2009 Guide To Literary Agents
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Paperback: 384 pages
Publisher: Writers Digest Books; 18th edition (July 29, 2008)
Language: English
ISBN-10: 1582975485
ISBN-13: 978-1582975481
Product Dimensions: 9 x 7 x 1.3 inches

Now, more than ever, in a market glutted with aspiring writers and a shrinking number of publishing houses, writers need someone familiar with the publishing scene to shepherd their manuscript to the right person. Completely updated annually, Guide to Literary Agents provides names and specialties for more than 800 individual agents around the United States and the world. The 2009 edition includes more than 85 pages of original articles on everything writers need to know including how to submit to agents, how to avoid scams and what an agent can do for their clients. 

About the Author
In addition to editing Guide to Literary Agents, Chuck Sambuchino is assistant editor of Writer's Market. He's also a former staffer on Writer's Digest magazine, a magazine freelancer, a produced playwright and award-winning journalist.



Cardinal Rules of Manuscript Submission

  1. Find out the rules of submission.
    So many manuscripts get turned down for violating these rules. Some houses, like Berkeley, only accept agented submissions. Very few big houses nowadays accept unsolicited pieces; the science-fiction house Tor is an exception.
     
  2. Find out what the house publishes.
    Again, critical information. You wouldn't send a mystery novel to a house that specializes in historical romances. Not only is it a waste of time, it's also a clear sign of ignorance.
     
  3. Find out who the manuscript should be sent to.
    Often, the editor who was in one house last year turns up in someone else's house the next year. Submitting a manuscript to the attention of an anonymous editor doesn't help at all.
     
  4. If you find a house you'd like to submit to, be sure to send a query letter first.
    A query letter is exactly what it sounds like, a letter asking if a house would be interested in looking at your work. A query also helps avoid the frustration of rejection later on down the road.  A number of resources are available, most notably from Writer's Digest Books, to help authors with the ins and outs of publication. WDB annually publishes The Writer's Market series, which includes volumes on general fiction, romance, science fiction and fantasy, songwriting, and children's books...

There are other resources as well...Check out your local library or bookstore for the latest!!"

Notes Courtesy of Claxton Graham - scifiwriter8502@email.com from a post on Thumper's Corner, the AALBC.com's discussion group (http://aalbc.com)


Should an agent charge fees?

Someone doesn't need to pass a test or be licensed to become an agent (though you do have to have a certain amount of experience and recommendations to join the Association of Authors Representatives or AAR). You can just hang up your shingle and become one.

The practice of charging fees used to be far more common than it is now. Though the practice is not unheard of now, it tends to be frowned upon (I know new members of the AAR cannot charge fees; ones who were already members and did when the practice was more acceptable can continue). It was more common a while ago but it's basically dying out.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

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