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What agents are looking for

What agents are looking for. When They Review Your Submission. Read the agent’s submission guidelines and follow them. Each agent and agency has different submission guidelines. Do the research. Follow the guidelines. Don’t query an agent with a genre they don’t represent.

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What agents are looking for

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  1. What agents are looking for When They Review Your Submission

  2. Read the agent’s submission guidelines and follow them • Each agent and agency has different submission guidelines. • Do the research. Follow the guidelines. • Don’t query an agent with a genre they don’t represent. • Many agents reject based only on your inability to follow their guidelines.

  3. A query letter is a business letter • Salutation to the correct agent. • Include manuscript title, genre, word count. • A brief blurb about the story (think: back of the book) addresses the major conflict. • A brief bio of your publishing history.

  4. Synopsis • Keep it brief: 1-2 pages tops. • Cover: • The primary conflict of the story. • The protagonist(s) and their story arc/growth. • Include the ending.

  5. Your first pages should accomplish: • Introduce the protagonist(s). • Let the reader know, in a general sense, the setting (place and time). • Give the reader a hint of the primary conflict. • Hook the reader with your voice.

  6. DON’T DO THESE THINGS IN YOUR FIRST PAGES • No prologue. • Don’t start with character waking up. • Don’t start with extended description. • Don’t start with flashback/epilogue. • Don’t start with secondary character.

  7. A note about mechanics • Take the time to proofread. Or pay someone else to do it for you. • These things make a bad first impression: • Bad spelling • Overuse of adverbs • Run-ons and fragments • Stilted dialogue • Head-hopping • Overuse of exclamation marks!!! • Switching verb tenses • Subject/verb/pronoun disagreement • Etc.

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