4 Other Ways to Get a Literary Agent

If you're new here, you may want to subscribe to my RSS feed or subscribe via Twitter. Thanks for visiting!

In today’s publishing industry the traditional methods of getting a literary agent is as follow: (1) aspiring writer submits manuscript to literary agent (2) agent either accepts manuscript or rejects it. It’s no real secret, that’s how it usually goes, and the publishing industry today is cutthroat for new authors. This is added to the fact that less authors are being signed on as new clients as a result of the recession. However, more often than not I keep hearing stories of authors getting published who found their agents by unusual methods. Here are four such methods:

1. Short Story Markets

This is how a lot of science fiction writers got their start before publishing novels, and for many aspiring writers out there this is the best route in terms of actually landing a literary agent. The common assumption by people is that just because short stories are shorter to write, they are easier to write. This couldn’t be further from the truth. The short story takes the breadth and depth of a novel and condenses it to maybe ten pages. If agents see that you’ve been published in several short story markets, this can only work in your favor if you have a manuscript ready to submit. Go to Ralan’s webstravaganza to see what markets are currently out there.

2. Start a Blog

Blogs aren’t the same as they were ten years ago, not even five years ago. Some websites like Shoemoney.com, entrepreneur’s-journey.com, and Problogger.com make thousands each month on their respective blogs. For prospective authors they are media platforms, plain and simple. First-time authors get very little funding in terms of marketing and publicity for their first novels, so if an agent sees that you can reach 10,000 unique visitors a month or more, this can only work in your favor. It’s also a good way to gain a little money on the side.

3. Visit Trade Conventions, Book Signings, and Various Industry Events

There’s something very impersonal about sending a manuscript to an agent. I make it a point to attend book conventions, book signings, and various industry events. Not only does this give you a chance to meet literary agents, authors, and editors face to face but it’s also the perfect opportunity to network amongst the hoi polloi of the publishing industry. Now there’s a right and a wrong way to pitch to a literary agent, a quick one-minute pitch (often referred to as an ‘elevator pitch’). Literary agents are busy people, you don’t want to talk their ears off. With publishing, a lot of the time, it’s not what you know but who you know. And this is a great way to meet those top level players in your industry.

4. Build a Reputation as a Writer and an Editor

This is probably the least likely method of getting a literary agent but for people in my situation it doesn’t hurt. I’m an editor for two automotive trade magazine,s I’ve had articles published in several trade and consumer magazines, I know the ins-and-out of the publishing process, and I have a very respectable portfolio under my hat. Now I’m not boasting here, but many agents want to know that when they sign up a new client that they have someone that will work with them, not against them. As a relationship between an agent and a client can last for years, they need to know that this person is a good fit, and what better way to do that then by having a person that already knows what to expect when they have a book published.