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Submission Guidelines
Submission Guidelines

I thought it might be useful to answer some of the frequently asked questions that crop up about literary agents – if there’s anything you feel is missing, please let me know using the contact form and I’ll add them here.

 

Do Literary Agents charge fees/cost money?

Agents don’t charge any upfront fees but we take a commission of any deals that we negotiate for you (depending on the agency and type of deal this is likely to be around 15 or 20 percent). We only earn money when you earn money.

When should I contact/query a Literary Agent?

The best time to start querying a literary agent is after you’ve finished your manuscript. But don’t ever send your first draft – put your manuscript aside for a few weeks then read it again and see if you can make any improvements. Find some beta readers to give you their opinion. Repeat this process until you really can’t see anything else you can do to improve the book.

While you’re setting the book to one side you can do some research on which agents to approach and work on your submission package – read through this preparing for submission article for some tips.

What do Literary Agents do?

A literary agent has many roles as you work together to launch your career as an author.

Is having a Literary Agent worth it?

I am a little biased here, but I think agents add a lot of value! They offer editorial support which can be expensive, they help make sure you get the best deal possible and they’re there to advocate for you if something goes wrong. But they’re also your champion, working by your side in an industry that can sometimes be baffling and bruising.

It can be a lot harder to access deals with the major publishing houses without an agent so they can open a lot more doors for you and your work, but there are many authors who manage perfectly successfully. Ultimately you have to decide what you want from your career and whether it’s worth it to you.

 

 

 

 

Read through the other articles in these resources, and feel free to apply for one of my Drop-In sessions if you’d like to meet an agent and ask some questions.

As we head into London Book Fair week I thought it might be useful to say a little bit about what the fair is and who it’s for – especially as I’ve seen a few as yet un-agented authors asking on twitter and in writers’ groups whether it’s worth going.

I absolutely think there are benefits to authors in being at a book fair. It’s a great way to see how big, busy and varied the publishing industry is – walking the main halls you’ll get an amazing overview of the various houses (from the giants like Hachette and PRH to the smaller indies and niche specialists). There’s also a brilliant programme of talks and seminars to help you learn more about the publishing process. These cover a wide range of topics, from marketing and promotion to digital publishing and self-publishing. Plus, attending these events can provide valuable insights into the current trends and issues in the industry, and can help you to better understand how to position yourself and your work. And, it can be a great chance to meet up with other authors – either those you know from social media or new contacts you make at these events to broaden your support network as you work towards publication.

What a book fair really isn’t is an opportunity to find an agent.

Primarily, the book fair is for industry professionals to meet with each other to discuss ongoing business as well as maintain relationships and make new contacts. We are, in general, fully booked with appointments well ahead of the start of the fair and don’t have any space in our schedule (sometimes, not even for lunch – I only have myself to blame!).

Personally, and I say this with a little apprehension, sometimes it feels like we’re not meant to admit this stuff…the book fairs (London, Bologna and Frankfurt are the big three for UK publishing) fill me with anxiety. I’m an introvert (as are a lot of industry professionals – a lot of us were the bookish kids who sat quietly and read books…). I don’t do well without a bit of alone time and the book fairs are the absolute opposite of that. Agents and editors will be on a speed dating on, well, speed, schedule – back to back meetings of 30 minutes each from first thing in the morning to the end of the day… and then it’s likely they’ll be on to some sort of evening function or networking meal. There is no down time and by the end of the fair I am usually a broken husk of a person in need of a quiet room and absolutely no conversation.

Every year an author or two will find their way into the International Rights Centre, where agents sit in lines of tables waiting for editors to join them, and try to pitch their book.

I beg you, please don’t do this.

If you do happen to find an agent at their table without someone sat opposite them it’s likely that will be the only spare minute or two they have for most of the day (in which they also need to nip to the loo, grab a coffee, respond to a client email, follow up on something from an earlier meeting etc etc). This is not the way to start a positive relationship with an agent. Look out for initiatives from agents and other organisations that are specifically designed to help you meet agents.

