Edited by Lynne Lamberg
How do you find an agent? What material should you send? Those questions on NASW-Books generated this recent exchange and tips from NASW authors.
Question:
Marty Downs, Associate Director of Science Communications at The Nature Conservancy, wrote:
I’m working with a scientist who is quite a good writer. He has an idea for a book that would be part environmental science, part public policy, part family adventure. He’s well on his way to a decent proposal (one good chapter written, another mostly done, a decent outline, etc). We’re starting to move on to an agent query letter on the theory that the agent will want to help shape the full proposal in any case.
1) Is that a reasonable approach or should I push him to finish the proposal before we start looking for an agent?
2) Does anyone have a good sample pitch letter they wouldn’t mind sharing? I know there are a bunch of sites out there with samples, but haven’t found anything that seems quite right.
3) Any recommendations for agents? He’s based in Ohio, but travels frequently, so I don’t think geography matters much. Any suggestions appreciated.
__Tips:
T. DeLene Beeland, author of The Secret World of Red Wolves, replied:
My advice would be to finish the proposal and query letter before circulating it to prospective agents. My understanding is that they are bombarded by writers seeking representation to the degree that they don’t have much patience for partially finished proposals or query letters — especially from writers with whom they haven’t previously worked.
I sold my first science/nature narrative nonfiction book to the University of North Carolina Press and wish, with hindsight, I’d had the patience to first attract an agent. It really makes a difference in terms of: the type of press that might acquire the book, size of the advance, contract terms, and marketing pre- and post-release. Having a good agent can make or break a book. Geography shouldn’t matter; if the work is good someone will represent it.
His starting point should be to get a current copy of the 2014 Guide to Literary Agents and use the index by subject matter to search for agents that represent the category of book he is seeking to write. I’m actually going through this process myself for science, nature/environment, and animal/wildlife categories. After identifying literary houses that represent his chosen category, the best advice I’ve heard is to make a spread sheet with your top-, mid-, and low-tier level agents. Input their contact information (Guide to Literary Agents includes email or physical addresses and indicates how agents wish to be contacted), and use this to track which agents you’ve sent the query/proposal. Some agents may only want to receive a query letter.
Others may want a query letter and proposal. Again, Guide to Literary Agents often specifies of these details. You can then use the spreadsheet to politely follow up with the agent after a respectful period of time from your initial contact.
You’re right that an agent may want to help shape a proposal before sharing it with their editorial contacts; but my sense is that you should put your best foot forward and not count on the agent to polish things up. Being open to changing aspects of the proposal will probably make a writer more attractive to an agent as well. Plus, in my experience, the more people I shared semi-final chapters with from my book, the stronger and sharper the chapters became — I’m a huge fan of collaborative input in my writing. This may not work with everyone, but I do think that in addition to making a writer appear flexible, being open to input also improves the final product.
Guide to Literary Agents also gives useful information such as what proportion of an agent’s firm is devoted to fiction or nonfiction. I’m looking mostly at the agents that represent more nonfiction than fiction, or nonfiction exclusively, because I assume this means they have a better sense of the market and a longer list of editors they know at publishing houses.
I don’t have a sample query letter to share with you, as I have not yet written mine. But if you do some digging around on Writer’s Digest you may be able to find one. There are also books devoted to this topic.
Ricki Lewis, Ph.D., author of The Forever Fix: Gene Therapy and the Boy Who Saved It, added:
I pitched with just a paragraph, and I had a partial (I didn’t know it was partial!) proposal, and my agent more or less held my hand through writing it. I had never needed an agent before, because I’m primarily a textbook author. But I needed one for my narrative nonfiction about gene therapy.
At first, I emailed agents recommended to me by other writers. Very quickly I learned that this is NOT the way to go — the agents told me. So, I found a long list of agents online, selected the science-y ones, and started emailing from A to Z. I had a list of about 120 names and by 37 or so started getting responses.
Several agents were “interested,” but one wrote back “I’ve been waiting my whole career for a book like this.” She dropped everything to meet with me on Martin Luther King Day. The others offered to see me later that week due to the holiday. I went with her. She’s been great.
Alas, I have yet to make back my advance, but I think my book has done OK. I was spoiled by the captive market of textbooks and expected too much. When St. Martin’s Press made an offer, the agent advised me to wait and see what others offered, but I was so excited I told her to accept because I wanted them to begin with. They were great too; the best editor I’ve ever worked with.
But the agent experience was wonderful. Cold contacting did seem to work, at least for me. But being honest here, having a Ph.D. in the field of the book did help.
Murray Carpenter, author of Caffeinated: How Our Daily Habit Helps, Hurts, and Hooks Us, joined the discussion:
I just wrote my first book, and was in your shoes not long ago. A few comments:
I agree with DeLene, you should have the completed proposal ready to go when you pitch an agent. Yes, it will evolve with the agent’s guidance. But completing it will demonstrate your ability to organize your material and present the case for the book.
In terms of finding an agent, I strongly recommend getting a subscription to Publisher’s Marketplace [publishersmarket place.com](http://publishersmarket place.com). It costs about $20 per month. On the Deals page, search for books like yours, see which agents handled them, and get a sense how much they sold for.
Finally, brace yourself: It’s a long and taxing process. It took me 13 months to find an agent, then a year for her to sell the book. But she sold it at auction, we got a great publisher, and I am very pleased with how it all worked out.
Lynne Lamberg is the editor of the ScienceWriters Advance Copy column.
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