Researching Literary Agents... such a long process.

#amwriting

Today, I decided to look at a few literary agents, thinking that if I prepare a few people to send the manuscript to, it would streamline the process more. What it ended up being was endeavor that took up a lot of time, and made me realize how complex finding an agent really is.

There are people that looked promising when you read their blurb, but as you look at the clients they have, it’s possible that it’s not a good fit. They have a lot of social influencers as clients, or writers that haven’t done that well, or they say they are interested in books about “interesting places” but seems to mean, only in the UK. There is a question of whether these agents are looking for something different to what I can offer, or looking for something different from their existing clients, and whether they have the right contacts for what I want, and in fact, what are they?

Of course, the end of the day, there is no saying that the person would be interested in the first place. This reminds me of when I started submitting to literary magazines, and people kept saying you should read a copy to learn what the editors likes. Then after reading a large number of them, I could see some of the publications had different styles, but it still gave me no indication which piece of mine they might publish. In fact, often the answer was, I didn’t think an Asian female voice had any place. But then it didn’t mean they wouldn’t happen to just like what I wrote.

I sent my stories in anyway, having no clearer idea whether I had a chance with the said magazine at all. The better indication it turned out, was if the editor was a woman. With the exception of one, I have yet to be published in a literary magazine where a man is the chief editor.

So, there we go, finding a literary agent has a lot to do with luck. We can research and do the best we can to find the right fit, but there is no knowing at all. There are just so many variables. Are they good? Do they have the right contacts? Do they even care to have a new client?

I thought it would help me to feel more in control by researching agents, but actually its just shown me how much longer the process of getting published will be.