Reminder: Newer agencies are golden opportunities for new writers because they're likely building their client list; however, always make sure your work is as perfect as it can be before submitting, and only query agencies that are a great fit for your work. Otherwise, you're just wasting time and postage.

Halston Freeman Literary Agency.

140 Broadway, 46th Floor, New York NY 10005. E-mail: queryhalstonfreemanliterary@hotmail.com. Contact: Molly Freeman, Betty Halston, member agents. Seeking new and established writers. Established: 2007. Specializes in: "We are a hands-on agency specializing in quality nonfiction and fiction. As a new agency, it is imperative that we develop relationships with good writers who are smart, hardworking and understand what's required of them to promote their books."

Currently Handles: 65% nonfiction books; 35% Novels. Nonfiction subjects of interest: Agriculture/Horticulture, Biography, Business/Economics, Child Guidance/Parenting, Current Affairs, Ethnic/Cultural Interests, Gay/Lesbian Issues, Government/Politics/Law, Health/Medicine, History, How-To, Humor/Satire, Memoirs, New Age/metaphysics, Psychology, Self-Help/Personal Improvement, True Crime/Investigative, Women's Issues/Studies. Fiction subjects of interest: Action/Adventure, Detective/Police/Crime, Ethnic, Feminist, Historical, Horror, Humor/Satire, Literary, Mainstream/Contemporary, Mystery/Suspense, Romance, Science Fiction, Thriller, Westerns/Frontier, Women's.

How to submit: Query with SASE. For nonfiction, include sample chapters, synopsis, platform, bio and competitive titles. For fiction, include synopsis, bio and three sample chapters. Accepts e-mail queries (no attachments). No fax queries. Accepts simultaneous submissions. Responds in 2-6 weeks to queries. Responds in 1-2 months to manuscripts. Does not want: Does not want to receive children's books, textbooks or poetry. Agent receives 15% commission on domestic sales. Agent receives 20% commission on foreign sales. This agency charges clients for copying and postage directly related to the project.

While you're sitting at home, writing your soon-to-be-bestselling novel, you may find yourself daydreaming - envisioning your story on the big screen. But the unfortunate truth is that extremely few books ever make it through the Hollywood labyrinth to production.

At BookExpo America, I saw a panel of agents and film producers discuss why some books get made into movies but most don't. Participating panelists included Joel Gotler of IPG Literary Management, Brendan Deneen of the Weinstein Company, Luke Janklow of Janklow & Nesbit, and Legendary Pictures producer Alysia Cotter. Here are some tidbits from the session:

• "Packaging" is key. When a film studio options a book project and temporarily owns the book's film rights, they try to get a screenwriter attached to pen a script. With that script, they try to entice a big-name director and stars. When everyone is attached, they present the package to production companies and try to get it made.
• Having big names attached to a project can be a blessing and a curse. Stars make demands and want input, endangering a project.
• Everyone in Hollywood is a master of deferring responsibility.
• According to Janklow, a book must sell for studios to be interested. Deneen disagreed, saying studios often gobble up brand new work that hasn't had a chance to succeed or fail at the bookstores.
• It's a frontlist world, and there is a "prejudice" against older work that never got made.
• The odds of a book getting made into a film are very, very low - "200 to 1 on a good day," says Gotler.
• According to Janklow, only 5% of movies that get produced are based off good books in the marketplace.
• Hollywood does not look favorably upon authors adapting their own work for the screen - mostly because the author can't properly step away from the material and cut content (or "take a machete to it," as Janklow says).
• The key to a good package is a terrific screenplay based off the book. Everything starts with that.
• If a book is more about characters than the plot, it has a better chance of coming alive on TV rather than film.
• Many authors make great money but never see their books come to life on screen. Hollywood companies will continue to buy temporary rights to the book ("options"), paying $10,000-100,000 each time, but a production never occurs.

 Luke Janklow of Janklow & Nesbit, and Legendary Pictures producer Alysia Cotter.

If you want a literary agent to represent you and sell your novel to a large publishing house, you need to write a great query letter to that agent, first and foremost. That's old news. But there's something else you can do, too: Prove yourself as a capable fiction writer by getting short stories published or honored through contests.

When an agent reads a query, she'll look at your pitch - the one paragraph that explains what your book is about. If she hasn't thrown your query in the garbage by the time she's done reading the pitch, she will then read the next (and hopefully, final) paragraph, where you explain who you are and any writing credentials you may have. This is your golden opportunity to stress your accolades.

Think about it: If she reads your pitch and is somewhat interested, it would help if the next paragraph says,

          "Three of my short stories were published in literary journals this past year, including Journal X; and one short story was awarded first prize overall in the Cool Short Story Contest in 2006."

Now she's thinking: "OK, the pitch didn't totally knock my socks off, but this is a capable writer. Maybe I should peruse the first 10 pages."

Where can you find contests? Writer's Market has a sizeable database of them. And because competitions pop up so quickly then die off just as fast, simply using Google will work. If it's a regional competition (e.g., Baltimore Area Fiction Writers present the 2007 Writing Contest), think about getting involved with the sponsoring group. Perhaps a writer in the group already has an agent and could refer you down the line.

Ask any agent about writing with a trend in mind and you’ll get the same answer: Don’t do it. Instead, write as if to start the next trend. Considering it may take up to two years to get your book published if it gets sold to a house, that’s good advice indeed. According to an agent I spoke with recently, writing a book - especially a fiction one - must be a labor of love in the most absolute sense.

But I think there's more to it than that. It's not as simple as "Don't follow trends." What I think a lot of agents and editors are thinking, but no one is saying aloud is this: Follow trends if you wish, but never create something completely new just to capitalize on a trend, because you likely won’t. In other words, if you hear cyberpunk is hot right now - and it supposedly is - don’t say, “Hey, I’m gonna try my hand at a cyberpunk book now!”  But, if per chance, you had started a cyberpunk book in the past and stopped, either because you started a different project or because you just got dejected/lazy, then it’s time to think about it again.

If the enthusiasm you first had is still there, then you can create a powerful cyberpunk book that you passionately care about. Now, since you know that editors (and therefore agents) are looking for this genre, you should go back to it as soon as humanly possible and see what happens. If you can rekindle the fire and finish the book, you can take advantage of an industry trend and land a sale. 

Agents and editors will disagree on all sorts of things if they talk long enough, but one thing I’ve always heard agents agree on is this: Complete a fiction manuscript before querying an agent. Plain and simple.

But, then again, perhaps there are no universal truths. At the TWA conference in Tennessee, a local agent—Angela DePriest of the Literari Agency—said that she only needed authors to finish the first half of a novel before submitting it. I debated interjecting, but remembered that the job of a panel moderator is not to interrupt a panelist.

So, once again, everything comes down to the agent’s particular tastes—and those tastes should be well specified on their Web site or in directory listings. Word to the wise: Unless you find the rare literary agent who recommends querying before the novel is finished and polished, don’t ever do it.