I'm very new to this, so please be gentle! I have written/edited/redrafted what I hope to be my first published work. I am now at the point of approaching agents and publishers.
However, the more I read into publishing houses and agents, I stagger across a wealth of reviews telling me how awful they are...and Google just loves Austin MacAuley!
How do you go about finding the right representation? I understand that this is a huge question but any tips or advice will be gratefully received.
Might I suggest you research books similar to you own, and find out where these were published. Also, many publishers have agents specialise in a particular genre, so find the name of the agent that would suit your work. Finally, only send them what they ask for in their submission guidelines. Best of luck, and well done for getting so far as to complete your project, that's half way there.
Just a gentle 'be prepared' warning. Publishers and agents are absolutely inundated, so it's not simply a case of finding & choosing someone to represent/publish you. It's (usually, at least) a very long haul of submitting your work to whoever you think is a good fit (researching on-line and through Writers and Artists, for example), in whatever format they ask for and waiting, waiting and waiting...sometimes to receive no answer at all, or a 'thank you, but no thank you' note. On the other hand perhaps you will be one of the lucky ones! Good luck.
Thanks everyone.
If I'm honest, I just find it all such a minefield - almost like the writing is the easy part!
All act on all of your advice :-)