Guide to Literary Agents - BreakingInWritersDigest

How I Got My Agent: Ellen Bryson
Posted by Chuck

"How I Got My Agent" is a recurring feature on the GLA blog. I find it fascinating to see the exact road people took that landed them with a rep. Seeing the things people did right vs. what they did wrong (highs and the lows) can help other scribes who are on the same journey. Some tales are of long roads and many setbacks, while others are of good luck and quick signings.

To see the previous installments of this column, click here.

If you have a literary agent and would be interested in writing a short guest column for this GLA blog, e-mail me at literaryagent@fwmedia.com and we'll talk specifics.

Ellen Bryson's book, The Transformation of
Bartholomew Fortuno, comes out in June
2010. The story follows Fortuno, the world's
thinnest man, as he's hired by none other
than P.T. Barnum to work at a spectacular
American museum. See Ellen's website here.

REJECTIONS TRICKLE IN

When it came to finding an agent, I was not well prepared. I didn’t realize how many good web sources there were to answer questions; I didn’t do much research, and I never once wrote a good query letter. Mostly, though, I couldn’t find an agent because my manuscript wasn’t ready. It took me years to finish a full draft—sometimes working steadily, sometimes not at all. I plugged away, enrolling in a Masters program to keep me working and, thanks to some really great teachers, help me improve. Eventually, I felt ready enough to send the manuscript to writer friends of mine and writer friends of others—anyone who was willing and able to give me usable advice. I rewrote, and unwrote, and rewrote again.

Finally, I felt I could reasonably say The End. Out went the manuscript to an agent that someone had told me might be a good fit. Back it came with a ‘no thanks’ but, generously, with notes. I took the notes very seriously and rewrote to try to answer points raised. Out it went again, this time to an agent I had researched and found to like the same kind of books that I liked. Back it came again, this time with nothing but a form letter. I sent it again and again—the results more or less the same.

These rejections weren’t fun. It didn’t matter that I knew it wasn’t personal. But I didn’t mind going back to the manuscript. Quite honestly, rewrites were work I really liked. In the work, I had control. It was the agent search that I found difficult. It all seemed so magical to me, and I did not feel like the hero of my story.

BRANCHING OUT

Deciding to try another tactic, I went to the writer’s colony Breadloaf, a humbling experience but my first chance to “pitch” in front of an agent. Talking about my manuscript to a professional was both nerve-wracking and instructive. It made me nervous. I did it anyway. And I left with a request from an agent to send her what I had when I felt it was finished. Wow, what a show of interest can do to renew one’s you-can-do-it sense of things. It took nearly a year before I felt ready to send her a partial and then, lo and behold, the whole thing at her request.

In a meantime, I sucked it up again, this time going to a local writers conference. I’m not particularly social, and events like this weren’t easy for me. But at this conference, I got lucky. I met a writer much further along the path than I was. In a moment of generosity, he said, “I’ll take a look at your manuscript if you want me to.” I loved him! Then, when he suggested I send it to his agent, I was utterly beside myself. Since I hadn’t heard from the Breadloaf agent who still had my manuscript, and as she had not asked for an exclusive, I figured, what the hell. His agent turned it down.

YES, YES, YES!

My friend then suggested another agent he knew: Mollie Glick. Why not? I sent Mollie a quick e-mail, telling her who I was and who had recommended me. After reading my first three chapters, she asked to see the full manuscript. On the day before Thanksgiving, Mollie called to tell me she liked the manuscript, but asked if I was willing to work on it. Yes, I said. Yes, yes, yes!

It took two more years of back and forth, including six months of research, until Mollie was happy with it. I dreaded her editorial letters but understood the points she was making and did my best. The big changes I had to do alone, but both of us did line-editing for misspellings, dropped or repeated words, and flabby writing—all the painstaking stuff. After that, it didn’t take long for the manuscript to sell. That moment was, well, wonderful!

