Agents: how much research?

[Juliana]

(Not sure if this is a GWD or Publishing matter - mods, please move if I'm in the wrong place, thank you!)

Question for those who are at/almost at the querying stage: how much research do you carry out on agents you wish to query?

I follow on twitter, have a good look at their agency bio and have a peek at their personal site/blog if they have one. Is there anything else I should be doing? What does everyone else do?

I suppose that, ultimately, it doesn't really matter how much I know about an agent; he or she is either going to love my work or click delete. But it's nice to have a feel for who these people are.

Twitter so far seems the best place for getting a sense of personality. Of course, some agents tweet a lot, others hardly ever. Still!

 

[WriterJosh]

You did pretty much what I did, but I gotta confess I find twitter exhausting!

 

[Mouse]

What you're doing. I Google their names too and see what comes up.

 

[Juliana]

Some of them post things on Absolute Write or Reddit, but I find those sites a bit heavy-going (especially Reddit, which is so, so confusing!).

 

[Hex]

Google "[agent name] Bewares Absolute Write" (and then do another Google with the agency name). You find out some truly alarming things on there, and while the site in general is a bit heavy-going, the Google search will take you straight to what you need to know. Read the whole thread.

Good luck

 

[Brian G Turner]

I follow on twitter, have a good look at their agency bio and have a peek at their personal site/blog if they have one. Is there anything else I should be doing? What does everyone else do?

Also check which authors they represent, and whether you would consider any of these as near your own work in terms of subgenre.

 

[Juliana]

Good luck

Not quite there, yet. Just working on info file for future submissions. Be prepared, and all that jazz.

Also check which authors they represent, and whether you would consider any of these as near your own work in terms of subgenre.

Yes, good point. Also keeping an eye on what publishing houses they place books with - small ones are fine but nice when there are some major players in the mix...

 

[Kissmequick]

Two places to have a gander at

AW's bewares forum and Preditors an editors (also check Writer Beware for common scam/not good signs)

Other than that -- have they made any sales (to places you want to be pubbed at)? Do they look like they are doing good?

Research, research, research. If no before you query then DEFINITELY before you accept any offer. I know of at least one agency that is supposedly good by many methods, but one agent is, well, tbh loopy ( to death threat/hand out home address level). Oh, and all his clients self pub....no one knows if the lead agent knows about it. Or if she's still agenting even

Research, Talk to current clients*, check everywhere you can. type in (inc quote marks) "agency name " " warning". See what pops up


Really, you NEED to do this.

*they might be happy but see how their books are pubbed/they are repped

 

[Juliana]

Eep, scary stuff! Thanks KMQ.

 

[Stephen Palmer]

what a lovely fluffy world we live in...

 

[Juliana]

what a lovely fluffy world we live in...

With bunnies and kittens and... Oh my! What big teeth you have, grandma!

 

[Jo Zebedee]

Um, I'm rubbish at this but the three agents who have liked my stuff enough to be interested are not the ones I knew much sbout or had researched much. Don't be afraid to cast your net widely. Also, follow literary rejections on twitter - they announce when agents open etc. good luck!

 

[Mr Orange]

as springs says, shouldn't you cast your net wide and then do in depth research when you catch some agent fish in it?

i.e. before you actually accept something.

 

[Hex]

An argument for doing some of the research before you submit is that if they request and you then find out horrible stories, you have to pull the submission. That can be awkward and a little soul-destroying.

 

[Jo Zebedee]

An argument for doing some of the research before you submit is that if they request and you then find out horrible stories, you have to pull the submission. That can be awkward and a little soul-destroying.

Yes, okay, I'll be good. I do do a bit of research first, at least to the extent of not sending it to utter charlatans. But I think it is easy to get too focused on who we think is our perfect agent/s, and forget they might not think we're the perfect client.

 

[Mr Orange]

good point hex and i do of course google and check on agents before i submit. what i meant was, like springs, if they check out and look vaguely like they might be interested, that's be enough for me to send a MS out