How to Get a Literary Agent

So you've completed your first novel and want to get published? You should probably get and agent to boost your chances of realising that dream and seeing your book in print. This does mean that you may have to wait a little longer before you send your manuscript out to publishers, but the odds are much higher of them accepting you with an agent anyway. So what does one have to do in order to find an agent to work with?

Before you even begin you need to study this process extensively or you may end up one of the thousands of new authors scammed by fraudulent agents. Rule number one about agents is that they should never charge you anything for their services, any mention of a reading fee, or monthly fee and drop them faster than a venomous snake! Good agents make their money from a percentage of royalties made from sales, usually around %10-%15. That keeps them highly motivated to sell your book, because the more money you make, the more money they make! It works out nicely and lets you know that they will in fact be working hard to get you published.

Once you have studied up and know the ins and outs of the way this business works, you are ready to write your query letter. This is a short, one page letter that is an introduction of yourself and your book. Take great care in your wording here as this single page could be the one thing that gets you your agent or loses him! Don't write a dull query letter, you want it to be just as well written as your book.