So what did I learn through all of this? I learned that it takes what it takes. A manuscript is never done, but it needs to get to a certain point before anyone will be able to see it. Because I didn’t know what finished meant, I sent it out too early. I sent to only one agent at a time even though no one asked me for an exclusive. As a result, I often waited many months to hear back. Finally, and this is what an author friend of mine said: It's not a real book until the professionals get a hold of it. But that’s another story.

This post is an online exclusive complement
to a spotlight on Ellen in the March/April 2010
issue of WD. If you don't have a sub to
Writer's Digest, what are you waiting for?
Get one now!

Breaking In (Writer's Digest) | How I Got My Agent Columns

Monday, March 01, 2010 10:39:12 AM (Eastern Standard Time, UTC-05:00)

Comments [5]

Monday, February 08, 2010

How I Got My Agent: Debra Berndt
Posted by Chuck

"How I Got My Agent" is a recurring feature on the GLA blog. I find it fascinating to see the exact road people took that landed them with a rep. Seeing the things people did right vs. what they did wrong (highs and the lows) can help other scribes who are on the same journey. Some tales are of long roads and many setbacks, while others are of good luck and quick signings.

To see the previous installments of this column, click here.

If you have a literary agent and would be interested in writing a short guest column for this GLA blog, e-mail me at literaryagent@fwmedia.com and we'll talk specifics.

Debra Berndt is the author of "Let Love In:
Open Your Heart and Mind to Attract Your
Ideal Partner." See her website and
follow her on Twitter.

SHARING WHAT I LEARNED

My idea for the book was born after another failed love affair that led me on a transformative inner-journey. A year later, I found myself in a new career and a fresh perspective on my love life. I wanted to share what I had learned and empower single women to love themselves. I hired a coach and began the process of making my dream a reality.

I wrote my first book proposal in 2004 and attended the San Diego State University Writers' Conference in 2005. I gained a ton of insight about getting published but, lacking an impressive platform, I left the conference without any bites on my proposal. Internally, I had a nagging doubt of whether my "attract love" system (the subject of my book) worked because I was still single. Although I have seen the power of the transformation in many of my clients, I felt my proposal had a touch of disbelief in between the lines.

FINDING A PLATFORM ... AND LOVE

During the next year, I continued to receive rejection letters from agents while I was busy building my platform with a regular column in a local Denver magazine and monthly segments on the ABC affiliate's Saturday morning news show. I also met the man of my dreams, which finally gave me the reassurance that my system for singles was solid. I rewrote the proposal with a little more passion and conviction and returned back to the SDSU Writers' Conference in 2006.

Before attending the conference, I researched the various editors and agents in attendance and made my wish list. One agency—Full Circle Literary—really stood out to me because of their interest in empowering women. I picked both partners of that small firm (one as a backup) just to be certain that I was able to at least meet one of them. Because of a cancellation, the event staff scheduled me to meet with both!

I first met agent Stefanie Von Borstel, who really liked my idea. She was impressed with my platform and eager to discuss my proposal with her partner, Lilly. I met Lilly Ghahremani later that afternoon and I felt that I could work with both of them. During the conference, I attended some of Lilly's panels and saw that she was extremely knowledgeable in the publishing industry. Later that evening, I ran into Stefanie at a networking cocktail party and really enjoyed speaking with her. Out of all the agents, they were my top choice to represent me.

A few weeks later, my excitement quickly died when Lilly rejected the proposal, but she gave me some really great advice on how to fix it up. It was a relief that she was open to see another submission. I could have given up after all that time, but I was in for the long haul. So determined to get it right, I hired a writing coach to help me get the proposal in top shape. Shari Cauldron had a lot of knowledge in the publishing industry (a published author herself) and knew exactly what I needed to do to make the proposal irresistible. We worked for a few months on the proposal and I had a professional editor put the final touches on it. The financial investment was a little steep, but turned out to be worth every penny.

