What a Literary Agent is and How to Find One
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It can be difficult for new authors to navigate the world of publishing, especially when it comes to getting noticed by publishers. One way to increase your chance of landing a publisher is to work with a literary agent.
Literary agents, often referred to as simply agents, are people who can get your manuscript into the hands of publishers. Agents often specialize in a genre or niche and have connections to publishers. Their goal is to help you sell your book to a publisher, and they represent your business interests. An agent will help you by submitting your manuscript to publishers and negotiating any contracts. Typically, agents get paid with a percentage of deals they negotiate. Because they don't get paid until you do, they are very motivated to get you a book deal. But on the flipside, they are selective when it comes to agreeing to represent authors. Agents will only accept authors with books they think they will be able to sell.
As an author, especially a new one, it takes a lot of time and some luck to connect with an agent. First you'll want to have a finished book. If you aren't finished you aren't going to get far. But once you have you'll want to start by looking up agents who represent books like yours. If you have a children's book an agent who works with literary fiction isn't going to be interested. Agents need to understand the market to do their job, so they aren't going to work with books outside of their preferred genres. Put together a list of agents who work with your genre. There are sites with directories of agents, like Agent Query and AAR.
Once you have a list of names, do some research on each one. Look at their websites, who they represent, and read any interviews they've given. It's a lot of work but agents will appreciate it. It also increases your odds of success as you can personalize your query letters. A query letter is one page that summarizes your book, who your target audience is, and who you are.
You are going to get a lot of rejections before you find the right agent. Be prepared for that before you start sending out queries. There are also many different reasons an agent might reject your book other than not liking it. The way rejections are written can also be helpful. If an agent asks for your full manuscript and gives you suggestions it means they liked your story enough to read it. Agents get more submissions than they could ever read, so if they took the time to read yours it's a good sign. Some agents may tell you to revise and then resubmit it.
Also, agents might take a little while to respond, so if you don't get a response right away that doesn't mean they've rejected you. The most important element of finding an agent is persistence. It's hard when you've been rejected to keep going, but you will eventually find the right fit.