If you're interested in publishing a book with a traditional publisher and gaining a market presence and income from it, you may need a literary agent. Learning how to sign with a literary agent is easier than writing a great book. Therefore, you can do it. Still, a writer must respect and understand the role of agents to land one. They are the grease that keeps the oft-rusty wheels of publishing moving. Every day, they eat lunch or talk to editors and acquisition people in publishing houses all over the world, all the while pitching them on the new hot 'properties,' as your manuscript will be called.

Generally speaking, you need an agent (though there are literary lawyers and others out there who would disagree with me.) I've had four agents, some fine, one useless, and one downright criminal (though eminently likable.)

Tips For Signing With a Lit Agency

Here are some tips I can pass along that will help your search for this important part of your team.

*Make sure you're selling something marketable. It could be you're the only person out there who wants to read about your Aunt Tillie's days as a pickle packer. Before you approach an agent, find out what problem your book solves and who it will appeal to. Research similar titles on Amazon.com and look for gaps in the marketplace. Go to bookstores and see what's hot (and what's not.) What's not is on the remainder shelf; what's hot is placed upfront and center, with massive piles of the book insight. Give an agent a good reason UPFRONT to get excited (before they even read your mss).

*Assure your book idea or manuscript is in top shape. There is no substitute for excellence… it helps! You've got to have an awesome concept and an even better title.

Sell Your Book

*Make your book proposal as professionally possible. (Book proposals are only for non-fiction books, those other than novels.) You'll want to include a lot more than just what the book's about. You'll need to include any market research you've done on who'd buy the book, ideas for unusual places the books could be sold, or ways to tie it in with 'special sales' (that's pub-speak for big wholesale orders) to certain industries, or connections with your workshops, speaking gigs, web site, etc.

Sell Yourself

Include an impressive bio, merchandising ideas, a sketch of the competitive marketplace, and publicity ideas. 

*Establish your credibility. If you're writing fiction, let them know you've either had unique life experiences that will make your book especially interesting to the media. ( Emphasize your personal experience, for example when  writing about your white water rafting exploits, explain your  great experience related to this you that you could spin on air). If you're  writing non-fiction, are you a Ph.D. or do you have a master's or lots of great professional experience?  Show your personality. It's tougher to sell a great book written by someone who's got no credentials in the field to back them up, but it can be done. 

Ask For Support

*Hook up with a star. Can you get a celebrity endorsement or a testimonial or foreword from a highly placed industry star? This will help an agent feel they can sell your work. If your book looks great, the endorsement may differentiate your book and be the final key to signing with a literary agent. 

Be Special

*Find the niche no one has explored. They're out there, even in your chosen field. This is especially true for non-fiction, though niches apply to both genres. The best niche comes from your passions and interests… what's really you? 

Wait to Send Your Manuscript

*Do not send your manuscript! Send a one-page letter describing your project and why you are the person to write it, plus your proposal (non-fiction only) or a few sample chapters of your manuscript (fiction.) Offer to send the rest right away if they are interested. Make sure everything is spell-checked, double
spaced, with correct margins, etc. 

*Handpick the agents you submit to. DO NOT SEND MASS MAILINGS TO AGENTS. It won't work and is a waste of time and money.
Instead, research who to approach and pick the 5, 10, 20 or so who actually sell your type of work. Agents stick to niches themselves, and one way to find that niche is in various resource guides like Writer's Market, the LMP (Literary Market Place … in all big libraries), or the Writer's Digest Guide to Literary Agents.

*Make your letter great. Your pitch will be placed in a pile with the other cold submissions that arrived that day (maybe 25 -50) and an assistant will thumb through them, spending about 10 seconds on each one. This means if you have a personal contact, you mention it in the first sentence. Trim your description of your book into a meaty, mouth-watering paragraph. Add a bit on why you are the person to write it. And BE SURE to let them know you hand-picked them, out of all the agents out there, because of the great work they've done for authors X, Y, and Z. In fact, you predict they will have similar success with your property, as they did with Book X they just sold to Q Publisher, etc. In other words, make it personal, a little witty, and smart.