How do I get an agent? I have a book I want to publish, and without an agent, it's apparently impossible. Thoughts anyone ?
I have been trying to land an agent for years, without being too convinced myself to be honest, because lots of colleagues told me that having an agent is a double edged sword. It could potentially be very good for one's business or not at all - some people I know told me they find their agent a "useless" weight and that they have to do most of the pitching and finding work themselves.
So for one reason or another I have never fully committed to looking for an agent or an agency, always counting on my own networking skills.
1. turned out quite clearly that my networking skills are not good enough
2. in this specific instance - publishing a book - it seems almost impossible to reach out to publishers without having an agent
3. I am not interested in self publishing
Does anybody have any thoughts about the above? Suggestions?
Does anyone want to have a peek at the book ?
Replies7
- @Enrico Policardo Yeah, sometimes it is good to ask yourself questions about what you want/like etc... and that'll help and reach out to people, they can either answer or not but you'll never know unless you ask :) (taking my own advice with this too :))Always intrigued :) would be great.
- @Linsey M oh that's super good advice! I am happy to share more of the book if you're intrigued.
- @Enrico Policardo Oh sounds very intriguing, unorthodox in what way?Do you know other similar books available, as perhaps you could reach out to them and see how they got published? or look at books you like and see who published them :) or an agent? or look for agencies and agents who manage more unorthodox profiles?You could ask The Photographic Foundation or similar for advice or pointing you in the right direction?
- @Linsey M it is a photography book but it’s rather unorthodox… and no, no agent yet…
- @Enrico Policardo Glad you saw it eventually and hope it may help, or you've already managed to get an agent?Are you publishing a photography book? or other? :)
- @Linsey M Oh gosh! Thanks Linsey! I literally saw your kind reply just now...
- Do you know any agents?Start at the beginning, create a spread sheet, do some outreach and cold calling, ask some publishing houses some questions and source emails/contacts and go from there!Try to speak to some others who have published books, take to twitter or other social media, sometimes it can help!Good luck :)
You must sign up or log in before you
add a comment.