I don’t want to discourage anyone from visiting the book fair – it’s an exciting, buzzy and energetic place for a book lover to be. But, It’s important to manage your expectations. While there may be some author-focused talks and events, the fair is not the place to network with agents or editors. Instead, focus on learning and gaining experience.

One of the hardest parts of being an agent is the number of times I have to say no. It would not be possible for me to represent my clients successfully if I took on as many authors as I get perfectly publishable submissions from.

But I know that it’s worse for every writer receiving that no. Give yourself a moment. This is hard. It’s a bruising business and that doesn’t stop when you get your agent (I don’t know what the answer is here…I don’t think the solution is to tell authors to toughen up, but I don’t know that I have the answer yet).

Once you’ve given yourself time to process the disappointment of that latest pass – it’s time to get back to making your ambition a reality…

The first thing to remember when you get a rejection is that it doesn’t always mean your book is bad or unpublishable, just that it’s not right for that agent right now – there is a lot of luck involved here. But consider the type of rejections you’re getting.

If you’re getting personalised responses, possibly with some pointers for changes you might want to make then you’re probably very close. Agents don’t have a lot of time to work through the vast number of submissions they get so if they’ve taken the time to personalise then that is significant. Think about any advice you get and work out what feels right to you and make those edits before your next round of submissions.

However, if you are getting multiple form rejections (a polite note that other than your name, could have been copy and pasted to any submission) it might be time to think about what else you could do to help yourself.

Take another look at your submission package and opening chapters to make sure that you’re giving yourself the best chance you can. See here for some pointers for what I like to see in a submission.

Possibly consider getting a professional assessment to find out why your submission isn’t working, or some more specific editorial help. There’s a list of places offering various services here.

It’s worth remembering that no draft of a novel is ever wasted – every published novel you read has gone through multiple drafts. You’ll learn so much from every edit and every new idea and your skills will improve with everything you write. I know it can feel dispiriting to have to put a novel that isn’t working to one side, but the best advice I can give when you start submitting, is to start work on something new.

And finally, putting your work out there is a huge thing and you might find it reassuring to read this essay on aiming for 100 rejections a year.

 

 

You might decide at some point during the process that you’d like some editorial help.

This could be

I know it’s frustrating that agents can’t give this insight – I do try when I think there’s something simple going on, but often it’s not simple and agents simply don’t have the time to engage editorially with every piece of work we see…we might also not be the right person to do that, you want someone who understands what you’re trying to achieve and can help you to achieve it more successfully. The lovely quote in the picture I’ve used is from a Financial Times interview with US editor Chris Jackson and I think it sums up perfectly what an editor is trying to do (the full article is here but you may need to be a subscriber).

Luckily there are many options, both free and paid, to help you.

You could do some development work by learning from books. These are some books I rate on the craft of writing which will help you to hone your skills and ensure that you have a concept that really grabs attention:

STORY GENIUS by Lisa Cron (brilliant on plotting using the psychology of your character to inform your story)
WIRED FOR STORY by Lisa Cron (brilliant on ensuring you have enough of a hook to keep your reader interested)
SAVE THE CAT WRITES A NOVEL by Jessica Brody (brilliant on plotting generally)
ON WRITING by Stephen King
INTO THE WOODS by John Yorke
THE NOVEL INSIDE YOU by Paul Magrs
MONKEYS WITH TYPEWRITERS by Scarlett Thomas
HOW TO WRITE A BLOCKBUSTER (TEACH YOURSELF CREATIVE WRITING) by Helen Corner & Lee Weatherley

 

Impartial feedback can be invaluable. Joining a writers’ group is a great starting point.

There are several regional writer’s initiatives you could look at which might have information about local writer’s groups, but these are often also advertised locally and it’s worth trying a few until you find one that feels right:

New Writing North
New Writing South
Writing East Midlands
National Centre for Writing

Or, you could look for some beta readers (the writing community on Twitter is lively and friendly – look at conversations under the #AmWriting #AmEditing #WritingCommunity tags to find people at a similar stage to you writing in your genre).

