How I Found My Agent (Part 1)

So you’ve finally finished writing the book you’ve been working on for months / years / decades. Massive congratulations, and this is always a huge achievement in itself! It’s not easy to write 80,000 words, or more, so please do bask in this glory and enjoy the moment. However, this is arguably just the start.

I’ve recently received a few messages from people asking how to submit your novel to a publisher, and the answer is - at least in most cases - you need to find an agent first. I know that I certainly wouldn’t be where I am now without my wonderful agent Hannah Ferguson at Hardman & Swainson. 

As such, I thought I’d share my experience of finding an agent and, whilst it’s important to remember that every situation is different, hopefully it may give you a bit of an insight into the process.

Firstly, my top tips….

Make sure your novel is fully polished. And then polish it some more. 

Typically, you only get one shot at submitting your novel to an agent. You’ve spent years writing it, so don’t rush this part. I know amidst the excitement of finishing you are keen to submit but make sure your manuscript really is as good as you can make it before you send to any agents. Yes, there will be plenty of further edits down the line, once you’ve found an agent, and again once you’ve found a publisher, but you want to give yourself the best chance of an agent saying ‘yes’. Whether this means taking a break from it for a while before reading through it again, or sharing with friends and family for their thoughts. Also try and eradicate any pesky spelling and grammar errors. 

Research.

There are lots of literary agencies, and in turn agents. You need to find the one most suited to you and your writing. Lots of agents include bios, and state what kind of books they’re looking for. I may also have opted to submit to those who looked friendly in their photos! I did scour through Waterstones looking to see what Hannah’s clients wrote about her in their Acknowledgements… although I’m not sure what I was expecting to find here! It would have been unusual if they wrote ‘I hate my agent.’ (Obviously they were all full of praise!) 

Timing is key.

I don’t know how accurate or foolproof this advice is, but I was told there are better times of the year to submit. Avoid just before and during the London and Frankfurt Book Fairs, and the lead-up to Christmas. Many agents also tend to be on holiday during the summer. The current circumstances may have shifted all of this.

Prepare your submission.

Make sure you read the submission instructions - some agents want to see the whole manuscript immediately, others want the first three chapters or 5000 words (Make sure you still have the whole manuscript ready to send as if an agent comes back wanting to read more, you don’t want to delay). On the whole though, along with your manuscript, you will need to send a cover letter and a one page synopsis. Like with any job application, do personalise your cover letter. Again don’t rush your submission. Check all your spelling, and make sure all the documents are attached.

Send in groups.

There are various approaches and opinions on this but it seems sensible to submit to your chosen agents in small groups. If you send to just one you could be waiting for months to hear anything back, if you send to thirty and they all come back and say the same thing, then you have blown your chances with all of them. I sent my submission to my preferred four agents, and was planning another cycle of four had none of these four worked out.

And then wait. 

Fortunately one of these four was Hannah who I signed with. I am aware that I was very lucky finding my agent so quickly, and many authors have to submit to dozens of agents so be prepared to be patient.

To give you an idea of timings, here’s the timeline of my agent querying process. In fact, I was in the unusual situation that I received my offers before my rejections. (I’ve given them code names to conceal their identity, which makes them sound more like secret agents, rather than literary agents!)

28th May 2019 - I submitted my novel to four agents. 

13th June 2019 - Hannah emailed to say she was halfway through reading my submission and was enjoying reading it. 

14th June 2019 - Agent B’s assistant emailed to say he enjoyed the novel, and had passed onto Agent B to read. 

18th June 2019 - Hannah emailed to say she had finished reading and offered me representation. (VERY exciting email!) 

19th June 2019 - Agent B emailed to offer me representation. 

23rd June 2019 - Agent C emailed with a standard rejection. 

12th September 2019 - Agent D emailed with a personalised rejection. (Ironically the same day as Penguin offered to publish the book!) 

If you have any questions please get in touch. Otherwise, stay tuned for Part 2!