If you have just completed your manuscript and you have decided to opt for the traditional route of publication, finding a literary agent is the next step. Now, this might seem like a daunting task, but it is possible nonetheless. You just need to know what literary agents are looking for in writers today.
Read on to learn more.
Don’t Mind Rejections
Before you start reaching out to literary agents with the hope of getting traditionally published by one of the biggest publishing houses, you should know that this process requires real patience from your side. In fact, it can be a long process filled with potential rejections – so don’t mind the many rejections coming your way.
Nonetheless, you must keep your hopes up because it is possible to find a literary agent and get traditionally published. It just takes loads of perseverance, patience, hope, and dedication.
What Are The Things That Literary Agents Look for Before Signing An Author?
There are several things that literary agents look for before they actually decide to sign an author and sign a deal with them.
They Look for Talent
Of course, the literary agent will look for talent before deciding whether or not to add you to their list of author clients. You might want to see a literary agent in terms of a recruiter whose job revolves around talent acquisition.
Literary agents are essentially looking for the best and the brightest potential authors who are still unrepresented. If you have that kind of talent and you are still unrepresented, the literary agent will give you the platform so that you have a voice and get your words out there in the world.
Having talent doesn’t mean that you must have awards and writing credentials to your name – but your sample pages must reflect your writing talent. So, make sure to attach the best sample pages to the query letter.
They Want A Long-Term Partnership
Literary agents also actively look for talented writers with whom they can build long-term relationships. On that note, you should know that no literary agent will sign you or make a potential offer based on selling one book alone.
If a literary agent agrees to sign a deal with you, they are looking forward to working with you throughout your entire career as an author. So, you can expect to have a long-term partnership with your literary agent, which can spread over several years up to a decade.
It might be a good idea to look for literary agents in your area, such as literary agents in Portland, Oregon, if you reside in Portland, Oregon, and are looking forward to that long-term partnership.
You might want to see the author-agent relationship as an at-will employment, which signifies that you will be working with the agent for the foreseeable future – but either one of you is able to end this arrangement at any given time.
Your Agent Will Be Your Family
It is important to mention here that once you sign a deal with your literary agent, you will be working with them for as long as possible or for as long as you wish your writing career to be. So, you will be working very closely with your agent, and your relationship with them won’t be formal. You can see them as your family or friends who will have your best interest at heart.
This aspect also means that you can be open and vulnerable with them. As a matter of fact, your literary agent will look for openness and honesty from you so you can be yourself and share your concerns with them right off the bat.
They Will Assess Your Manuscript’s Market Fit
Your literary agent will assess the market fit of your book project before they decide to take you on board. When a literary agent reviews your query letter and your samples, they seriously contemplate whether or not they can sell your book. Keep in mind that they have to pitch your book to a publishing house or an editor, too.
Usually, newbie writers don’t really think about the sellability of their book at the time of writing their first draft. Profiteering from the book happens to be the last thing on their mind as they are excited to share their story with the world.
On the other hand, the agent will be viewing your manuscript with that business mindset. At the end of the day, the agent’s job is to sell your book to the publishing houses. If they don’t see an angle that they can use to sell your book, you might face rejection.
They Are Looking for A Unique Aspect
Literary agents also look for a unique twist of any established genre or tried and tested novel. So, if you have mixed two genres and the literary agent likes it – they will find a way to sell your books and pitch it to a publisher.
They are looking for uniqueness, too, so that they can offer something that is different from everything that the market is already saturated with. However, we recommend not getting overly stressed over the aspect of market fit.
Why, you might ask? The reason is that ultimately, the agent is going to be the professional, and as they have an in-depth knowledge of the publishing landscape, they are capable of adding that lens to help your manuscript fit into the publishing industry.
So, it is crucial for you to be aware of the market fit but don’t get overly anxious over it.
Final Thoughts
Finally, the literary agent will also look for your passion for writing. Believe us when we tell you that it is easy to tell whether or not you have been enthusiastic about your book project. Your literary agent will be able to tell, and so will your readers.
Also, the literary agent wants you to feel energized about collaborating with them, and they want you to actually feel happy about pursuing traditional publishing with them. So, make sure to personalize the query letter that you send out to each of the literary agents that you want to work with.
