I know many writers believe that their submissions are routinely discarded without being considered by many agents. Based on my knowledge of the business, this isn't true. Though I am a busy literary agent with an active list of more than 80 writers I still consider everything that arrives in my office. As I sit down to write this in May of 2000, I see five important new sales from my agency this year with first time writers who we took from the slush pile -- including one from our first email query letter. It's true the overwhelming majority of submissions are returned with a form rejection, but we are looking for books that excite us and when we find them, we pursue their authors vigorously. We're not the only ones.

A lot of things go into finding an agent. Nothing is more important than the level of talent and accomplishment that are displayed in the actual book you are selling. Beyond that, however, you are trying to connect with another human being, a professional who earns his or her living selling manuscripts. How can you better your odds of finding that person? You must carefully target the agents who are most likely to respond to your work.

A fair amount of information is available on literary agents, including the information in this book. If you do your homework -- and you must do your homework -- you will better your chances of finding an agent and hopefully a good one. How can you best target an agent? Here are some of my recommendations:

Shares your interest

This is obvious, but fundamental. Target an agent who actively sells the kind of book you are shopping. Read the listings carefully. Don't send a novel to an agent who specializes in nonfiction. Don't send a children's book to an agent that never represents them. Be thoughtful about it. An agent who has sold a children's book for a celebrity author is not necessarily a children's book agent -- that agent may only represent celebrities. Sometimes there are subtle elements you have to consider. If you've written a Civil War novel does the agent of the top selling Civil War novelist really make the best match for you? There's a good chance that agent won't be interested. They need to concentrate on their top writer in this particular micro-niche.

If an agent doesn't list or seem to have a specialty, try to discover some actual sales and see if you think they're a match for your work. If other elements of the agent's profile suit you, you may want to try a query. There are a number of guides to literary agents you can consult, including the industry "bible" Literary Market Place. There are also sites on the web that can be consulted. If you are querying one of the larger agencies which has multiple agents, you may need to call them first and ask which agent does such and such. Hopefully, you'll get a name in this fashion. If whoever answers the phone isn't willing to divulge any information, that may be a sign the agency really isn't interested in unsolicited work.

Years in the business

This is an important indicator of a number of things. You really have to use your judgment here. Someone just entering the business may be hungry for clients, but they may lack contacts, experience and knowledge. Our industry has been plagued with a number of fraudulent agents, so you have to be doubly careful. A long established agent may have great cache, but may be taking very few clients, if any. Try to size up the whole picture of an agents current situation -- can you locate news of recent sales and new clients, are their listings welcoming, do they have associates who might be looking for new clients, do they write articles for any writing magazines, do they attend conventions, etc.? Get a feel for exactly where this agent is in his or her career. I think membership in writers organizations (Mystery Writer's of America, Romance Writer's of America, Novelists, Inc., etc.) are important indicators of commitment. I also think membership in the Association of Author's Representatives, a trade association that has an ethics code, is significant. I think convention attendance and article writing are also indicators that this agent is working full time at building their agency and selling books. All of these small, but important things are indicators of who you are really contacting.

Another fundamental indicator is the actual sales the agent has made. Make a serious appraisal of the sales they list. Are they sales to major publishers? Agents who are only selling e-books or to small publishers you haven't heard of, may well not be actively selling books. Are they all for one or two clients or do they cover a number of clients? If a single client dominates all the sales information you have, it may be that this agent isn't selling a lot of new talent. See if you can see how many sales are for brand new clients. This would be an important indicator that this agent takes unsolicited work and sells it. Quantity is a factor as well. An agent who only lists one or two sales may not be active enough or successful enough. At my agency, we're making more than a hundred sales a year (books, audio, movie, etc.) It is not a challenge to list 6 or 7 new book sales for established or new clients. All of the good agencies I know could easily provide similar credits.

Responsiveness

This comes into play once you've begun to actively approach agents. Whatever an agent's reputation or credentials, you are most concerned with how this agent is going to treat you. When you solicit an agent, how long does it take for that agent to get back to you? A quick response is usually a sign that the agent is excited about your work. It also means this agent has available hours to work for you. How personal and intelligent is the response? Is the agent really focused on your work? Have they a thorough understanding of your manuscript? It's very important that they do. This is a tough business and an agent's personal commitment to the work and you the client, is often the only thing you have going for you early on. They must believe in the book and you. If they don't, it's very likely they'll lose heart after a few submissions. Is the agent willing to answer your questions and spend some time with you over the phone? This is also an indicator of how available the agent is and how committed.

One thing that always strikes me is that there's a huge gulf of knowledge between author and agent. There has to be, one is a specialist immersed in the business and the other a newcomer who is entering the business as "talent," not as a business person. Being a doctor, lawyer or entrepreneur doesn't give you any knowledge of publishing. So most clients want to have their comfort level raised. They need to ask questions, however so called "obvious". If the agent doesn't comfortably answer them or claim that they're too busy or unimportant, that agent may not be willing to do the hard work necessary to maintain the relationship.