Two Writers on Finding a Literary Agent

one debut novelist, one published nonfiction author, two stories of patience and grit

Photo by Victoria Heath on Unsplash

Welcome to The Caffeinated Writer, where you’ll find articles on writing, publishing, and connecting with readers. If you enjoy this post, you might also like How to Pitch Your Book to Agents and Editors, and What Publishers Do for Authors.

This post is about two writers here on Substack who have recently landed a literary agent for their novels. One is a debut novelist, one has had a successful career as a nonfiction writer. Before you read on, be aware that neither of these stories involve overnight success. Both, I think, are illuminating. Both are representative of what it really takes to land a literary agent. And both should be encouraging to any writer who is in the process of querying agents.

In the post A Long Awaited Yes,

Kailey Brennan DelloRusso

of In the Weeds writes about landing an agent…after 58 queries and 28 rejections.

And back in June,

Cynthia W. Gentry

, the author of seven published nonfiction books, wrote about landing her new literary agent for her novel. As with Brennan, it didn’t happen overnight. Gentry sent out 60 queries over a period of more than a year. “I was prepared to send out 100+ if that’s what it took,” she writes.

Gentry shares another crucial piece of advice:

I see a lot of querying writers identify a “dream agent,” then become heartbroken if that person passes on their book. Well, someone once told me that a dream agent is the agent who loves your book and will advocate for it and your writing career.

If you’re new to traditional publishing, remember this: it’s so important to be willing to play both the long game and the numbers game. Impatience is the enemy. So is preciousness and a thin skin. You have to expect rejection, be immune to it (easier said than done), and be willing to wade through the rejections until the moment your query hits the right desk.

I queried dozens of agents and received dozens of rejections before landing the amazing agent who would go on to sell seven books for me. (I’ll share how I met my literary agent, and how I published my first two books without an agent, in a separate post).

The important thing to remember is that rejection is an inevitable part of the query process, and it is common to get many rejections before getting a request for a full or partial manuscript. When I say many, I don’t mean five or six. I mean dozens.

You have to expect rejection, be immune to it, and be willing to wade through the rejections until the moment your query hits the right desk.

I sometimes hear from writers who are discouraged and tempted to throw in the towel because they sent ten to twenty queries and haven’t had good news yet. But you will probably need to send more than twenty queries—perhaps many more—before you find the agent who is looking for you and your manuscript at this moment. Remember, an agent gets hundreds, probably thousands, of queries per year. So a “no”—even a form rejection—doesn’t mean your manuscript isn’t good. It means it’s not the right book for that agent at that time.

Both Gentry and DelloRusso waited until they had a completed, revised manuscript before querying. When someone asks for the manuscript, you have to have something to show them, and it has to be in great shape. You only get one chance to send sample chapters or a full manuscript, so be sure you’re ready to send the manuscript before you start sending queries. (Of course, never send a manuscript without a specific request from an agent to do so!)

Although the publishing industry is always in flux, some things haven’t changed since I landed my agent twenty years ago: Write a good book. Revise it meticulously. Write a good query. Send it to a lot of agents who represent other authors in your genre. Before sending, be sure the agents are accepting new clients. Be patient. Be professional. When the rejections come in, send more queries. Keep the faith. And in the meantime, start working on your next book, because when your agent sells your debut novel, it is quite likely the publisher will ask for a two-book deal. It’s always good to have one in the pipeline.

If you enjoyed this post, you might also like How to Pitch Your Book to Agents and Editors, and What Publishers Do for Authors.

What Publishers Do for Authors