Are You Ready to Submit?

Advice From a Panel of Agents and Editors

A couple of weekends ago I spoke at a conference and listened in on a panel of agents and editors. Their discussion was wide-ranging but also informative, and I’d like to share in a general way the advice they gave to the audience.

What Agents and Editors Would Like in a Potential Client

Beyond the obvious – a polished manuscript that is not your first draft but a vetted and clean version – there are a few things these folks look for.

• Be professional. Know your book’s audience and genre, and where your book fits in the marketplace. Know and cite your best recent comp titles. Know how to craft a one-sentence pitch. Know how to write a query letter. (See this prior post for help with the previous, and see below for more.) Know how to find what the agent/editor is looking for, and pitch only to those who work in your genre/age range. Don’t over-pitch your book (no “It’s the next best-seller!”) and whatever you do, make sure your letter is going to the agent/editor it’s meant for, with the right name, and no one else’s name in the address.

  

• Be polite. These are hard-working folks in a business that pays poorly and demands a lot of them. It does you no good to be annoyed, or (please, don’t be) rude or to make demands. Gone are the days when an agent/editor would take on an author who is rough around the edges but shows talent. If you get a request for a partial or a full manuscript, but they say “no”, move on. If they take the time to send you suggestions for revision, send a one-sentence thank-you, but don’t press them for more. If they want to read it again, they will tell you but don’t assume.

• Be patient. Publishing is slooooooooow. Agents/editors today are swamped. Everyone acknowledges that simultaneous submissions are normal. If you haven’t heard anything for six months, you may move on. If you are lucky enough to get a “yes”, be sure to inform all the other agents/editors that are still holding your book – you might actually get into a competitive round. I suggest submitting to 5-7 agents/editors at the same time, and if you get a rejection, move on down your list. Also realize: no one will ever sign you if they haven’t read your entire book; they won’t sign you based on your pitch.

What Else?

First and foremost, write your best book. All the agents and editors on the panel said this:

“If I start reading, and find that I’m reading for pleasure, that I can’t stop reading, you’ve made it.”

So make that book soar because the other thing they all said was this:

“We are always looking for a great book, for a great author.”

Find Help Here

If you want more help with querying and pitching, here’s a link to my short and inexpensive Query Letter Clinic which will walk you through the whole process of drafting a solid query letter, and how to find agents and editors.

If you need help polishing that manuscript, you might like my free download “Revision Tips”

or my inexpensive short course on writing and revising your book,  Six Day Story System.

Or for a complete course try DIY Den - which will soon be on a holiday sale so sign up to get info on that - with NO commitment - here:

As always, happy writing!