A good first impression with agents comes down to doing your research and paying attention to details, says literary agent Steve Hutson. His first piece of advice is to follow instructions. Make sure you are contacting the agent through whichever channel...

Almost all new writers wonder if they need an agent to get their work published. Once your manuscript is complete, polished and ready for publication it’s important to ask yourself “what are my publishing goals?" If your goal is to get traditionally...

The role of literary agents is constantly growing and evolving. One of the main things agents do is help you place your book with a publisher, but even before that, many literary agents are involved in editing and will help you get your book into the...

You crafted a query and a synopsis and sent it out to an agent. Finally the answer came. You opened the email to find, “Thank you very much for your submission but no, thank you.” Keep breathing. Rejection means you are a real writer. It means you are...

A query letter's purpose is to help you get a literary agent for your book. Like a resume for a job search, the query letter is your chance to get your foot in the door. Your query letter deserves your utmost attention and effort to impress the target...

As a traditionally published author, Jo Furniss experienced the challenging process of querying literary agents. Furniss sees the query letter as a critically important first impression and highly recommends doing thorough research before you even begin...

Too often an author secures an agent to represent their interests when selling the rights to their book and backs off, thinking that's the agent's job now. And it is the agent's job--but there's quite a bit a savvy author can do to help make that agent...

When you are writing a book that includes sensitive material, you may wonder: Do I need a literary agent or attorney (or both)? Dana Newman, intellectual property attorney, helps you decide if you need an attorney or agent based on the typical roles...

When you are writing a book that includes sensitive material, you may wonder: Do I need a literary agent or attorney (or both)? Dana Newman, intellectual property attorney, helps you decide if you need an attorney or agent based on the typical roles...