How to Vet Literary Agents and Ensure They’re Legit

[@SiovansinSere2]

I've been in the publishing industry for over 25 years. I'd like to chime in that many independent agents source their own manuscripts and aren't open to submissions because they have a specific genre or new author that they are looking to add to their list. The publishers marketplace is used by a great many agents, but you would be missing out on independents if you just read that. One of the best places to look is in the acknowledgements of the books you read and are inspired by- they usually list their agent and editor. That's where you can find the agents who might work with what you are writing. The biggest issue is that authors don't read the books that agents have actually sold so they pitch the wrong kind of work. They will pitch a football agent a golf book etc.. I disagree with the website aspect. My husband, who has sold 106 books as an Independent agent to all the top publishers in North America barely has a website, and is not active on social media. So that is NOT a reg flag. He is highly reputable, but he works by going out and getting clients. I do agree that no literary agent will ask for money for anything, however there are branches of publishers who do that- so don't be sucked in by a big publisher asking for money to publish your book.

[@AlyssaMatesic]

Excellent words of advice from another industry professional! Thank you for sharing your insight, R Sentes!

[@SiovansinSere2]

@@AlyssaMatesic You're doing an amazing job giving this advice- keep up the great work!

[@Justafox305]

I needed this video. I found an agency, they are not on query tracker, but they do use query manager. They seem to be all very new agents, except one person who is the owner. They have clients listed, but not their books.

[@marygeorge2467]

Great info! The querying - the business end of things - is so unlike the creative writing process. I've been querying, and I've got 16 tabs open just for one agent: Publishersmarketplace, manuscriptwishlist, the agency website, the agent, the agent's client list or book titles, that author's website, Amazon to see their titles, Goodreads to get a number of reviews, Querymanager to submit the agent's submission materials - which means my query letter, my bio, the synopsis, the first ten pages, first three chapters, first fifty pages, and another doc to list all of the agents I queried . . . WHEW!! . . . . my eyeballs are still rolling . . . 🙃

[@AlyssaMatesic]

Haha, querying is its own battle! It seems like you're going in well prepared though--best of luck with the agent search!

[@daviddarlingauthor]

Good advice! Take notes folks.

[@AceYaaya]

Thanks for your advice, you are very well spoken and articulate. Great details from your experiences. Will use your services when I finish my first novel.

[@rowan7929]

I certainly have been more careful with agents I found. Some really had nothing written and I didn't bother to address them. Thanks for this video. Was a good reminder what to look for when I query my next book.

[@AlyssaMatesic]

Well said!

[@jeffreybarker357]

It would be amazing if you’d do a walkthrough on publishers marketplace and SHOWING us how to research an agent and book sales!

[@Redskirt]

You knocked this one out of the park, Alyssa. So much information, I'm going to have to listen to it fifteen times, lol. I should have known the answer would be Publisher's marketplace (thanks for the $10-one-day-ticket tip). I'm seeing a lot of research in my future...🤗

[@AlyssaMatesic]

I wish you the best with the agent search!

[@beny9253]

This is quite important. We often get so discouraged by the difficulty of this whole process that we're open to being taken advantage of. I have had repeated solicitations from supposed agents or publishers. Joke's on them; I don't need the money and I've given up on the process. Going to post my stuff for free online and enjoy interacting with the warm little circle of readers I might find. Sounds more fun that way. BTW, saw you on the AWC22 schedule! Congrats!

[@AlyssaMatesic]

Yes, even in publishing there are scammers out there! I'm glad you have an eye out for them! And thank you; I'm really excited to present!

[@clintoreilly]

Helpful as always. Alyssa... I was browsing over a novel, 'Book Lover's' The protagonist mentions publishing closes in August. Is it true?

[@sarahhodge5738]

I've tiptoed back into the querying process after a few years of working with a small press, and I forget how overwhelming it can be. I've more skeptical of agents now than I was with my first query. I queried any agent who represented fantasy LOL Now I'm scrolling through their book deals and client lists. And I won't touch a sketchy website with no books listed. I've found a few of those.

[@AlyssaMatesic]

It sounds like you're well prepared for the querying process! Best of luck!

[@mrplatink]

I'm doing an editing round, then beta readers, some more edits, THEN querying ;-)

[@DylanMcClung]

Thanks for the video Alyssa! You've been a huge help as I have been researching agents to query in the near future. I was wondering, as I finish up my manuscript I'm looking to get a copy editor and proofreader. I want to make my manuscript as best as it can be before sending it out for querying. I would love to know if you have any freelance copy editor and proofreader recommendations? PS hoping to work with you once I finish the manuscript for query letter critiques. Thanks for these awesome videos!

[@AlyssaMatesic]

Reedsy is an excellent website for finding quality copy editors and proofreaders!

[@DylanMcClung]

@@AlyssaMatesic I've been researching them but wasn't sure of their legitimacy. Thanks for clearing that up!

[@ravensthatflywiththenightm7319]

I gave Publisher Marketplace a shot and my browser warned me it's a Not Secure site. Is that expected or did I somehow wander into an imposter page?

[@lesliemoiseauthor]

Very lucid explanation.

[@thenewreal]

Love to see a video on legit editors. I just got ripped off to the tune of $2k by someone with great credentials but did nothing more than run my manuscript through a spell/grammar checker. I also paid a premium for consulting on tone and clarity in which her only comment was that the book is "fine ". If a writer could audit the work of an editor they wouldn't need one in the first place. So how can someone protect themselves from scam editors?

[@marygeorge2467]

I did a zoom meeting with a developmental editor in Florida, and she wanted 18K to read my manuscript and give me 10 pages of feedback. In that conversation, she also let me know how much she paid to get her PhD. in English literature.

