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Welcome back to the How to Get Published Series.
Your fiction manuscript is complete or your nonfiction proposal is done. Now, you need to find an agent.
I think it's really important to understand what an agent does and why you need one before we talk about how to get one, because the first bit of information will inform the second bit of information.
You're going to work with a lot of people as you publish your book -- your editor, publisher, copyeditor, designer, publicist -- but the only one who always has your back and is always on your side is your agent.
Your agent is always looking out for you, guiding you, and helping you make good decisions. An agent may take a percentage of your profits, but will also usually get you more money (and protect your rights) than you could get on your own. Losing 15 percent of $10,000 is much better than getting to keep all of $500.
Here's the point of an agent: The big six publishing houses and many of the smaller, independent presses will not accept unsolicited manuscripts or queries (meaning, stuff they didn't ask for) from writers. In order to run their business, they can't field the requests of millions of writers all clamoring to get their books published.
It's much easier for a publisher to keep relationships with several hundred agents (rather than several million people) and have them act as the gateway, separating the wheat from the chaff for them. If an agent is representing your project, they are essentially vouching for your writing abilities.
And it's not just the filter effect: Most publishers do not want to deal directly with authors. They want to work with someone who understands the industry and so much of the initial contact is in negotiations and contracts. A publisher does not want to negotiate directly with an author and wants that middle person so they can frankly define the relationship. In other words, publishers want someone they can actually talk to, and that person will be your agent.
That relationship with publishers is why an agent can't just take on anything (an explanation if you know an agent personally and are frustrated that they're hemming and hawing when it comes to your project). They only make money if they sell a project, so their reputation is on the line. If they keep bringing things to a publisher that would never fit their list, they will damage their own reputation and that publisher will cease to work with them in the future. Agents take those relationships seriously and they will only pitch to a publisher if they think it's a good fit for that publisher.
Each agent has focused on building relationships based on what sort of project excites them. One agent I know has made a living representing a ton of vampire romance books. If you're writing one, she is the person to have represent your book, because she rocks at selling those. But while she has a few other types of books on her list, she wouldn't be a great person to represent a sports title.
Which is why, when we get to the next installment of How to Get Published, we are going to work on finding the best agents for your project. Because it matters. Just because someone is an agent doesn't mean that they are going to be able to represent your project.
Agents also need to diversify their lists while making those strong connections with publishers (agents, frankly, sound like they have an exhausting job, so thank your agent profusely once you get one). Think of it like the stock market. If they only represent vampire romance novels, and the general public stops buying vampire romance novels, they're screwed. So they diversify by taking on similar, yet different types of books. That same agent may do well to represent other types of romances, or other types of genre fiction -- thrillers, mysteries, etc.
At the same time, publishers are making those types of diversified investments, too: They are building a focused list while being flexible to go with the market. So there are two layers of investing that is taking place -- an agent needs to see your project worth