POLISHED AND READY

When I resubmitted the proposal to Full Circle Literary, I felt confident that I put in my best work. Lilly contacted me stating that she loved the changes and was ready to talk about possibly working together. Over the next few months, she continued to coach me on adjustments to the proposal to make it even better and more appealing to publishers. We came up with our final proposal and she sent me the contract to represent me. The first hurdle was overcome. I had an agent!

At first, the search for the dream publisher was slow, but within a few months I had four solid offers in the same week. I accepted the offer from J. Wiley & Sons, LLC in 2008 and my book will be in stores on March 1, 2010. The journey from idea to final publication has been a long road, but the final product was worth the wait. As I look back, I am so glad ignored the advice to self-publish and rush the creation of my book. My advice to those who are searching for an agent is to get expert advice, professional editors and never give up—because there are readers out there who want to buy your book.

This post is an online exclusive complement
to a spotlight on Debra in the March/April 2010
issue of WD. If you don't have a sub to
Writer's Digest, what are you waiting for?
Get one now!

Breaking In (Writer's Digest) | How I Got My Agent Columns

Monday, February 08, 2010 3:17:43 PM (Eastern Standard Time, UTC-05:00)

Comments [1]

Saturday, February 06, 2010

Successful Queries: Agent Tina Wexler and 'Tagged'
Posted by Chuck

This series is called "Successful Queries" and I'm posting actual query letters that succeeded in getting writers signed with agents. In addition to posting the actual query letter, we will also get to hear thoughts from the agent as to why the letter worked.

The 26th installment in this series is with agent Tina Wexler (ICM) and her author, Mara Purnhagen, for her young adult book, Tagged.

Dear Ms. Wexler,

Sixteen-year-old Kate Morgan is just as baffled as the rest of the Cleary High School student body when gorillas invade their town. Okay, they’re not real gorillas, just life-like renderings painted on the buildings, but still. Why would anyone go to so much trouble?

A mysterious graffiti artist isn’t the only thing causing an uproar in Cleary. The school’s resident rich girl is throwing a sweet sixteen bash complete with an MTV camera crew, a live band, and an ultra exclusive guest list, which, to Kate’s shock, includes her but not Lan, her Vietnamese best friend. Kate is determined to acquire an invitation for Lan, but the birthday girl isn’t budging- until she needs a peculiar favor from Kate.

Shy and sensitive Kate is also trying to conceal her crush on Eli, a guy she works with at the local coffee shop. Ever since she was dumped by her first boyfriend months earlier, Kate has turned to Eli for support and now hopes their friendship can turn into something deeper. However, Eli’s girlfriend, Reva, has made it clear that he’s taken, and with her fiery temper and razor-sharp nails, she’s the last person in the world Kate wants to anger. Kate suspects that Reva may be involved with the graffiti, or worse, that she’s covering for Eli and his friends.

Both the graffiti and the party spark debate among the students at Cleary. Some think that the graffiti is a crime while others classify it as art. Some want more than anything to be invited to the party so they can cash in on their fifteen minutes of televised fame while others plan to boycott the over-the-top snobfest. Kate falls somewhere in the middle of both issues until the night of the party, when she learns the truth behind the graffiti- and the real reason why Lan has been left off the guest list.

My short fiction has been published in Orpheus and the GSU Review. I won the 2003 Hardegree Prize for Fiction, a regional award sponsored by the Hub City Writers Group. I am also a member of the SCBWI.

Tagged is a completed 49,500-word young adult novel. I would be happy to send sample chapters. Thank you very much for your time.

Sincerely,

Mara Purnhagen

Commentary from Tina

Mara's query caught my eye with the very first sentence. (Did she say gorillas?!) I had to find out more based on that line alone.

