THE 4 GOLDEN RULES OF BEING A WRITER by Anne Fortier

The following article was blogged by Anne Fortier in 2010 – A saved article by me – one worth sharing with you. -  Rita

Here are four lessons about writing and finding an agent that I have learned the hard way. I hope you will read them and save yourself a lot of time and trouble. It is hard to calculate writing time, but I would estimate that, over the past ten years, I have wasted up to eighteen months by not figuring all this out earlier.

1. Start at square one.
The world is full of people who know people who know an agent … but you can save yourself a lot of time and disappointment by ignoring them. Because the truth is, no one really knows anyone, and even if they did, it is probably not going to help your chances one bit. So, instead of chasing after those elusive people and waiting in vain for introductory e-mails and phone-calls, simply tell yourself that there are no shortcuts in this race; if you run around looking for them, chances are you will still end up back at square one, wondering why you just wasted six months on hearsay.

2. Do your homework. Yes, I’m afraid so. Just as there are no shortcuts when it comes to finding an agent, there are no shortcuts when it comes to your manuscript and query letter. I hardly need mention that your manuscript needs to be 1) finished, 2) brilliant, 3) formatted correctly, and 4) edited to near-perfection, but allow me to emphasize that the same goes for the query letter. You can save yourself a lot of time and unnecessary rejections by following the established rules about query letters. So, go ahead and buy that annoying book about how to compose and format query letters … and follow its recommendations. Don’t rush. Don’t try to squeeze through loopholes in your smarty pants. Invest the time and do a proper job; this is the most important page of your entire manuscript.

3. Pitch your book before you write it. What I mean by this is that you can save yourself a lot of time and headaches by thinking ahead to your query letter as early as possible in the writing process. Once you’ve done your homework and know what a query letter needs to accomplish, you are very likely to look at your finished manuscript and groan. Because how do you pitch that rambling, pointless, dead-boring excuse for a book? Hey, it looked so good while you were writing it, but now that you have to pitch it to someone else, you realize just how un-pitchable it really is. There are no murders, no explosions, no secret society … Well, too late. So, make a point of thinking through the story early on, with the pitch in mind.

4. Don’t jump the gun.  Or, perhaps more to the point: Don’t foul your nest. The book world looks pretty darn big from your office chair, but it actually isn’t. So, once you have compiled that beautiful list of desirable and reliable agents (once again: by doing your homework), make sure you don’t waste it. Don’t send query letters to more than one agent at a time. Don’t say you’ve finished a book if you haven`t. And above all: Don’t test the water by sending your second-best. Be patient. Finish the book. Write the most attractive query letter ever. And then sleep on it. And sleep on it again. Remember: an agent is not some opponent you need to blitz; an agent is someone who would like nothing more than to be your ally. All she/he needs is a good reason.

Anne Fortier, author of the New York Times bestseller Juliet, a novel about a young woman who discovers that she is descended from Shakespeare’s Juliet. The novel has sold to 32 countries worldwide, and came out in the US on August 24, 2010.  She is originally from Denmark.

Welcome Agent, Jennifer Etherton

How to Find the Best Agent

There comes a point in every author’s career that he or she decides it is time to retain the services of an agent. This is a much more involved process than one may realize. To be successful it is vital that you do your research. More importantly, you need to know yourself and your own style intimately before you every attempt to look in any of the many databases. This is always the first step in retaining any professional, especially one that you will work so closely with for so long.

The first step to finding the perfect agent is trying to figure out exactly what you want to get out of the relationship. You need to know what you want before you can be the most successful. Take a few minutes and write down you ultimate goal, then write down the smaller goals that you need to meet to achieve your dreams. This may sound a ridiculous but it will actually allow you to achieve your goals quicker than you ever thought possible.

Once you have decided what you want out of your career, it is time to consult one of the professional databases available. The two best are The Writer’s Market and the Literary Market, both of these databases prescreen every professional that is on their list. This reduces the risk of finding a disreputable organization. Choose several agencies then do extra research on each one of the agents individually. While you are doing this research, consider the source that you are using and the motive behind their opinion. This way you will have a better understanding of the information that you find. Never wait to do this step until you receive an offer, not having all you information before you send out you query shows an agent that you are lazy and unprofessional.

When submitting your proposal packet to agents, be sure to read the submission guidelines carefully. Some agencies will not give an author a second chance if they do not provide the information that they request. A few will give you a second chance, but you will still not be viewed in a good light. You want to show an agent that you are the best choice out of their stack of submissions; not doing your research does not help you reach that goal.

Research is not the only thing that will make you the most attractive submission. Agents look at more than your talent when they consider contracting an author. They also look at the person behind the pen. You have to show that you are willing to work as hard as your agent does to achieve mutual success. If you come across as having a bad attitude or that you are high maintenance the agent will politely reject your submission.

If you want to reach the highest markets in the literary industry, it is mandatory to have an agent. The key to finding that perfect agent is doing your homework and knowing exactly where you want to go. This along with allowing a willingness to work as a team and following directions will make you look like the idea author. If you show an agent that you are the author they have been dreaming about they will snatch you up as quickly as they can, so you won’t slip through their hands.

Jennifer Etherton Literary Services
http://www.jeliteraryservices.wordpress.com/