Writing tips

The plot
thickens

Choosing
a literary
agent

Query letters

Inspire me!

But they
rejected me!

Submissions tips

1. Make sure you spell check whatever you send. Every error will put a black mark on your card, and if you get more than a handful of those, you'll be handed a red card. Above all else, check the spelling of the agent's name.

2. If there's doubt about the sex of the agent, do some careful research. I know of one or two agents, and publishers, whose sex isn't obvious from their names
(I can't think of any reason why they don't make it clear. But that's how it is).

3. Email queries were once a non-starter. But today, agents are more obliging.
If you are emailing, I suggest you send a simple, clear, polite email with a brief synopsis introducing your project. But don't send an attachment until it's been specifically requested. It can't hurt, however, to add a sample of your writing in the body of the email. Not more than a chapter, and preferably less. It might be your only chance to impress, so seize that chance.

4. Don't submit to more than one agent at a given agency. It undermines your project by building in mistrust, and will almost certainly get you a rejection if spotted.

5. Think carefully before revising a manuscript on a literary agent's suggestion unless there's a clear intent by that agent to represent you (albeit a conditional one). You can spend a lot of time rewriting to suit individual whims and never really advance your project. By all means listen to advice and suggestions, but follow your own instincts.

6. If you've had a manuscript rejected, in theory you can't resubmit it. But if it's been substantially revised, you can ask an agent to take a second look. Some writers, note, routinely re-send their rejected and re-titled manuscripts on the principle that agents have short memories, or that a different agent at the same agency may discover it. Beyond that, you may have written an horrendous query letter, or committed some other faux pas and need, or just want, a second chance. Or you may have since realised that you should have started at chapter four or something similar. Or you may have found a new way to 'spin' a previously submitted story giving it fresh impetus. Agents, perhaps through no fault of their own, commonly misunderstand projects. That “second chance” submission may help address this. But make it a genuinely significant improvement or revision.

7. Don't staple your manuscript pages. Don't clip them in a folder. Don't hole-punch them. Don't dress them in any way. Just send them loose in a small, easily opened, easily closed box with the title on each page and page numbers (folios). Leave some margin around the copy. Make it as presentable as possible. Use a straightforward typeface (font) such as Times, Garamond, or a similar serif face (if you're not sure what a serif is, you know what to do). Avoid fonts such as Courier or Helvetica or anything fancy. Be plain. Be straightforward.

8. Should you double space? In the old days this was vital. I'd argue that it's less so now. Double spacing was intended to give editors and proofreaders room to make corrections and notes. With modern word processors, this is less important. That said, don't make the copy too tight. It can make your manuscript look like too much of a chore to read. So ease up (see Samples for examples of how a manuscript might look).

9. Always include return postage if you want your manuscript back - but it may be better to reprint each time you send it out. It's bad for the environment, etc. But a creased and crumpled manuscript landing on an agent’s desk won't do you any favours. In view of the high cost of postage, it may, in any case, also save money in the long term.

10. If you're dealing with an overseas agent, ask if you can forward the manuscript by email. Or offer to pay for running off a copy on their printer if you want. Just make sure it doesn't sound like a bribe.

11. Spell check rigourously.

12. Grammar check with equal rigour.

13. Be patient. You can follow up your submission with a polite email or telephone. But give it 12 weeks at least.

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Choosing a literary agent

Actually, unless a writer is well established, he or she rarely chooses a literary agent. What usually happens is that a literary agent agrees to represent a manuscript - an opportunity that the writer, having been rejected X number of times, generally jumps at.

But at some point in the manuscript submission process a selection of agents needs to be made.

Not all agents will handle whatever it is you're submitting, which means that you're best advised to make a very careful selection, usually through the Writers' & Artists' Yearbook or through the internet or other trade reference books.

You can usually get the Writers' & Artists' Yearbook at your public library, but it's often in hot demand and/or out of date by a year or so. Even when it is in date it's often out of date. The reason for this is that much of the publishing trade appears to live in a revolving door. Agents form partnerships that seem to vanish overnight. Sometimes agents radically cut or change their lists. Publishers merge, or (occasionally) divide. The entire industry is in a permanent state of flux.

To maintain any kind of grip on it, you need to actively trawl the net and/or read the literary columns of the newspapers, and/or attend book trade fairs.

Look at who's representing who and what and then research your literary agent as best you can. Find out something about them, however trivial. It can make a lot of difference to your Query Letter approach if you demonstrate that you're targeting an agent intelligently and have taken the trouble to find out their likes and dislikes.

Next, remember that agents choose books for a variety of reasons and, like the publishing world in general, they follow trends rather than set them.

