Sit down, take a deep breath, relax, and ask yourself one question: “Are you having fun with this whole process?” I mean writing the book proposal and looking for a literary agent. If you’re not enjoying it you’re approaching it the wrong way.  Nancy Drew book cover  One of my graduate school professors used to tell us: “Most professional writers don’t work, they play.”

Harriet Stratemeyer Adams, who wrote many of the Nancy Drew series books, treated the whole process like a game. She had the perfect attitude. And I bet you’ll enjoy looking for a literary agent for your book proposal when you follow my method, which is outlined on this page.

Like doctors and lawyers, literary agent specialize. Some only handle fiction. Others handle fiction and nonfiction. But of those that represent nonfiction there is almost always further specialization, and you’ll find agents that handle only cookbooks, self-help, or narrative nonfiction, etc. There are scores of different categories, so finding an agent who handles your type of book is the first thing you’ll want to do.

* Look for agents who handle your type of book.
* Give extra points to agents from New York City.
* Find out what the agent has sold.

As an aspiring author, you may have heard, “If your work is really good, you can get an agent. Getting the work into shape is the hard part. If you get the work into shape, the right agent will follow.” Is it really that simple? Well, yes and no.

The seven essential points below prepare you for what to expect when seeking an agent, or literary representative.

Point 1: Fiction or nonfiction? Differences in Approach

As a novelist, or fiction writer, you need to complete your whole book, format it properly, and find an agent who specializes in selling novels. If you write nonfiction (self-help, how-to, memoir), forget about writing the whole book, unless you want to self-publish. Instead, write your book proposal.

A book proposal is like a business plan for your book. It’s job is to convince the publisher to part with money so you can get paid to write your book.

In either case, to minimize your chances of rejection, you’ll need to have your proposal or manuscript polished before approaching an agent.

Point 2: That someone calls herself an agent says nothing about what she can do for you.

Some things haven’t changed in the century since the first literary agent was born. Today, anyone can still hang out a shingle and say she’s an agent—many people do. Not all agents are effective, ethical, or even sell any books.

Jill’s Guerilla Caveat
Don’t settle for just any agent. Agents vary tremendously in their effectiveness and in what they sell well. Get your proposal (for nonfiction writers) or manuscript (for novelists) into tip-top shape, then go for the agent who has a proven track record selling work similar to your own.

Top literary agents get about 400 to 1,000 unsolicited queries every month from hopeful book authors. Publishing houses sometimes juggle 5,000. Most of my private clients and participants in my seminar, How To Get A Six-Figure Book Advance, ask me “How is an author supposed to get an agent’s attention when there is so much competition?”

First of all, don’t write a book — write a book proposal. Publishers buy ideas not books. To capture a reputable literary agent’s attention you’ll need to show that you’re a media star, or a star in the making. Good writing can be bought but star power can’t.

Here are 5 more tips to landing a top literary agent & a six-figure advance:

You’ve completed your screenplay. You put hours in after work, before work, on your lunch break, weekends, and even snuck a few moments in AT work. You’ve had it reviewed by someone you think knows what they’re doing, and they’ve given you the go ahead that it’s ready for Hollywood. It’s a miracle you got to this point. You can see it as a movie in your head and you want someone in Hollywood to consider making it. Now what do you do? You have to get producers and agents to read it. How do you do it? You’re about to find out.

There are several ways that you can go about getting a Hollywood Producer or Literary Agent to read it. You can call them and pitch your script on the phone, you can hook up with connections you already have, or meet people at a pitchfest and convince them to read it. All of these ways are fine – IF you know who to call and are good at pitching… IF you have connections… IF there’s a pitchfest going on that you can attend.

However, if you’re like most aspiring writers, you have nothing but your script. No connections. No tickets to pitchfests. No pitch. If that’s the case for you, or if you’re doing those things and want a tried and true method, then here’s what you do.

A while back, I received an email from one of our authors, notifying us that he had hired a new literary agent. My first thought was, You’ve got to be kidding! Of all the agents out there, why would you pick THAT one!

Don’t get me wrong. I have nothing against agents. Not only was I a literary agent for six years, I have been represented by an agent on all of the books I have personally published. And, of course, as a publisher, I deal with agents on a daily basis.

A few of these agents are close, personal friends. Many of them add real value to the publishing process. However, some of them do irreparable harm to the author’s reputation. Like most professions, it is a mixed bag. You owe it to yourself to do your homework.

As a literary agent, I receive hundreds of query letters every month—and reject about 99 percent of them. Many aspiring writers dream of getting a book published, but for most it’s a tough road to navigate, and today’s economy is making it even harder to get a deal from a traditional publisher. These factors—coupled with the increasingly affordable and accessible choices for self-publishing—are prompting many authors to get their book out there on their own.

Indeed, self-publishing can be successful. Several recent bestsellers started out self-published before landing a mainstream deal and hitting it big: Rich Dad, Poor Dad, The Celestine Prophecy, Eragon and The Shack among them. But almost always, behind each break-out success you’ll find a dedicated, highly motivated author with an extensive marketing plan that’s being implemented on a full-time basis. What you hear about less often are the thousands of disappointed authors who have gone the self-publishing route only to end up with hundreds of unsold books in their garages.