And who doesn't love a secret crush and a school divided by the whims of the popular, tough choices between best friends and peculiar favors? I'm also interested in art and in general interested in YAs that explore issues beyond the high school bubble, so I was excited to see that this story would be exploring What IS art?. Lastly, I was a big Veronica Mars fan (sniffle), and the mysteries at the core of this story made me think that Tagged might fill the void left by that show's cancellation, which in my mind is as good a reason as any to ask to see a manuscript. ; )

Of course, it's also just a well-written query, with the right amount of personality and professionalism, a solid bio, etc. I was thrilled when I received pages and found Tagged to be exactly what her letter promised--and more!

This post is an online exclusive complement
to a spotlight on Mara in the March/April 2010
issue of WD. If you don't have a sub to
Writer's Digest, what are you waiting for?
Get one now!

Want more on this subject?

How to Write a Query Letter.

Successful Queries: (Kids/YA) "Wake"

Successful Queries: (Nonfiction) "Buy Ketchup in May and Fly at Noon"

Confused about formatting? Check out Formatting & Submitting Your Manuscript.

Read about What Agents Hate: Chapter 1 Pet Peeves.

Want the most complete database of agents and what genres they're looking for? Buy the 2010 Guide to Literary Agents today!

Breaking In (Writer's Digest) | Successful Queries

Saturday, February 06, 2010 10:04:42 AM (Eastern Standard Time, UTC-05:00)

Comments [3]

Wednesday, January 06, 2010

How I Got My Agent: Matt Mikalatos
Posted by Chuck

"How I Got My Agent" is a new recurring feature on the GLA blog. I find it fascinating to see the exact road people took that landed them with a rep. Seeing the things people did right vs. what they did wrong (highs and the lows) can help other scribes who are on the same journey. Some tales are of long roads and many setbacks, while others are of good luck and quick signings.

To see the previous installments of this column, click here.

If you have a literary agent and would be interested in writing a short guest column for this GLA blog, e-mail me at literaryagent@fwmedia.com and we'll talk specifics.

This installment of "How I Got My Agent"
is by Matt Mikalatos, freelancer,
and author of the novel "Imaginary Jesus"
(BarnaBooks, April 2010). See his website here.

LET'S MAKE A DEAL

I wanted to write fiction, but couldn’t seem to sell it. I found, however, that I was selling short satirical magazine articles with astonishing regularity, and soon I sold a couple of “how to” articles on spiritual topics to the Christian market. When it came to magazines, I just had more success with nonfiction than fiction. I decided to write a proposal for a book of humorous essays called Imaginary Jesus, and started looking for an agent so I could submit it to the publisher who printed my magazine. I started through Writer’s Market, trying to cut the pile of agents down to a top ten list. I mentioned that I hoped to have an agent soon to one of the magazine editors, and they told me that they preferred un-agented submissions when they had worked with an author before, so why didn’t I send a proposal over and abandon my agent search? I immediately sent my proposal to the publisher, who said we would probably strike a deal with no advance and see where the book could go.

Excited and a little overwhelmed, I contacted an author friend named Gary Thomas. Gary had taught a seminary class at Western Seminary a few years previously and had graciously agreed to an interview for a class project of mine at the time. Now he agreed to meet me and my wife and give advice about the writing life. In the course of our conversation he told me that I really did need an agent and referred me to two of them, giving permission for me to use his name when I sent my queries. Both agents were out of my league without Gary’s referral and, in fact, I had crossed them both off my agent search list a month earlier simply because I didn’t think they would represent someone like me.

Learn more about "Imaginary Jesus"

HE LOVES MY QUERY BUT HATES MY BOOK

I sent a query to these guys within about 24 hours of talking with Gary, and the man who was about to become my agent, Wes Yoder of Ambassador Literary, sent me a note the next day saying he wanted to talk. During our conversation, Wes said he read my partial, hated it and told me he didn't want to represent me. I believe he said, "This is bad," as well as, "You're not delivering what you promised in the proposal." He told me that he suspected I was writing what I thought agents and publishers would want to see rather than what I really wanted to write ... that I wasn't being weird enough or honest enough, and wasn't embracing my desire to write a story instead of essays. He did say, though, that he would be willing to take a second look if I reworked it.