Mr or Ms Literary Agent?

You might want to keep in mind that most literary agents are women. Some say this has ruined the market (for men at least). Others feel that female literary agents have simply expanded the market and have introduced ideas and genres that didn't exist 10 years or so ago.

Either way, whether you're a male or female writer, you'll want to know as much as possible about who is likely to want to represent you, and why.

I'd suggest that you be very methodical about who you approach. Keep a list of some sort. Keep a note of any telephone calls you make - along with brief details. Cross-reference agents with other agencies they've moved from, or to. And keep an up to date record, where possible, of their clients.

Don't assume that only male literary agents want thrillers whilst female literary agents want chicklit. It doesn't work like that. And even though there probably are certain divisions and demarcations, you're best advised to treat all agents as equal, even though clearly that isn't the case, not in terms of professionalism or energy or connections.

And don't assume that just because an agency represents a writer with a similar style to your own, they'll want you on board too. It may well be that they want something different now. Sometimes you can use this to your advantage if you find evidence of agencies in competition, or agencies that have recently split. Think about it.

Agent X

Watch out for dodgy agents. In the UK, I think we have a slightly better record regarding this problem than in, say, the US. That's not to say Americans are, by nature, more crooked. It may simply be that in the UK we have a smaller "nest" that makes it hard for dodgy agents to survive. The US has tens of thousands of agents spread across a huge area - which, come to think of it, might simply mean that although the number of dodgy agents is higher, it's not necessarily higher per capita.

On the subject of US agents, there's no reason not to approach them with your manuscript. But the odds against hooking one are probably much lower than making a deal with a British agent. But a US writer, conversely, may find it easier to hook an agent on the British side of the Atlantic. America, after all, is a huge country, much of it still fairly empty, and that gives a large arena to play out a high concept (blockbuster) novel - which are always in demand.

Meanwhile, a British writer looking for a high concept theme has to generally travel a long way from his or her own back yard to find a suitable stage to play out his or her drama. Yes, you can set your drama anywhere you want. But US agents will sell primarily into their home market, so you might have to make your US-based character an American (which you may not have the ear for), or you may have to find a plausible reason for your British hero operating out of the USA.

I've had some very good feedback from US agents. They tend to be a little more outspoken (quelle surprise!) and are invariably constructive and helpful. But you've got to have a compelling idea to make an US agent want to take you on.

Fees

Never pay a literary agent to read your manuscript - unless, of course, you find strong reasons to do so (and I've never heard anything that would compel me to put my hand in my pocket and pay for that service).

Watch too for agents who recommend editors or other professionals. It may be a genuine and well intentioned recommendation. But it may be that the link between the agent and the editor is questionable. Just be smart, and always ask the exact nature of the connection. Use the net to check, but don't rely on the net.

Always be professional when writing to an agent, and approach them the way they want to be approached (see Query Letters for more on this). And always listen carefully to what they have to say. You don't have to heed the advice, but you ought to take whatever opportunities are available to learn more about the mechanisms of the industry and the people within it.

Don't bribe agents or try and cut some other cute deal. Just present your product in a businesslike way and give them plenty of time to make a decision (3 months is plenty).

If an agent asks to meet you, then meet them if it feels right. But beware. I had a time-wasting and very demoralising experience with an agent who, despite putting on a big front and promising good connections, totally failed to deliver. Tempting as it is to name that agent, all I can (or rather will) say is that the agent has, to a greater or lesser extent, had his or her card marked and is, in any case, currently maintaining a very low profile.

Never give an agent the only copy of your manuscript. And never make a single back-up. Rather, make as many back-ups as you can reasonably manage. All my own novels are on multiple hard drives, numerous CDs, various flash drives, and in hard (paper) copy too.

As an additional back-up, I generally hold whatever I'm working on in cyberspace by emailing the working copy to another email address (just remember to update it regularly).

Unfinished books

Yes, you can approach agents with an unfinished manuscript. This is the usual method with, say, a new cookbook book proposal or a new Ferrari history tome. But you can approach an agent with an unfinished fiction project too - but once again, it needs to be compelling before an agent takes you seriously. And you're well advised to mention whatever writing credentials or experience you have if you want to convince an agent that you can finish the manuscript. It depends largely on how good your idea is, how good your Query Letter is, plus the other usual vagaries of the market.

The third degree

If an agent has a website, check it out. Who else does he or she represent? And what books has that agent taken to market? And how long ago was that exactly? Then, look at the websites of the authors represented by that agency (if available). See what's being said, if anything is being said at all.

