The secret to connecting with a literary agent
Seeking publication? Signing with an agent is the first step
“What is the secret to connecting with Christian literary agents?”
I get emails asking this question (and plenty of other questions about publishing) often.
If you are self-publishing, you don’t need an agent. It can be helpful to have someone to guide you through the publishing process, but you don’t need an agent. Why not?
An agent’s main role is to negotiate on your behalf with the publisher (and also guide your career and lots of other things). In self-publishing, you are the publisher, and you hopefully don’t need to negotiate the deal with yourself! Self-publishing will get your book to market faster, but you’ll need to invest some money in hiring editors, designers and so on. A traditional publisher pays those production costs, but is choosy about which authors they’ll publish. (See this article for more on the difference between self-publishing and traditional royalty publishing.)
A literary agent works on your behalf to get you a traditional publishing deal. Most royalty publishers won’t look at unsolicited manuscripts, or writers not represented by an agent. However, you can’t just hire an agent. They must agree to represent you—and they say yes to a small fraction of the requests they receive. (Also, reputable agents earn a commission when they secure you a publishing deal. They don’t charge you money up front.)
Most agents tell me they are looking for three things: great writing, a strong platform, and a salable idea. In other words, you’ve written a great book, you bring an audience with you, and you’re writing on a topic that audience (and others) want to read about.
Even if you’ve got all three, how do you make your book proposal stand out from the pile of proposals on an agent’s desk? (It’s a pretty big pile.)
As this post on agent Steve Laube’s website points out, “The first step to attracting and signing with a literary agent is to write a query letter.”
What is a query letter? (click on over to this post to listen to an interview with literary agent Mary DeMuth and find out)
You can also send in a proposal, with a strong cover letter. What makes for a strong proposal? Here’s an excellent article to guide you. Or listen in on this podcast episode to learn some proposal tips and tricks.
(Yes, all the above links go to the website of my agent, Steve Laube. They’re not affiliate links, I just sincerely believe that Steve and his team know their stuff and will give clear, accurate information about the publishing industry. Study his and other agents’ websites like your career depends on it—because it does.)
The value of a writers conference
Another excellent way to connect with agents (and editors) is to attend a writers’ conference, with a strong book proposal written and ready to send, should an agent request it. An agent will not read your entire manuscript, so don’t bring that. In fact, you should be ready with an “elevator pitch”—a short and catchy description of your book, so named because you should be able to say it in the time it takes to ride a few floors in an elevator. In it’s written form, this short summary is sometimes called a “one sheet”—a summary of you, your platform and your book idea, short enough to fit on one sheet of paper.
The faculty at most writers’ conferences is made up of experienced writers, editors, and agents. And at most conferences, those faculty make themselves available for one-on-one appointments. At that appointment, you can pitch your book idea. In other words, you’re presenting the information that would be in a query letter, but doing it in person, where you can get immediate feedback, and know that your request is not sitting in a slush pile. At a conference, you can usually meet with several agents or editors. You can also learn about writing and publishing, network with other writers, and just have fun.
Attending a conference is an investment in your career as a writer. You’ll spend some money on registration fees and travel expenses. You’ll take time off from your day job. But if you want to publish your work, and you’re wondering “what’s the secret” to achieving that goal, a writers’ conference is your next step.
If you're at all interested in trying out a Christian writers conference, here's the best one! (I might be biased...just a little. I’m on the faculty and the board.)
West Coast Christian Writers Conference will be held Oct 18-20, 2023 in Roseville, CA (a suburb of Sacramento). A writers conference is a great place to grow in your writing and find out more about marketing and publishing options. And of course, sign up for appointments with agents.
This is a hybrid conference--both in-person and online.
Pre-registration just opened, which means you can lock in your ticket for a deposit of $99 (pre-registering also gets you first dibs on CREW groups and appointments).
Click here to learn more. I’d love to see you there!