That weekend I radically altered the book from essays into a novel, and started writing the story of a guy named Matt Mikalatos who discovers while sitting in a coffee shop that the Jesus sitting across from him is not the real Jesus at all, but an imposter, which leads to encounters with the apostle Peter, a talking donkey, and a giant chase through space, time and Portland, Oregon. I sent five chapters off to Wes, and within a few hours he was sending me e-mails and leaving voice messages not to talk to any other agents. He said he wanted to be the "real agent" for Imaginary Jesus.

SUCCESS WITH WES

Now that it was fiction, I needed to finish the book! I wrote it in the evenings and the holiday breaks over Thanksgiving and Christmas ... the first draft was finished in just under six weeks, which was exhausting and exhilarating at the same time. I have a lot of memories of turkey cooking in the kitchen while I was hunched over the laptop by the fire.

So, my agent search lasted about two weeks from start to finish. About two months later the book was finished, and within a few months more we had two offers from great publishers on the table. And Imaginary Jesus hits the shelves this April! Looking back, I know Wes was right - I was successful when I wrote what I wanted to write, not what I thought would sell.

This guest column by Matt is an exclusive online
supplement to a feature on him in the Feb. 2010
issue of Writer's Digest (the "Breaking In" section).
If you haven't subscribed to WD yet, what are you
waiting for? Get a sub now!

Want more on this topic?

Want to pen a guest column? Write me at literaryagent@fwmedia.com.

See all posted stories of writers finding their agents.

Agent Janet Reid provides 20 Query Letter Tips.

Confused about formatting? Check out Formatting & Submitting Your Manuscript.

Read about What Agents Hate: Chapter 1 Pet Peeves.

Want the most complete database of agents and what genres they're looking for? Buy the 2010 Guide to Literary Agents today!

Breaking In (Writer's Digest) | Christian Agents | How I Got My Agent Columns

Wednesday, January 06, 2010 2:12:55 PM (Eastern Standard Time, UTC-05:00)

Comments [0]

Wednesday, November 18, 2009

How I Got My Agent: Colin Broderick
Posted by Chuck

To see the previous installments of this column, click here.

If you have a literary agent and would be interested in writing a short guest column for this GLA blog, e-mail me at literaryagent@fwmedia.com and we'll talk specifics.

This installment of "How I Got
My Agent" is by Colin Broderick.
Colin is the author of the memoir,
Orangutan. His site, www.colinbroderick.com,
will be up and running soon.

ROCK BOTTOM

On the sixth day of the sixth month 2006, I left my apartment in Hells Kitchen with the last of my belongings in a small U-Haul truck to drive to farmhouse up north and try to save my life. It might sound like I’m fabricating the facts here for dramatic effect but as I started the truck and headed north I glanced at the dash clock and it read 6:06. It occurred to me then and I still believe it now that there was some Dante-esque connection at play here, my life had literally spiraled to its lowest point. I was a 38-year-old, twice divorced alcoholic weighing in at an astonishing 115 lbs. I was broke and now I had lost my apartment. It was time to start the long crawl out of the hole I had dug for myself. I had witnessed the depths of the inferno and it held little of the allure it once did for me. I wanted nothing more to do with it.

Within three days, I had started writing what was to become my memoir, Orangutan. I had been writing for twenty years since moving to New York from Northern Ireland at the age of 20 to work construction. I completed a couple of novels, plays, short stories and notebooks full of poetry—but I had only ever managed to get one short story published and that had been 10 years before. I spent my twenties convinced that I would be "discovered." An agent or editor would read one page of my manuscript and run to the nearest phone to dial my number with an offer that would catapult me into the waiting arms of the Nobel Prize Committee. It didn’t happen. I did send my early manuscripts out to a few agents and agencies but I can’t remember even receiving a rejection letter. It seemed finding an agent was a more elusive dream than finding a publisher. I used to joke that you needed an agent to get an agent in this town.