Some authors feel their agents are a necessary evil. Others feel that their agents are a Godsend. Mostly, agents are just jobbing professionals balancing a range of problems and shuffling between a range of clients with varying needs.

And agents, in the main, don't have a magic wand with which to sell your book. They set up meetings with editors at publishing houses and face rejection just as you do. They campaign the books they represent, often with their reputations at stake - especially if the recent books they've championed have failed in the bookstores.

They have budgets and costs and highs and lows - due occasionally to authors who fail to come up with the literary goods.

But don't let any of this get between yourself and your need for some direct information from the agent. You need to know about their successes and exactly what they can do for you. Be polite, but not too pushy. It's an agent's market. But if they can't give you some straight answers to questions fairly put, they might not be quite as professional as they would like to appear.

The origin of the species

Where do literary agents come from? Well, most appear to come directly from within the publishing industry; either disgruntled, dissatisfied, ambitious or redundant editors. Some are office juniors looking for a quick way up. Or office seniors marginalised in corporate cubby holes.

But some just appear, as if from nowhere. More than a few are simply business people hoping to strike it rich in an industry that can have amazing highs, and amazing lows. Some have a legal background. And some are just failed writers.

So don't assume that the agent you approach necessarily has an incredible literary antenna and knows what's good and what's bad - or, more to the point, what sells. Literary agents merely know what they want - and often not even that. Many agents are under a lot of pressure to succeed and may be forced to reject books that they personally like, but feel would fail in a highly competitive marketplace (see But they rejected me!).

In conclusion, be professional at all times, be polite, be fair, be accurate and be prepared.

And be confident too. Have faith in your own work - but without being cocky or conceited.

It may take years to build up a working rapport with a number of agents (who occasionally have the bad grace to move suddenly from the industry, retire or even die). Just keep trying.

Why do literary agents fail to respond to my emails?

Because they're rude, mostly. It's as simple as that. Many agents will tell you that they're simply too overwhelmed with submissions to respond. But that's no excuse. None at all. It takes a matter of seconds to send a standard rejection. However, increasingly agents (and editors) just don't bother to do even that. You send your query (that's cost you four pints of blood) and there you are, dangling in cyberspace and unsure of how long to wait before trying elsewhere.

"If I haven't responded in 2 weeks/4 weeks/25 years, it means that your project isn't suitable for my lists, etc". Does that sound familiar? The trouble with this response is that no reply doesn't confirm delivery. Your email might have inadvertently ended up in their spam folder. Or a glitch in your email might have dumped it in the wrong mailbox (it happens). Or they might simply have missed it in the litter of email activity they routinely have to trawl.

What we, as writers, really want is for all agents to say, "If you haven't got a response from me in 2 weeks/4 weeks/6 weeks, then I've probably missed your email, so please re-send." But that's not going to happen, so get over it.

The internet plays a part here. It's a lot easier to fire off an email (complete with attachment) than type a letter, print it, address an envelope, etc, and walk it down to the post box. It takes me days to do that sometimes (weeks even if you want the truth). But, like most people, I can fire off emails at machine gun speed - and that, in effect, has devalued the currency of language.

Words have never been cheaper, and there's not a lot you can do about it except endure.

The only sure fire way to get a literary agent to sit up and take notice is to write a devilishly good book, pen a devilishly good synopsis, construct a devilishly good query letter, and then get lucky. Just how lucky you get is directly proportionate to the amount of effort you put in, day after day after day.

There's no way of proving what I'm about to say, but my guess is that you'll still generally get a more positive result by sending your query by snail mail. That can get expensive, especially if you're sending sample chapters too, but my suspicion is that people still value paper mail above email (notwithstanding the environmental impact).

I've got a literary agent, but nothing's happening?

That happens. Literary agents, like every other professional, aren't always good. Some are worse than useless. Some are highly damaging. And you can be damned (to a greater or lesser degree) simply by being associated with them. Even worse, you can be seriously demoralised when you've suffered a year of promises only to find that you're in exactly the same place and that your book is going nowhere.

Literary agents can never guarantee to sell your book. But a good literary agent, with the right contacts, can usually put your manuscript in front of the right people at the right time and will present your book in a clear and positive light. A lousy literary agents will handle your novel the way a market trader handles a cheap TV.

It's a tough call, but my general feeling is that if your instincts are telling you that your agent is dragging you down, professionally or psychologically, then cut them loose and do whatever you can to refloat your spirit and keep it buoyant.

Books, and novels in particular, are fuelled by huge amounts of creative energy. So go easy on the gas, and don't let anyone siphon it away while you're not looking.

Good luck.