Finding a literary agent

[B.J.]

I feel as though the search for an agent never ends. I'm curious to know how long it took for those of you with a literary agent to sign with one as well as how many rejections you received. At times, I get discouraged, but I know I just need to persevere.

[Jonny]

Do you need one? I decided against an agent. Have a second book deal, first book being made into a film and asked to pen another film. Likes of communication between writers and publishers is a lot shorter these days.

[B.J.]

I've heard it both ways. Pros and cons of having an agent as well as pros and cons of self publishing. I would like to see my dream fulfilled of seeing my work published.

[Jonny]

Oh, I'm not self published, I'm a published. Thing is, I would expect an agent to work bloody hard to earn their % from me, and with the number of authors out there, you can bet they will push what is of the moment. All looking for the next 'Fifty Shades', and at over 15 million sold - who can blame them.

My point is, with twitter and other social media, the agent has to justify what he/she does. There is nothing they can do, that you can't. So far, on the writer/author events I have done, I have met many a writer, who have had to work just as hard as I have in promotion, then had over their 15%. Agents, from what I see do less and less. I was talking to Lee Childs about this. Back in the day when there wasn't a social media platform, forums, the old boys network worked. Not so today. An agent isn't the catalyst to getting published it once was.

[Martin]

I think it depends really though. If you're literally just starting out on your own and have basically no contacts, it wouldn't be a bad idea to try and procure an agent. What if your facebook/twitter has a nonexistent following? While I agree that social media has made the necessity of agents wane a little, they do still contain a certain appeal to some groups.

Having said that, don't get discouraged BJ. When I finished my manuscript last year, I queried about 80 agents and got about 12 responses back, all rejections. It got to the point where whenever I'd receive a response, I'd already condition myself to regard it as a rejection. Just part of the game. It's very, very hard to break in but once you do, it should be a lot smoother sailing so don't let it get you down. Cheers.

Martin Reed

[Jonny]

Yeah, good points. It is an industry after all. Just keep on keeping on. If you believe in what you've got - others will. Get it to some small er publishing houses as well as agents.

[Paul]

It also comes down to how much of a rush you are in. While I'm writing books and honing my skills (just about to release 3rd book) I'm also building contacts, learning methods and technique to publicise new releases etc. and generally building the skills and info that an agent would have.

I don't expect to be in the same league as a top-end agent, but then I'm unlikely to be taken on by one of those anyway.

I really can't imagine achieving any kind of serious success before book 4 or 5 anyway (probably more like 10 :) ), so I figure I've got time to learn.

If anyone wants to make a smash hit of their first book, then it's a different story and I guess a completely different approach is needed (or a LOT of luck!)