Orangutan

THE AA REFERRAL

After spending a year on Orangutan—a year that saw me back on the bottle for a brief but productive period that added a stint in an upstate jail to my resume—I started dating a girl who had been a bartender of mine once upon a time. She was a writer, also. She read what I had written and was convinced that this was the manuscript that would finally get me published. She took me back to the city gave me a place to stay and a desk for my work. I married her for her efforts and quit drinking to devote my time and energy to creating a career for myself in the only profession that has ever made any sense to me: writing.

I was at a meeting one night way downtown—one of those meetings you hear about where the alcoholics gather to drink coffee and smoke their cigarettes—when I heard a guy about my age tell his story. He’d escaped from a locked ward at Bellevue Mental Hospital, and was the first to escape from the institution since the early 70s. He’d sobered up and written a book about it, and with the help of his wonderful agent had just nailed down a book deal. I lurked around outside the meeting afterward waiting for my moment. He was quite popular and had a lot of goodbyes to say but I was patient. This was my guy—I was sure of it. When he finally turned to leave, I followed him around the corner and stopped him with a tap on the shoulder.

“Excuse me, my name’s Colin I just heard your story in there and it was great. Here’s the deal; I heard you say you have an agent, well I’m a writer myself and I have this manuscript almost finished and I could really use an agent.” Here he started mumbling some line about how he had introduced someone to his agent already and it hadn’t really worked out for him but I didn’t let him finish. “I can assure you, I told him that if you introduce me to your agent you will always remember this as the night you discovered Colin Broderick.” He smiled. I had appealed to his cooky sense of happenstance. He laughed and eyed me skeptically.
     “You’re not bullshitting me,” he said. “You can really write?”
     “I promise, I will not embarrass you.”

"SHOOT"

Three days later (thanks to a phone call from this nice man), I was seated in the office of Dystel and Goderich down on Union Square. I on one couch, Jane and Miriam on another facing me. “Okay, shoot,” Jane said clasping her hands in her lap and the two women glaring at me with raised eyebrows.
     “What?” I had no idea what to do next.
     “Well, why are we sitting here with you? Shoot.”

This was the moment I had been waiting for my entire adult life. Here was an honest-to-goodness shot at the hoop. I jumped right in with my story and within a few minutes I could tell they were warming up. We had made a connection. They asked me if I’d brought anything with me for them to read. I had. I gave them a disc with what I had of the manuscript so far and in within three days I was back in their office signing a contract. I had my agent!—the same agency who represented Barack Obama, a Hemingway, Judge Judy, and a Bellevue escapee. I had found my home.

It took six months for them to sell Orangutan to Three Rivers Press, (Random House, no less). Over the past year, both Jane and Miriam have been working closely with me helping me refine my next book proposal. They have just submitted it to the publishers. It’s been a long hard road, but it’s been well worth the wait. And that Bellevue escapee, author Chris Campion, and I became fast friends into the bargain.

This guest column by Colin is an exclusive online
supplement to a feature on him in the Jan. 2010
issue of Writer's Digest (the "Breaking In" section).
If you haven't subscribed to WD yet, what are you
waiting for? Get a sub now!

Want more on this subject?

Word count guidelines for novels and children's books.

Networking at writers' conferences.

20 Tips on Query Letters.

Confused about formatting? Check out Formatting & Submitting Your Manuscript.

Read about What Agents Hate: Chapter 1 Pet Peeves.

Want the most complete database of agents and what genres they're looking for? Buy the 2010 Guide to Literary Agents today!

Breaking In (Writer's Digest) | How I Got My Agent Columns | Memoir

Wednesday, November 18, 2009 11:29:43 AM (Eastern Standard Time, UTC-05:00)

Comments [7]

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