Top literary agents get about 400-1000 unsolicited queries every month from hopeful publication authors. Publishing houses sometimes juggle 5000. Most of my private clients and participants in my seminar, How To get A Six-Figure Book Advance, ask me "how is an author supposed to obtain an agent’s attention when there's so much competition?"
First of all, don’t write a book -- write a publication proposal. Publishers buy ideas not books. To capture a reputable literary agent’s attention you’ll have to show that you’re a media star, or a star in the making. Great writing can be bought but star power can’t.
Here are 5 a lot more ideas to landing a best literary agent and a six-figure advance:
1. Do your research.
Literary agents specialize in very specific interests. For example, my agent loves tearjerkers but won’t take on books that involve children in peril. You want an agent who has represented books similar to yours, who sells publications on a regular basis, who is devoted to you, and has the time to give you a little guidance via the literary labyrinth.
Sometimes a newer, less experienced literary agent who is hungry for business is more dedicated and has a lot more time to spend with you than an established one with a reputable cadre of authors. I recommend 2 methods to find the literary agent right for you:
• Look in the acknowledgements of publications similar to your topic. A happy author always thanks his literary agent. As soon as you’ve located your ideal agents become familiar with their tastes, learn everything you can about their interests, pet peeves and preferences, and review their websites for submission guidelines. Show that knowledge in your query letter or initial phone conversation.
• Examine Publisher's Weekly, Publisher’s Lunch, and Variety to determine who sold what and for how significantly. You will get a sense of an agent’s sensibility and be able to speak knowledgeably about the types of books they prefer when you know what’s happening within the industry in general and in your area of expertise in specific. You will know a lot more than most people who submit proposals as you will be apprised of publications that aren’t even published yet and movie deals in the producing. And you will get a sense of market trends.
2. Write a publication proposal that reads like a thriller.
After you have located the agents you wish to approach, the next step is to complete your book proposal. Once interested by your call or query letter the very greatest literary agents move at hyper speed. They’ll want to see your book proposal--now. They’ll either ask you to Fed Ex or email it.
There's a real art to writing a best-selling publication proposal that makes the literary agent you have chosen say, "I want this individual as a client". To make your publication proposal examine in one sitting you’ll wish to create in short paragraphs with strong headlines. Be sure to give the chosen agent an immediate impression of how your book will read by writing the proposal in the same style as your book.
Find unusual, quirky, provocative tidbits about your topic that will entice the literary agent to say, "Wow, I never knew this." Imagine the kind of tips that a terrific magazine article would contain. When an editor at a top New York publishing house is reading your book proposal they are thinking, what type of media exposure will we be able to obtain for this publication? Can we get magazine feature articles, newspaper pieces, radio shows? Will the topic matter and the author interest the producers of Good Morning America, the Today Display, CNN, or Oprah?
3. Prove you have a platform.
The 1 thing that thrills a New York publisher the most is your platform. Your platform is merely your reach. How many people are influenced by your ideas worldwide? To simplify this even further, a publisher wants to know one point and one thing only (once they are interested in the subject matter of your book), and that's...how many books are you going to sell and to whom. You will need to demonstrate that you’re a great media guest, that you've an audience eager to snap up your books and that you have a proven track record for selling your books or wares.
4. Reveal how your past performance predicts future behavior.
Map out each venue and determine how many individuals are in attendance and how many of those individuals will buy your book. Include workshops, seminars, fairs, media appearances, publication signings, keynotes, teleseminars, webinars, events, newsletter lists, blogs, partnerships etc. Quantify everything in excellent detail. Estimate and base potential sales on past sales you have completed.
5. Show you are the 1.
Display that there is a clear need for your book and that you're the only 1 who can create it. In other words what issue are you solving and why are you the undisputed expert? What gap in the market are you filling? One of my customers whose topic was about how to be the very best at what you do and who you're, had a black belt, was a concert violinist and had given seminars at The White House. She walked her talk, and lived her words. You have to have top-notch skills in order to gain the interest of a high caliber literary agent.
Follow these ideas, and you are able to land a top literary agent and a six-figure deal. I hope to see your name on the New York Times bestseller list!
![[Valid RSS feed]](http://article2008.com/images/feed-icon.png "XML Feed For RSS"){kind=icon}
![[Valid RSS feed]](http://article2008.com/images/icon_Rss.png "XML Feed For RSS"){kind=icon}
Category Rss Feed
Print This Article
Add To Favorites