My synopsis has reached the point where I find it at least tolerable, and I’m anxious to get on with the business of starting to send out queries. So I’m going to pull up plain old notepad and start a file called submissions.txt which will contain a list of agents and publishers, their contact information, submission guidelines, how long they say they’ll take to get back on queries, etc. Each entry will look something like this:
Mr. Joe Bookseller
The Bookseller Extreme Agency
12345 Blahdee Blah
NY, NY 00000
www.extremebs.com
joe@extremebs.com
Prefers e-queries
Usually 2 weeks to respond
Each week I’ll query a handful from the top of the list, noting when the query was sent, and add a few to the bottom of the list.
Add them from where, you might ask?
Well, one good place I’ve found is The Association of Author’s Representatives‘ website. AAR is one of the several organizations that require their members to adhere to a farily strict set of guidelines for representation fees and activities, so it’s another helpful resource in finding a good agent. I went to their database and searched by keyword “fantasy”, since that’s the genre I’m writing in. Keep in mind that the results of this search are by no means all-inclusive within AAR’s membership – just because an agent’s entry in the database doesn’t directly spell out that they’re interested in representing fantasy novels doesn’t mean they aren’t. Over time, I’ll have to go through more of the database to find member agencies’ web sites to look at their specific guidelines, but for now, the 14 results of the search are enough to get started.
Make that 13 – the first one came up on the search for fantasy because one description line says “We are not interested in fantasy.” A few more will be placed down lower on the list because their own web sites downplay or fail to mention fantasy at all. Of what remains, several are promising – listing fantasy as one of their foci.
So I’ll visit each agent’s web site where possible, make a note of their submission guidelines, check them out on P&E, and add them to my list. By this weekend, the first round of e-mails and/or letters will be on their way!