How to Get a Literary Agent - Scott Writes Stuff

You have about the same odds of getting published as getting struck by lightning…

…so let’s get those numbers up and go over six things to do to get a literary agent!

During the last stream, a subscriber requested that we go over how to get a literary agent.

Watch what we did here, or scroll down for highlights.

How to Get a Literary Agent

If you want to have your novel traditionally published, the best way to do that is through a literary agent
Agents act as a middleman between you and publishers: they send your manuscript to editors at publishing houses, advocate for it to be published, and take a percent of your royalties
Getting an agent isn’t easy, and there’s a lot of luck involved, but there are six things you can do to increase your luck
So let’s go over them one by one, then go through them together with a made up novel of our own!

#1. Finish the novel and edit it until it shines

This is the most important part! Don’t even think about an agent until you have a finished book
But being finished isn’t enough: show it to your writing group, get feedback, and edit it
Only when several different people tell you they love it and want more are you ready to move on

#2. Write a query letter and a one-page synopsis of your novel

A query letter is the e-mail that you will send to agents
It doesn’t need to be fancy, but it does need to be GOOD, since it will be the first impression of your writing
Query letters typically look like this:
- Greeting the agent by name
- Giving your book’s title, genre, audience, word count
- A 2-3 paragraph back-of-the-book summary (hook then sizzle, ~200 words)
- Your bio and any relevant writing experience
- Closing
Take a look here at a real query letter that landed its writer an agent.

If your bio feels sparse, try writing some short stories and get those published, or taking small writing jobs to pad it out
Many agents will also ask for a synopsis, which is typically a 1 page summary of your entire book
Think of it as a Wikipedia summary, telling everything that happens from beginning to end
If you can’t fit the synopsis on 1 page, then there’s a good chance you still need to revise your book

#3. Make a database of around 40-50 agents who represent novels in your audience/genre

Now it’s time to find the agents to send your manuscript to
Basically you want to search for agents who represent books in your genre/audience
There are many places you can search for them, here are some I recommend:

https://agentquery.com
Has some outdated info but is a huge resource

https://querytracker.net
Premium membership makes searching easier but free works too

https://manuscriptwishlist.com
Has both agents and publishing editors so be careful

Don’t worry if you get 100 or more agents in your search, many won’t end up making your list
The next step sucks: you have to go through them one by one, check out their personal websites, and compile the info
Here’s an example of what I create during this process, imagining I wrote a YA book about a family-lineage horror story that takes place in Virginia:

Name	URL	Notes	Interest Level	Sent On?	Rejected On?
Mary Poppins	magicalliterary.com/ agents/marypoppins	Likes YA with a focus on family, also interested in Southern horror	4	6/21
Jane Banks	hatandribbon.com/ agentlist	Does YA, lists horror as a favorite movie genre	3	6/1	6/18
Van Dyke	chimneysweeyplit.com/ agents/vdyke	Likes family-lineage stories	2	6/21
Crab Dongs	custycrusteaceans.com/ dongs	Doesn’t specify what they do	1	6/1	6/5

The interest level is a scale of 1 to 4: 4 being a perfect match, 3 being great, 2 being okay, and 1 being no real connection
It’s good to organize the agents by interest level, for a reason we’ll get to next

#4. Send out queries to the agents in your database in batches

Once you have somewhere around 20-50 agents in your database, you’re ready to start sending
I recommend sending out queries in batches of 5-10, with a good spread of all interest levels (1s to 4s), that way if you mess something up or you need to revise something, you don’t waste all of your 4s and 3s and can try them later with something new
Wait at least two weeks between batches and see what the response is like: if you get no requests, then revise; if you do get a request, then you’re likely good to keep sending out more
Lastly, always be sure to double check the agent’s personal requirements for querying: some want 5 sample pages, some want 20, some want none, and some have other requests too

#5. Research contests and digital events where agents will be present and submit your work

There are contests running throughout the year that authors can submit to, where agents will look over a bunch of submissions at once and request more if they’re interested
The most popular one is Pitch Wars, which happens several times a year: https://pitchwars.org/
There are plenty of others, like Nightmare on Query Street, which was the contest that got my agent
So get on Twitter and follow some literary agents so you’ll know when contests are happening!

#6. Prepare to feel pain like you have never known

You will get rejected A LOT and it will hurt A LOT, but remember that’s perfectly normal and you are NOT alone at all: every single traditionally published author has gone through this
The odds are against you: agents get an average of 200 queries per week and only take on about 4 new clients per year, for odds of 0.04% (about the same as being struck by lightning)
BUT! The good news is that if you do the things on this list, and if you have a killer story, you can increase that percent
You won’t get hit by lighting by staying indoors, and you won’t get an agent by never trying, so douse yourself in water, climb to the top of a tall building, and get struck by literary lightning!

After that, chat voted that we come up with a novel together and write a query letter for it, then find some agents who could represent it.

Here’s what we came up with:

Dear [agent’s name],

I’m currently seeking representation for my middle-grade fantasy novel, FRAGMENTS. Given your interest in [whatever], I thought it might be a good fit for your list.

Stewart has always come off to others as cold, not because he wants to, but because of his heart made of glass. In a world where everyone else is born with hearts of fluffy clouds, warm sun rays, or shimmering gold, Stewart was cursed to be born with the most fragile muscle possible.

Unwilling to take any emotional risks for fear of shattering, Stewart has lived a life of solitude, until he saves a puppy named Tink from drowning in icy water. Tink’s unconditional love helps Stewart to feel the same kind of joy that the others do, helping to seal the cracks that had formed in his glass over the years.

So when Stewart wakes up one morning to find Tink kidnapped, he has to make a choice: stay home and play it safe like he has all his life, or risk his delicate heart and go on an adventure normally reserved for fire- and iron-hearts.

Stewart makes his choice, encountering dangers that could shatter him, including finding out why he was cursed with such a vulnerable heart.

FRAGMENTS is complete at 65,000 words. The manuscript is available upon request. Thank you for your time and consideration!

Best,
ScottWritesStuff Twitch Chat

Be sure to check out the video to see how we went about finding some agents who could represent our amazing book.

If you want to join us and help write a story by trolling in chat, or share your own writing for feedback, then we’d love to have you join us on Twitch.

And you missed the stream, you can still watch them on the YouTube channel or watch the full stream reruns.

Hope to see you next time, friend!

Featured image: Pakutaso