[@thenewreal]

@@marygeorge2467 I feel for you. There is virtually no practical way to hold editors accountable for the quality of their work, or even KNOW the quality of their work by the average writer. After my editor had been paid and vanished from the picture I found the book riddled with grammatical errors, wonky sentences, and (even) misspellings. I of course wouldn't know that until I had a chance to completely re-read the book in the aftermath. Not having to re-read my book for the umpeenth time was the very reason I hired an editor. Something tells me that many editors know their work is largely immune from scrutiny and, to put it politely, take advantage.

[@portiawrites]

I’ve had good luck working with editors on Reedsy! They are identity-verified and Reedsy has consumer protections in place.

[@AlyssaMatesic]

That is so horrible--I'm so sorry you had to go through such a subpar editing experience. In my experience, reputable editors will always be happy to provide samples of their editing work by either sharing an edited document they've already done or offering to edit the first couple pages of your work. If you want to see this explanation in more detail, I have a video on choosing an editor here: kzbin.info/www/bejne/pafPgGZ-oJyWeq8 I hope this experience doesn't turn you off from editing as a whole!

[@stephenwolberius]

"Sheer number" Me: found 12 suitable agents who rep his genre and are open total :))

[@AlyssaMatesic]

Agents come in and out of active submissions, so hopefully the numbers will go out as you keep checking!

[@mannyk.davies5080]

You’re beautiful

[@alandavies3727]

Please don’t bother with agents. Always the best way forward for budding authors is to publish your book yourself. Then get a P R Marketing company to promote your work. It’s a fact that 99% of all new published books in todays world will not get back their publishing costs back. Do your research into publishing companies, see what deals they’re offering. My publishers give a full service, including making a web site. Making a one minute animated film of the book. At all times you’re in charge of all illustrations which they will do for you. They will design the front cover, or you can design it yourself. They charge you in four instalments as the work progresses. They will also proof read and edit your work. The name of the publishers is: White Magic Studios. England. They’ve already published five books this year for me, with many more to come. I would highly recommend this company.

[@leenaronalds4155]

Publishers pay writers to publish their books. Writers do not pay publishers to have their books published. A good literary agent is worth his/her weight in gold. Anybody who says otherwise is either bitter, defeated, or resentful at not getting a traditional publishing deal. It seems to be something of a national pastime for self-published writers to malign literary agents.

[@alandavies3727]

@@leenaronalds4155 your totally wrong- agents are leeches and don’t really serve any purpose in todays world. I don’t know if you’ve tried getting one of these people to take on your work? That’s if you’ve ever written a book, or maybe your one of these people? I don’t know. Why would any writer expect somebody else to put up all the money to publish their work? Put up your own money. You don’t need traditional publishers any more. The world of these closed shop organisations is fast coming to an end. I’m absolutely not bitter. I came to a conclusion that it’s not worth the bother with dealing with these dreadful people. It a fact that they turn down 99% of all applications reason being 99% of all published work don’t make back their publishing costs. I found your post very insulting.

[@leenaronalds4155]

Alan Davies, in answer to your question, I have had agent representation in the past. I ended our contract after two years because he wasn't delivering. Simple as that. You can say what you like but self-published writers write for their own gratification, nobody else's. And you do sound bitter and resentful, it's obvious. I guess some of us have what it takes to be taken seriously as writers, while some of us don't. Traditional publishing is the only sort of publishing that is of any value, you can say what you like. I have written several books and submitted them over a number of years. The result? Literary agents are becoming familiar with my work, and they remember me from one book to the next. This is something worth pursuing. Maybe not for you, but definitely for me. When it comes to writing we're all on our own journey, which is fine. But for you to insist that literary agents are a waste of time and money is laughable. Only writers who aren't getting anywhere think that.

[@alandavies3727]

@@leenaronalds4155 Lenna I’ve already published five books this year. I’m not waiting around for people who pretend they know about what will be a success or not. These agents don’t have a clue what will be a success. I’m not putting my life in their hands.life is too short. I’ve got a huge amount of work to to be published. I’ve got a series of seven childrens illustrated books. Four have already been published. These books are not the usual three to five hundred word stories that are flooding the market. My books wouldn’t be taken up by a traditional publisher. Reason being they have five two thousand word stories with sixteen beautiful colour illustrations per book. I’m about to release a second series in a different story line of at least five books. These will have twenty- five illustration per book. No publisher would ever do these because of the cost. There’s a lot of young women on these sites given out information that is useless, because most of the budding authors reading them will never get an agent. I’m just trying to focus people in the reality of the book world. Unless you publish yourself you stand very little chance of ever seeing your work as a book. I don’t have that worry. I know all my work will be published. What could a traditional publisher do that I can’t do myself?

[@leenaronalds4155]

@@alandavies3727 I admire your drive and determination. Who are your readers? What are your sales figures? Who's ensuring that you get the best of foreign, audio, and translation rights? Where do your books sell? Who's working on your behalf to ensure that your books reach as wide a readership as possible? What are your marketing strategies? Who's working on the structural and developmental editing of your book to ensure that it's in the best possible condition ahead of publishing? What are your long term career plans? Who's fighting your corner (apart from family and friends) to ensure that your trajectory as a writer only goes one way, which is up? You give literary agents and publishers such a bad rap, and it makes me wonder why. Of course it's very difficult to secure an agent. Nobody pretended it was going to be easy. But that's exactly as it should be. Nothing that comes easily is ever worth fighting for, and I've seen too many writers fall at the first hurdle and decide to become... you guessed it... self-published.