You’ll learn as much from critiquing other people’s work (through a writing group or as a reciprocal beta reader) as you will from receiving critiques and it will really help you to develop your craft.

Also think about your own wider reading. Start to read with an analytical eye – what has made you pick up the book you’re currently reading (it has probably got a really clear hook that piqued your interest)? Think about identifying the character’s goal and what’s at stake. What techniques does the author use to keep you hooked? Are the character’s motivations clear? How are they maintaining tension through the plot? What is driving the action? Where do the main turning points in the novel fall?

There are also a number of services (some free, some paid) available to authors to help identify and solve issues in their submissions, to assess your manuscript, or to mentor you through the development of your project. Some of these also offer more formal writing courses. They will often have an active writing community around them too which can be really helpful – find the one that feels like a good fit for you.

Children’s & YA specifically:
All Stories
Write Mentor
Golden Egg Academy
Society of Children’s Book Writers & Illustrators
Roisin Heycock Editorial Development

General (including children’s in some cases):
Black Girl Writers
Write Now
Spread the Word
Writing on the Wall
Faber Academy
Curtis Brown Creative
The Literary Consultancy
Cornerstones Literary Consultancy
The Novelry
Smart Quill Editorial
Jericho Writers
Writers HQ
Reedsy
Katie Seaman Freelance Editor and Book Coach

Other useful resources:

I Am In Print
Writers & Artists Yearbook
Undiscovered Voices (the next one will be 2024)
Bath Novel Award

There’s also a useful selection or resources that might be especially helpful to younger/beginner writers here.

Twitter can be a great place to build your confidence – there’s a lovely writing community there and several pitch contests run throughout the year for you to test out how successful your elevator pitch is and hopefully attract the attention of publishers and agents (but don’t worry if you don’t – using it to hone your pitch for general submission is really useful)…for starters take a look at the following hashtags and keep an eye out for when they’re running: #DVPit #KidLitPit #PBPitch #SFFpit #PitDark #PitchDis #LGBTNpit

 

Please let me know if you’ve come across any other mentor schemes or editorial services that you think it would be helpful to add here using the contact form.

 

 

 

 

There is a huge amount of advice out there for authors on how to prepare for submission and I’m sure a lot can be conflicting.

First up – a little reassurance, there is no perfect cover letter or synopsis and a bad one of either isn’t going to stop the right agent from falling in love with your book so don’t put too much pressure on yourself. However, there are a few things you can do to make sure you’re giving yourself the best shot at success and not getting in your own way.

Please read each agent’s submission guidelines and send what they’ve asked for in the format they’ve asked for it. They have worked out what works for them and adhering to their request means they can get through their submissions faster and get you that response you’re desperate for. Similarly, only send to agents who represent the type of book you’re writing – clogging up an agent’s inbox with books that are in a completely different area of the market to what they’re looking for only slows them down and doesn’t improve your chances. There’s a reason they don’t represent that type of book and it isn’t just that they haven’t found the right one yet (this is about reading taste and industry contacts. You want the right agent for your book, not any agent).

Here’s what I like to see in a submission (and generally, everyone will want you to include these, even if they may have slightly different preferences for the submission package as a whole):

Cover letter

A strong cover letter can help me see what’s going to grab a reader about your book, where it sits in the market and how I might be able to help you get a publishing deal…keep these in mind for your letter

Information about your book

Title/Category/genre/Age range (for children’s fiction)/Word count

Pitch line

Think about grabbing attention – what is going to intrigue most about your book? Can you hook a reader in with a single line?

Blurb

A longer pitch to give the reader an idea why they’re going to be interested in your book – for fiction, some plot information but mostly this is about making the reader care about your character’s predicament. This is a useful starting point: When A (Event) happens, B (Character) must do C (Action) otherwise D (Catastrophe) will happen.

Market awareness

Who is your intended audience, what else are they reading? is this a standalone/trilogy/series, do you have other ideas for the same market…?

Biographical information

Keep this pertinent to the book – why is this the book you’ve written? How has your life experience informed it?

The agency

What is it about HS-LA appealed to you? What makes you think we’d work well together?

