How to Land a Literary Agent: Part Two

Tips and tricks to help you finally land your dream literary agent!

Every writer has a few milestones that they dream about and celebrate along their journey. The first time you finish a novel. The first rejection or the first acceptance. The first time seeing your name in print. One of the most major milestones in a writer’s career is the day you finally sign with a literary agent.

Writing and publishing is a tough career, primarily because the business in and of itself is so insanely subjective. And while there are so many factors that come into play, there are a couple that—while they can’t guarantee an acceptance—can at least greatly increase your chance of a much-desired yes. You can’t control an agent’s preferences, likes, or what they may be looking for at any given time, but you can control how you plan and approach your querying process.

In case you missed Part One, I shared five other things I learned and did differently that helped me received three offers of representation and ultimately land with an AMAZING agent at a well-know agency.

Make a plan

After you’ve done some pretty thorough research looking for the agents who would be the best fit for you book, and you have several polished drafts of your query letter ready to go, it’s time to get organized. Make a plan for how you will keep track of your queries, rejections, and submissions. You can rely on a website like QueryTracker, but I kept a spreadsheet with all the information and dates.

Want help keep track of your queries? Get my exact spreadsheet that I used to track my queries and eventually land my literary agent!

Send me all the querying help!

I also sent out different versions of my query letter and kept track which ones received positive feedback. (Positive feedback included requests or personalized rejections.) As I moved forward with querying, I narrows down my version to the one that seemed to be the best one, adjusting as I needed to personalize the query.

Have a mix of new and experienced agents

Your list should include both well -established agents, but also newer agents who are trying to break into the business. While more senior agents have more experience, stronger lists, and maybe more connections, don’t discount newer agents. They will be building their lists up and actively looking for books and authors to work with. You might have an amazing book, but if an agent doesn’t have room on his/her list for it, it’ll be a pass. Whereas a new agents will probably snatch a book that checks all their boxes.

If your worried about newer agents or being scammed, you can always check the website Writer Beware to research any agents who might not be reputable. You can also check if the agent or agency is a member of a professional organization for agents, for example AALA.

Send in LARGE batches

Gone are the days of sending a single query at a time and waiting for an agent to respond before querying another. You can do that if you want, but most agents are overwhelmed with queries. You could be waiting months and months (or even years) for a response, IF you get one. Most writers query in batches, and I agree. But while some may suggest batches of 5-10, I actually would encourage you to send in larger batches. Reason why? Probability. Simply put, the greater the number of queries out, the greater the chances of a request. And the greater the number of requests, the greater the chance of a YES. (See? Math.)

I sent out batches of about 20 at a time, and when I would receive a rejection, I would query a new agent. (Again, you need to keep track on something like a spread sheet.) The reason I decided to up the size was because many agents now simply won’t respond. Often they will have a guideline that states: “If you have heard from us by X number of weeks, please consider it a pass from us.”

Follow up

This was probably one of the biggest changes I made with this round of querying. After submitting a query and waiting the amount of time indicated on an agent’s website, I would follow up with that agent. (Unless they CLEARLY state that a no answer at X weeks is a No. Then you have your answer.) Sometimes I wouldn’t get an answer. But many times, it resulted in a response of some kind. Some were requests, but many were personalized rejections. Which I found very helpful and encouraging.

You have to remember that agents are busy and inboxes get full. Sometimes things get lost or slip through the cracks. It just happens. But a polite and personalized nudge can sometimes rise to the top of an inbox and and agent’s attention. And it’s worth a shot.

Revise your query letter

As I mentioned above, I sent out multiple versions of a query letter. (I probably wrote five different versions and revised each one.) As feedback and responses came in, I would revision and adjust my query. I also tried to personalize queries if possible. The point is, if your query is going nowhere, it’s time to revision your query letter and make sure that it’s getting the eyes on it that it should. And as I mentioned in Part One, getting feedback on your query is supremely helpful!

There you have it! This is the exact plan that I did after years of writing and querying. Hopefully you can take these tips and apply them to your own querying process to success! Are there any I missed that you would add? Drop a comment below and tell me what you you think!

It can be a long lonely journey, but you’re not alone! Come say hi over on Instagram and let’s connect!

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