Agents and Authors.

With so many editors not accepting anything but agented submissions, it gets hard for a new author to have their work seen. Luckily there are interesting agent blogs around where the aspiring author can do their research.

Here, Jessica from the BookEnds, LLC -- Literary Agency talks about approaching agents and the agent/author relationship.

She says:

We’ve often compared the author-agent relationship to a marriage and I don’t think this example is any different. When agreeing to form a partnership both author and agent are taking a leap of faith. You’ve done your research, asked your questions and the only thing left to do is jump in with the faith that the agent you’re jumping in with will follow through on the many promises she’s making. She’ll work hard to sell your book and stick by you through sales or no sales. She’ll be honest and encouraging and she’ll communicate when needed. Most important, she’ll respond to the emails and phone calls you’re making and give feedback on material you’ve sent in a timely manner.


But how do you approach that agent in the first place? This is where the Query Shark dismantles author query letters and tell you what works for them. You can send your latest query letter in and it might get critiqued.


With so much advice, how did authors manage before the internet?