sourcebooks and the colophon are registered trademarks of Sourcebooks,
Inc.
All rights reserved. No part of this book may be reproduced in any form or
by any electronic or mechanical means including information storage and
retrieval systems—except in the case of brief quotations embodied in criti-
cal articles or reviews—without permission in writing from its publisher,
Sourcebooks, Inc.
All brand names and product names used in this book are trademarks, reg-
istered trademarks, or trade names of their respective holders. Sourcebooks,
Inc., is not associated with any product or vendor in this book.
Published by Sourcebooks, Inc.
P.O.Box4410, Naperville,Illinois 60567–4410
(630) 961–3900
Fax: [phone]
www.sourcebooks.com
Larsen, Michael
How to get a literary agent / by Michael Larsen [Literary agents]
p.cm.
Originally published: Literary agents. Rev. and updated. New York : J. Wiley,
c1996.
Includes bibliographical references and index.
ISBN-13: 978-1-4022-0560-6 (pbk.)
ISBN-10: 1-4022-0560-0 (pbk.)
1. Literary agents. I. Title.
PN163.L37 2006
070.5’2—dc22
2005033519
Printed and bound in the United States of America
DR 10 9 8 7 6 5 4 3 2 1
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Dedication
This book is dedicated to the writers it inspires to do their
best work and show an affirming flame and to Elizabeth,
my divine commission.
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Contents
Prologue.Making Bigger Better for You:
An Instant Portrait of Publishing . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .1
Introduction.Read This Way . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .5
PART 1:HIRING THE AGENT YOU NEED
Chapter 1.Making the Connection:
Using the Write Stuff to Attract an Agent . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .11
Chapter 2.Can You Name That Tuna?
Eleven Ways to Find the Right Agent for You and Your Book . . . . . . . . . . . .19
Chapter 3.Getting Your Agent beforeYou Know Who It Is:
Why Writing a Must-Read Query Letter Is Simple . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .33
Chapter 4.Joining the “2 Percent” Club:
ACrash Course on Rising from Rejection to Acceptance . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .53
Chapter 5.AStudy in Read and Green:
Six Criteria for Choosing the Right Agent for You . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .63
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Chapter 6.Taking the Vows for Your Working Marriage:
The Author-Agency Contract . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .81
Chapter 7.Life after Yes:
Eleven Steps to Matrimonial Bliss . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .95
PART 2:UNDERSTANDING YOUR AGENT
Chapter 8.Transforming a Writer into an Author:
What Your Agent Does before the Sale . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .103
Interlude 1.Paper Cuts: A Terrible Day in the Life of an Agent . . . . .113
Chapter 9.The Publishing Contract:
Tiptoeing through a Diamond-Studded Minefield . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .121
Chapter 10.Following the Money:
What an Agent Does after the Sale . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .137
Interlude 2.Hooked on Books:
ATerrific Day in the Life of an Agent . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .151
Chapter 11.Terminal Transgressions:
What to Do if Your Working Marriage Fails . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .159
Chapter 12.Why Hirean Agent? Why You May Not
Need an Agent and Why You May Need One More Than Ever . . . . . .167
PART3:THE PREQUEL:WHATTO KNOW BEFORE YOU GO
Chapter 13.Understand How Publishers Work:
The Book Business in a Nutshell . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .185
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Chapter 14.Whining and Dining on the Spaghetti Factor:
How Publishing Went from Class to Mass . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .195
Chapter 15.The Spirit of Enterprise:
What Publishers Are Buying and Why . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .205
Chapter 16.The Editor as Hero:
An Homage to Your Other Agent . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .223
Chapter 17.Leaving Out the Parts That People Skip:
How to Make Your Craft Seaworthy . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .233
Chapter 18.The Difference between a Pig and a Chicken:
Why Your Goals Will Determine Your Future . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .245
Chapter 19.English Lit—How About You?
Reinventing Yourself as an Authorpreneur . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .257
Chapter 20.You Deserve All the Help You Need:
Mobilizing Your Networks . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .261
Chapter 21.From Slo-Mo to Promo:
Kicking Your Book’sPromotion Campaign into High Gear . . . . . . . . .269
Chapter 22.Building Your Platform and Converting It
into Your Promotion Plan . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .287
Chapter 23.Writing High: The End of the Beginning . . . . . . . . . . . . .297
Appendix 1.The AAR Checklist of Questions for Authors
(and a Few Moreto Fill in the Blanks) . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .309
Appendix 2.Two Agents’ Clauses . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .311
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Appendix 3.The Code of Ethics for the Association
of Authors’ Representatives . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .312
Appendix 4.ABill of Rights for Writers and a
Bill of Rights for Agents . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .315
Appendix 5.Three Author-Agent Contracts . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .317
Acknowledgments . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .322
Index . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .324
About the Author . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .328
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Prologue
Making Bigger Better for You:
An Instant Portrait of Publishing
“Publishing today is show biz.
It’s the same as the world of entertainment.”
—Agent Irving “Swifty” Lazar inSwifty: My Life & Good Times
Nowisthe best time ever to be a writer! There are more:
•subjects for you to write about
•waystowrite your books, get help with them, or have them written for
you
•options for getting your books published
•ways to use technology to make it easier and faster than ever to research,
write, get feedback, build your networks, find an agent or publisher, and
promote your books
But to help you understand howan agent can help you take advantage of
the opportunities waiting for you, you need a shortalbum of snapshots of an
industry in transition that will give you a quick overview of the business.
Placing writers and agents in the context of America’s literary landscape will
help you understand what they want to see, how to present it, and how they
can help you.
We live in the age of what author and editor Ted Solotarff called “the literary-
industrial complex.” Here’s a miniature portrait of the state of the industry as it
lurches into an uncertain future: