TOPIC: Going on an agent hunt...(part 1)

I don't have the expertise to negotiate the finer points of a contract with a publisher, so I knew I’d need an agent should I ever be offered a book deal. So, I took the methodical approach to finding one.

Firstly, I construct a Top 20 list of names based on my copious notes of research. A great place to start is Agent Query. The site lists a huge number of agents, their genre preferences, some bio information about them/their sales and contact details.

Next, I visited their websites for more information about them, any other agents at the agency, their clients, their sales/deals/books and what services they offered. I scanned their blogs (if they had one) to a "get a feel" for what they were like. I googled their names to see what interviews and other information came up about them. Sometimes I went back several years to see how they'd developed or grown in the business. I checked each out on Query Tracker, Publishers Marketplace & Preditors & Editors.

Essentially I made mini-portfolios on each of them - agent's name, contact details, genres represented, clients, sales, other interesting information - and what each agency had to offer. I made notes on my impressions of them if I'd seen or met them at conferences.

I also drew up a list of what I wanted in an agent. The qualities I felt were important to me, things like communication, passionate about my work, willing to help hands-on with the manuscript rather than just do the “business” side of things, interested in a career rather than just a deal, we had to “connect” and feel comfortable with each other. Based on this list, I prioritised my Top 20 list from "dream agent/agency" on down.

Throughout this year I queried in batches of 5 starting with a mix of  the top ten and bottom ten on my Top 20 list - saved my Top 5 for later. I kept another simple database on who I'd queried, with what (eg.QL & 3 chapters, QL & 5pgs etc), and when, then dated when a request or rejection came in, if they requested, what they'd asked for – a partial or a full.

When I received a rejection I made a comment on whether it was a standard rejection, semi-personal or personal with encouraging feedback. In the cases of getting feedback
of any sort I reworked my query letter or made a note that this agent was "interested & made personal comments". This helped me in my second & third cycle of queries when I sent out a query on a new ms. or with the one I originally pitched with only to different agents on that Top 20 lists.

I went through what I call three cycles of queries throughout the year - the first was in January, the next in early May when I found out I was a finalist in the RWA Golden Heart®, then in August after I'd won a Golden Heart®.

Next post I’ll share how I ended with my dream agent and agency!

INDUSTRY: Helpful Links

Thought these writing links might come in handy. Most are my genre orientated (f/f/p romance) but there are a smattering of general sites.

Agents/Editors (for researching information)
Agent Query - http://www.agentquery.com/default.aspx
AuthorAdvance - http://www.authoradvance.com/
Literary Agent Verification - http://www.agentresearch.com/agent_ver.html
Preditors and Editors - http://www.anotherealm.com/prededitors/pubagent.htm

Blogs (advice, opinions, industry news)
Alien Romances - http://aliendjinnromances.blogspot.com/
All Things Urban Fantasy - http://allthingsurbanfantasy.blogspot.com/
Bitten By Books:Paranormal Review Site with Bite - http://bittenbybooks.com/
Dirty Sexy Books - http://www.dirtysexybooks.com/Dirty_Sexy_Books/Home/Home.html
Literary Escapism:Fantasy and Paranormal Book Reviews - http://www.literaryescapism.com/
Romance Writers of Australia Blog - http://romanceaustralia.wordpress.com/
Ripping Ozzie Reads:Australian Speculative Fiction Authors site - http://ripping-ozzie-reads.blogspot.com/2010/01/some-useful-industry-links-for-spec-fic.html
SciFiGuy:UF/PR/SF/F book reviews - http://www.scifiguy.ca/
The Galaxy Express - http://www.thegalaxyexpress.net/
Vampire Wire:PR/UF books and tv/movie news -  http://vampirewire.blogspot.com/

Miscellaneous Sites
Time and Date.com - http://www.timeanddate.com/
Australian War Memorial:Military Organisation and Structure - http://www.awm.gov.au/atwar/structure/rank_comparative.asp
IRS:Tax Identification Numbers for the USA information - http://www.irs.gov/businesses/small/international/article/0,,id=96696,00.html


Organisations
Australian Romance Readers Association - http://www.australianromancereaders.com.au/
Romance Writers of America - http://www.rwanational.org/
RWA:Fantasy/Futuristic/Paranormal Chapter - http://www.romance-ffp.com/
Romance Writers of Australia - http://www.romanceaustralia.com/
Romance Writers of  New Zealand - http://www.romancewriters.co.nz/
ParaNormal Romance - http://www.paranormalromance.org/
Science Fiction and Fantasy Writers of America - http://www.sfwa.org/

