-
-
Insider tip
How to Get an Agent: "Follow your instinct – more often than not it will be right." » Read more on securing the services of a good agent by Philippa Milnes-Smith-
You'll find us not just here, but also on Facebook.
What to ask your new agent
Filed under: Literary Agents
The day has come – a literary agent has accepted you as a client and your career as a published writer is taking off.
It’s hugely exciting – and only too easy to forget that you are entering into a professional partnership where it’s worth asking a few questions of your own before you Read more
The open-minded agent
There’s an agent-author conversation which crops up in a variety of ways all around the web and it goes a bit like this:
Hotshot literary agent: “If you don’t get my name right, make spelling mistakes and fail to follow the submission guidelines on my website, I won’t look at your work. I’m not interested. You’re wasting my time.”
Brilliant new writer: “Agents are totally stuck-up. They’re fixated on Read more
500:1 against getting an agent?
I was reading an interview with a literary agent over on Galley Cat and among her answers, one thing stood out. The agent, an independent who is just broadening her client list to take on young adult fiction, mentioned the number of manuscripts she reviews.
Quite often you’ll hear a literary agent saying they are swamped by manuscripts or drowning under their slush pile, but it’s not often they attempt to put a number on what they actually look through.
Are they really Read more
Agents – what’s the point?
Filed under: Getting Published, Literary Agents
To an aspiring writer, literary agents can seem like a parasitic race – they take their percentage, but what do they give back? And is it worth having one?
The short answers are ‘lots’ and ‘yes’. Read on!
An agent sends your manuscript out to see Read more
All I want for Christmas is an agent…
Filed under: Literary Agents
A literary agent must be at the top of a fiction writer’s list to Father Christmas (along with a Go Go Hamster – who doesn’t want one?!).
And that’s because the vast majority of fiction publishers rely on literary agents to filter submissions and approach them with the cream of the crop.
Getting an agent is not only your gateway to the publishers, but also the best way to Read more
Why an agent wants exclusivity
Filed under: Literary Agents, Writing Advice
It can seem unfair that a literary agent asks for exclusive submission, which to the aspiring author can seem like sheer pigheadedness. However, the following recent experience may give you some idea as to why they ask for it.
An agent I was working for had sent me unsolicited manuscripts to look at. I thought one of them showed real promise.
We contacted the author, saw the complete manuscript and entered into a Read more
How to get the most from our site
Since launching our new-look Writers’ & Artists’ website, thousands of you have dropped in to see us online, which is what we’d only dared to hope back when we were tweaking designs and sorting out coding.
But are you getting the very most from the site? There are a few simple things you can do to boost your experience, other than Read more
Top five tips for submitting your manuscript
Filed under: Getting Published, Literary Agents
I’ve just received a very short, badly written book. I was about to write a scathing critique saying ‘don’t take on this project’ when I did my preliminary Google check, just to see if the author was in the public eye, or if there was anything else I needed to know. The vital bit of info proved to be [...] Read more
Jargon buster: what’s an MSS?
Filed under: Literary Agents
I’ve just had another telephone enquiry, this time from a lady wanting to know what ‘MSS’ means. You’ll find that MSS and MS get a lot of mentions in the Writers’ & Artists’ Yearbook – basically they stand for ‘manuscript’ (MS) and ‘manuscripts’ (MSS). Read more
Busy bee and the literary agent’s fee
Filed under: Literary Agents
It’s crazy busy at the office of the Writers’ & Artists’ Yearbook. I’m in the throes of trying to pull everything together and it turns out I have more loose ends than normal to tie up. So, it’ll be my nose to the grindstone for several weeks yet … tell you what helps me organise myself though: my love of writing lists.
I’ve always written lists, ever since I was a wee girl. I used to write lists of what I was going to do over the school holidays, lists of my favourite breeds of dogs and lists of the things I wanted for presents (I remember once a shed was my number one want … but I didn’t get one, nor a puppy, nor a three-storey Sindy house). Anyway, now in my 30-somethingth year, I write a list every evening for the next day’s work, I find them the best way to help me organise my thoughts and plans. Read more
Buy the 2011 Yearbook
The Writers' & Artists' Yearbook is available at a discount from our online bookshop. Get all the information, contacts and advice you could need.-
Win, Win, Win! We are giving away 5 copies of Qatari Voices, a collection of essays which will inspire new writers. For details of how to enter this giveaway go to 'The Accidental Writer' >
On camera: Jon McGregor
"Being longlisted for the Booker Prize changed everything - it was the launchpad for my writing career." Click to view our video with novelist Jon McGregor »
On camera: Justin Cartwright
"Just write... If you're any good you may not know it, but certainly someone else will." Click to view our video with novelist Justin Cartwright »
On camera: Julie Myerson
The novelist and journalist Julie Myerson on how she got that all-important first publishing deal. Click here to view our video exclusive »