Reviews By Martha's Bookshelf: Agent Hunt

Tuesday, August 3, 2010

Cynthia Eden Guest Post

I am pleased to have author Cynthia Eden guest post today. Please give her a warm welcome and ask questions you might have on this pertinent topic!

The Agent Hunt

(Martha, thanks for inviting me to post!)
A few years ago, I attended the Romance Writers of America National Conference in Atlanta, Georgia. It was my first national conference, and when I arrived, I felt a bit lost in the huge mass of writers.

I didn’t feel lost for long. I soon made friends at the conference. I attended dozens of workshops. I learned exactly what the publishers were looking to buy, and I also learned that if I wanted to break in with some of the New York publishing houses, well, then I needed to find an agent.

Armed with the knowledge that I’d acquired at the conference, I went back home and wrote my little heart out. I knew that I had to come up with a powerful story that would capture an agent’s attention. I also knew that I had to be true to my writing. So, I let myself go—I ignored the fearful voice in my mind that asked me if I was sure that I could do this…and I just wrote.

And then I started my agent hunt. First, I used www.agentquery.com to find agents who were currently looking to represent stories in my genre. I made a list of all the agents that interested me. Then I checked out the agents on Preditors & Editors (http://pred-ed.com/). Before I contacted the agents, I wanted background information on them, and the P&E site was a good resource for me.

My next step? Well, I checked out the agents and their current sales. It’s one thing to represent my area—it’s another to actually be making sales in my genre. I needed an agent who could sell me.

Once I had a listing of about fifteen agents, I began to query. But I didn’t just wait around while that query was out. I’m terrible at waiting. So I wrote. And by the time I made a connection with an agent who seemed to “get” my work (Laura Bradford of the Bradford Literary Agency), I’d already finished another novel. Now I didn’t just have one novel for her to sell—I had two. Sometimes, being a bad waiter can be a very good thing.

However, I didn’t immediately sign with my agent. Instead, I talked with some of her other clients so that I could get a feel for her interaction style. I wanted to know—did she respond promptly to emails? Does she keep clients updated on their submissions? Is she professional?

I think it’s always a good idea to talk with an agent’s clients—you get the inside scoop that way.

After my scoop was complete, I signed with my agent. We sold to New York (yay!), and now, I am living my dream. I’m writing paranormal romances and dark romantic suspense novels. And I’m having a blast.

I hope my agent hunt story can be helpful to those reading this post. And if you’ve got any questions about the hunt, please, let me know!

Thanks!
Cynthia Eden