Submission Guidelines
Avon - http://www.harpercollins.com/imprints/avon/SubmissionGuidelines.aspx
DAW - http://us.penguingroup.com/static/pages/daw/index.html
Dorchester - http://romanticreads.net/2009/05/07/now-accepting-electronic-submissions/
e-Harlequin - http://www.eharlequin.com/articlepage.html?articleId=538&chapter=0
Hachette Australia - http://www.hha.com.au/about_submissions.html
Orbit - http://www.orbitbooks.net/about-orbit/
PYR - http://www.pyrsf.com/index.html
Tor - http://us.macmillan.com/Content.aspx?publisher=torforge&id=255#ctl00_cphContent_ctl30_lblQuestion

Web Design
Free Images for Websites - http://www.imagehousing.com/
Free Fantasy Design artwork for Websites - http://fantasyartdesign.com/free-wallpapers/best-fantasy-art.php?s=12&np=10&srt=1&best=1
Free Web Counters - http://www.freestatscounter.com/
The Three Bears Method - http://threebearsmethod.com/

Writing Related
Brenda Hiatt's Show Me the Money - http://www.brendahiatt.com/id2.html
Dictionary of Sexual Terms and Expressions - http://www.sex-lexis.com/
Gordian Plot:thesaurus technique for writers - http://gordianplot.com/index.php?title=Main_Page
Great Source iwrite - Grammar - http://www.greatsource.com/iwrite/students/s_grammar_hndbk.html
Kathy Carmichael:Story Pitching Generator - http://www.kathycarmichael.com/generator.html
The Perfect Pitch - http://samhainpublishing.com/blog/2007/04/02/the-perfect-pitch
Publishers Weekly - http://www.publishersweekly.com/
Stephanie Smith's Contest Chart for Writers - http://www.stephiesmith.com/contests.html
When An Agent Offers You Representation - http://www.agentquery.com/writer_or.aspx
Write to Done - http://writetodone.com/

(All links are current as of 22nd Feb.2010)

INDUSTRY: SF/F/P Publishing Houses

For those of you on the journey to publication I thought I’d pass on knowledge gathered over many years concerning single title publishing houses, specifically in the mainstream sci-fi/fantasy/paranormal and romance genres.
Starting out I knew of a few major houses, mostly from looking at the spine of the books on my shelf but, over time and with the help of other writers and now my agent, I’ve sifted through the information and think :-) I have a better handle on it.
A couple of great research websites include Speculative Fiction Book Publisher Markets website - they lists many print & e-publishing houses, Preditors & Editors - they have a huge listing of publishers, in alphabetical order and with recommendations and warnings, and Book Crossroads - a directory of e-publishers with submission guidelines.
I hope you find the lists useful in your quest for publication. Unless otherwise indicated the publishing houses are based in the US market and are mostly listed as Publishing House, Company and/or Imprint name. Googling the names should give you links to their websites.

Mainstream SF/F Houses
Penguin Putnam :DAW
Penguin Putnam: ACE & ROC
Random House: Doubleday, Bantam Press, Black Swan, Bantam & Corgi (UK)
(Random House)Ballantine: Del Rey & Spectra
Hachette Book Group: Grand Central Publishing: Orbit Books
Dorchester: Tor
Pocket Books: JUNO Books
Baen Books
Penguin: Viking, Sphere, Orion & Signet (UK)
HarperCollins: Voyager & Angry Robot (UK)
Prometheus: PYR
Arrow Books: Legend (UK)
Solaris (UK)
BL Publishing (UK)
Victor Gollancz Inc: VGSF & Magnet (UK)
Mushroom eBooks (e-publisher)

Romance SF/F/paranormal Houses
Harlequin: LUNA fantasy imprint
HarperCollins: EOS fantasy imprint
HarperCollins: AVON paranormal romance imprint
Penguin: Berkley Sensation & Jove imprints
Penguin: Signet novel imprint
Penguin: NAL romance imprint
Hachette Book Group: Grand Central Publishing: Forever paranormal romance imprint
Kensington: Zebra paranormal romance imprint
(Macmillian) Tom Doherty Assoc.: Tor romance imprint
(Macmillian) St.Martin’s Press: St.Martin’s Paperback romance (US)
Random House: Bantam Books romance imprint
Dorchester: Leisure paranormal romance imprint
Dorchester: Lovespell paranormal romance imprint
Simon & Schuster: Pocket Star Books imprint
Medallion Press: Jewel Imprint Sci-Fi romance
Hachette Book Group: Little, Brown Book Group: Piatkus (UK)
Wild Rose Press (e-publisher)
Ellora’s Cave: Romantica imprint (e-publisher)
Samhain Publishing (e-publisher)
Loose Id (e-publisher)
Wings e-Press (e-publisher)
Whispers Publishing (e-publisher)
New Concepts Publishing (e-publisher)

By no means is this a complete list - I’m sure I’ve missed many but it’s a place to start. You’ll have to do the leg-work to find out more about them and their latest submission guidelines :-) .
Happy submitting!