5 Things Literary Agents Wish You Knew
A quick look at a few things I wish querying authors knew about publishing— and now you know them!
1: We want to see your best, most polished work in our inbox the first time around.
You should only start querying when you think your manuscript is absolutely ready. A lot of writers can anxiously rush the process and send out queries that they later withdraw, or ask to resubmit once they revise once again. I get the need to do something and to put your work out there and see if there is interest. But you’re doing your work a disservice by sending it out too soon.
I like to tell writers that you only get my fresh eyes once. I say that to both querying writers and clients working on new projects. Yes, we’re going to be doing a round or two of edits with you (and so will your editor once we sell it to them), but if we think your manuscript will need four or five rounds of edits to get to a sellable state, we’re likely to reject it. We know what the road ahead looks like; we’re aware of the fact that so many rounds of edits can burn you (and us!) out.
You could have a fantastic book concept and a great pitch in your query letter, but the material has to be able to compete with the others in an agent’s inbox.
This is why we say that you should only send out your manuscript when it reads like a published book. If you feel like your manuscript is not at its best, you’re not only wasting your time but you’re also wasting the agent’s time (and fresh eyes!). So why not put your best foot forward to begin with?
2: Your talent can only take you so far.
Talent isn’t the only marker for success in publishing. I’ve talked about this briefly on social media. The two things you need for success in publishing are a compelling hook that is commercial enough for the market, and resilience.
You can be an extremely talented writer with a fantastic grasp of the craft of writing, great writing on a line-level, and a literary vision, but that still doesn’t mean your book will sell. To be successful in publishing, you have to sell books. A compelling story with great writing and a fresh hook that appeals to a commercial audience sells. You need both.
3: The publishing industry is slow… very slow.
I talked about publishing timelines in my last blog post on why you won’t become a bestseller by writing into a trend. On average, books take around nine months to two years from editorial acquisition to publication date (sometimes longer!). And that does not include the work you do prior to acquisition alone or with an agent.
This is frustrating for a lot of writers. The semi-good news is that agents actually share your grief about how slow the publishing industry is. It can take quite a while for the acquisition process to move along as well, and that can be frustrating for us too. When things take a while in the consideration pile after we submit projects to editors, we’re in the same boat as you. It’s not something any of us like, but it is the way the industry works and it doesn’t look like that will change anytime soon— so we all have to find ways to accept it somehow. There’s a lot of waiting in publishing, so I encourage you to use your wait time in other ways: working on your next project, outlining marketing or platform promotion ideas, pitching articles to magazines, or whatever else works for you and makes you feel like you’re still moving your career forward.
4: There is a lot of bad publishing advice out there.
It’s important to practice media literacy when it comes to where you get your publishing advice and resources. There’s a lot of bad advice (or advice that isn’t credible) that exists out there.
Some things to keep in mind when you’re reading things online, on social media especially:
The sample pool of people chiming into a topic on social media is not indicative of the industry as a whole.
Make sure to check your sources and their sources, and to only put your trust in people who actually are trustworthy.
There are a few agency scams out there, so beware!
Just because someone is offering publishing services online, doesn’t mean you should hire and pay them. Check into their references and credentials.
Always research and validate where you can. You can do that by double-checking with your writer friends, writing community, trustworthy industry contacts, or doing the standard stalking and sleuthing.
Research and validation are so important. I really can’t emphasize this enough. My strategy is to save posts and return to them at another date when my brain is ready to look into them further and dissect who they’re coming from. It’s hard when you’re scrolling through your phone in the line at the grocery store or right before bed to know what and who to trust. So much of our scrolling is a mindless motion to fill the gaps in our day, so it’s good to practice the “save and return to” method as much as you can unless you already know and trust the author of the post!
5: We don’t like sending out rejections either!
Helping authors achieve their publishing dreams is one of our favourite parts of the job! We don’t like telling authors we can’t help bring their dreams to life.
This industry is filled with rejections. And no one likes them. But we all have to learn to take them. Like you, agents also deal with rejections on a regular basis. We get rejections from editors on projects, so we know what it’s like. But it only takes one “yes” in a stream of “no”s. And that one “yes” is worth looking forward to.
