Brooks

I have just finished reading Noah Lukeman’s book, How to Land (and Keep) a Literary Agent.

For many reasons I wish I’d read it a year ago, primarily because this book helps an author realistically calibrate his expectations and timeline for getting published. The importance of this cannot be overstated. Unrealistic expectations are likely to lead a frustrated author to give up all hope of ever being published after receiving a rejections from a few, randomly selected agents.

But Lukeman doesn’t… (more)

I have just finished reading Noah Lukeman’s book, How to Land (and Keep) a Literary Agent.

For many reasons I wish I’d read it a year ago, primarily because this book helps an author realistically calibrate his expectations and timeline for getting published. The importance of this cannot be overstated. Unrealistic expectations are likely to lead a frustrated author to give up all hope of ever being published after receiving a rejections from a few, randomly selected agents.

But Lukeman doesn’t only help authors to properly pace themselves. He also insists that they approach agents only after their work has undergone 20 or 40 revisions. The submission of rough drafts is probably another reason that many authors never get published.

Lukeman draws attention to many common mistakes that authors make in their search for representation, and in their relationship with their agent. I recognize many of these mistakes as ones that I’ve committed, and, thanks to Mr. Lukeman, will not repeat. Lukeman lays out a clear strategy for identifying and approaching appropriate agents, and provides tools for executing this strategy.

One of the greatest lessons for me was Lukeman’s emphasis upon the importance of appreciating the odds of landing an agent. Lukeman urges and equips authors to build and fine tune a well-researched database of at least 50 reputable agents who have interest in the author’s genre.

Like Lukeman’s other books, How to Land (and Keep) a Literary Agent is highly readable, and filled with valuable, practical advice.

He starts by strongly recommending reading another of his books, How to Write a Great Query Letter, which can be downloaded for free at www.writeagreatquery.com.

Mr. Lukeman remarks that “publishing is not science,” but his book certainly reduces a lot of the guesswork and increases a writer’s chances of success.

He provides many prudent measures by which a writer may negotiate a favorable agency agreement. He also explains what is likely to happen once an author lands an agent. He demystifies the process by which agents submit manuscripts and proposals to publishers. He recommends ways to strengthen the author-agent relationship, and discusses what an author can and cannot expect from an agent, and ways that an author can make best use of his agent.

Finally, he addresses the question of what to do if, after taking all of his advice, an author fails to land an agent.

According to Lukeman, his most important message is, “do not – ever – give up. This alone is what separates the professionals from the amateurs, the writers who get published from the writers who do not. It may take 5 years. It may take 10. It may even take 30. You need to dig in for a longer effort, to change your perception of the process from its being a one-time effort for one book to its being a multi-year effort for several books. If you keep writing, if you keep improving, if you hang in there long enough, you will get published.”

I highly recommend buying and reading How to Land (and Keep) a Literary Agent.