Synopsis

This is usually one side of A4 in size twelve font. It can be single spaced but please don’t play with your margins to make this fit and, if possible, leave a line space between paragraphs – white space on the page is really helpful.

Your synopsis is a sense check for the agent to make sure that your plot is working. But rather than trying to cram in every chronological event, think more about your character’s emotional journey and the cause-and-effect structure of your story. What do they want at the start? What’s the inciting incident? What are the main turning points? Describe the moment when they think they’ve failed and how they overcome that. Tell us how they’ve changed as a result of the story.

Keep this stylistically simply – but give us the spoilers.

Have someone who hasn’t read your novel read your synopsis – can they tell you what happens in your book? Do they understand it all?

 

Sample Material

Wait to submit until you’ve finished your novel (this is slightly different for non-fiction as that is often sold on proposal so you don’t need to have the full manuscript finished), and please don’t send your first draft. At the very least, put it to one side for a few weeks and then give it a read through with fresh eyes. Make sure you’re sending the best work you can.

When you’re ready, send the opening of your book to the word count/page or chapter length specified by the agent.

 

Sending Attachments

When an agent requests attachments (I don’t for initial submission, but will do if I call in your full manuscript, and this is worth remembering for the future whenever you’re sending work to someone in the publishing industry) it’s really helpful to do the following

I wanted to talk a little about response times because I know it can feel torturous waiting for an agent to respond to your submission.

I do have the best of intentions when it comes to my submission pile – but I’m also only human and sometimes it’s not possible to keep up with the sheer number of submissions that come in.

I try to get back to everyone within 8 weeks but sometimes it’s tricky (I’m currently in a position where I’ve called in so many fulls that it wouldn’t be fair to call in more because it’ll be so long before I can respond…but I’m not ready to say no either). If you haven’t heard anything by then, please do feel free to give me a polite nudge via email. Also make sure you keep all the agents you’ve submitted to updated if you get interest and withdraw your submission if you sign elsewhere.

Even when I call in a full submission there can be many reasons why it might take me a long time to get to this (general workload, delivery of client manuscripts, the fact that most of my reading time is evening & weekends, a sense that I like it but need to work out what my vision for it is, personal issues etc) and very rarely is this simply because I’m going to pass after all – if I’ve made that decision I will let you know. I will never resent you checking in though!

I have offered representation very quickly, and I’ve offered representation months after the initial submission – there is no right way.

No news really is no news. Try not to drive yourself to distraction wondering what it means. The best thing you can do (both now, and this will be good practice for when your book is on submission to publishers) is start working on something else – having a new focus will be great, and you’ll be that much closer to a second finished manuscript.

 

An agent has many roles in your journey to becoming a published author and every agent/author relationship will be different – but in general:

An agent helps develop your work editorially, strategizes with you to build the career you want, answers your questions about the industry and publishing process, maintains industry contacts to find the best editor and publishing house for your book, negotiates the publishing deal, helps maintain the relationship between you and your editor, seeks opportunities for your book to be published internationally and to be developed for film or TV, is a sounding board for ideas for your next book, helps navigate the publishing process, will keep abreast of industry issues and market trends to help steer their advice to you…

An agent only earns money when they get you a publishing deal and you should never be charged reading fees.

If you find yourself in the position where you have more than one agent offering representation – talk to them all, in person if that’s possible, but on video call if not.

Ask them about their editorial thoughts on your book (you want to make sure you share the same vision for where your book sits in the market and what work needs to be done).

Think about what you need from the agent/author relationship – ask them how they like to work and see if you think you’d be compatible.

The most important thing in this relationship will be trust – do you feel comfortable enough with them to ask the questions that might feel stupid (they aren’t)? Could you tell them if they did something that upset you? Could you take it if they told you that you’d behaved in a way that wasn’t helpful to your career

A lot comes down to your gut instinct about who you think you’re going to work best with – trust that.

I will never pressure an author to make a speedy decision about my offer of representation – I want my clients to be certain they’ve made the right choice for them and explored all of their options.