Looking for a literary agent you’ll love? Read this book

If you're looking for a literary agent, stop what you're doing and read this book review first -- even if you know what you're doing. 

Most of today’s authors self-publish – for a wide range of reasons:

1. They want complete control over the end product
2. They believe they will earn more
3. The book isn’t traditional publishing material
4. They don’t know how to pursue a traditional publishing contract

Today’s article reviews a book that authors in that fourth category need.

Get Signed: Find an Agent, Land a Book Deal, and Become a Published Author by literary agent and former book publicist Lucinda Halpern demystifies the “how to snag a traditional publishing contract” process while providing the blueprint you need to make it happen.

You know a lot of this already – you just don’t know you do

If you’ve been reading the articles here regularly, you’ll see overlap between the book’s content and the book marketing priorities I write about. Turns out that so much of what’s necessary for effective book marketing is also required when preparing to pursue literary agent representation.

Throughout this blog, you’ll find information on key points Halpern introduces – whether it’s why you must know who will love your book and what they want from it or why building a platform that includes an email list gives you an advantage. (Are you tired of hearing me push email newsletters yet?)

Hopefully, much of Get Signed will feel familiar to you. That’s a good thing.

What’s your “big idea”?

I think I most enjoyed “Step 1: Discover Your Big Idea” because it stresses that it’s not enough to have a good idea for a book – it has to be a marketable idea, too. Halpern helps us see what is and isn’t marketable while she offers exercises that help her readers refine and test their “big” ideas.

She walks a fine line between workshopping the idea you have and finding an idea that needs an author, then trying to make yourself that author. I’m a fan of the former, not so much of the latter.

It’s worth asking yourself: Do you want to write a book for the sake of writing a book or to bring to life that idea that’s been living inside you for years?

If you’re looking for a literary agent, know your “differentiator”

The section on deciding your differentiator stood out for me because I expected it to be about the author – why are you the right person to write this book? What differentiates you from everyone else in her inbox?

Halpern does cover that topic, but in another section on claiming your authority. The differentiator in Step 2 applies to what differentiates your book from its competition.

I love that she stresses that it’s actually a good thing if there are other books on your topic or perhaps with a similar storyline – especially if they’re selling well – because it tells publishers there’s market interest in your topic.

You’ll learn how to find and assess competitive titles and determine how well they’re selling. This is essential information when pitching an agent and publisher, so don’t skip this section.

What will you learn?

Outside of Michael Larsen’s How to Write a Book Proposal for nonfiction authors, this is the only publishing-insider book you’ll need if you’re writing a manuscript that has a shot at securing a traditional publishing contract and all that comes with that.

You’ll learn:

• The role of a literary agent and why – despite what anyone tells you – you need one (Spoiler alert: A good agent will always negotiate a much better contract than you will on your own.)
• How to develop an irresistible book idea
• Why what you’ve learned about book marketing – knowing your reader, having a platform, creating a top-quality product, identifying pitching angles – applies to offering the right agent a book that will sell
• How to craft an attention-getting pitch, including what to feature and what to exclude
• The best ways to find agents to pitch and why you don’t want to contact anybody and everybody

Why this book works

Here’s what I really love about this book: There’s no padding, no filler.

Halpern establishes her credentials quickly so we know we can trust the information she shares. And, she draws heavily from her client list and industry network to offer examples and anecdotes that bring the concepts to life.

Whether she’s sharing tips from editors or presenting pitch letters that secured representation so you know what yours might look like, Halpern’s advice is grounded in experience and expertise.

I highly recommend Get Signed: Find an Agent, Land a Book Deal, and Become a Published Author.

My sad story

One of Halpern’s observations about the agent’s role really resonated with me.

She wrote, “Your agent works for you, and your editor works for the publisher. These relationships are church and state.”

Except when they’re not, which was my situation years ago.

I wrote one of my books after an agent found me through her network. A publisher had an idea for a niche business book; the agent’s connections led her to me.

All went well until it didn’t, and I needed my agent to go to bat for me when someone in the mix behaved unethically.

She balked, saying the situation was hopeless.

Wrong answer.

I successfully fought the battle solo, only later discovering why the agent wouldn’t advocate for what was right – and contractually required.

My agent had her own book contract with my publisher.

She never disclosed that to me, of course – which says a lot, don’t you think? I could only conclude that she was worried about jeopardizing her own author relationship with “our” publisher.

Buy the book

Use Get Signed: Find an Agent, Land a Book Deal, and Become a Published Author to create an irresistible package that attracts the right agent who, as Halpern expresses it, works for you, not the publisher.

After you make the purchase – I got the paperback so I could make notes in the margin – follow the author’s instructions in the book’s front matter to watch a video masterclass and download her author’s playbook.

I hope it brings you the agent – and the deal – you deserve!  

Do you have a literary agent? Tell us in a comment how you connected with yours!