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So, I have now written my first book. I have done a first-pass major revision where I have filled in gaping plot holes, smoothed out jarring inconsistencies, and fleshed out character development. I have also just completed a second pass where I’ve cleaned up grammar.
I’m now ready to export my book out of Scrivener and into a Word document where I will do one final read. After that read, I feel that my manuscript will be complete enough to begin my query process on the journey to publication.
But how do I even begin that process?
Of course, I had no idea how to do this, so I googled “how to find an agent.” Since that search seemed to bring up a ton of real estate agent sites, I then refined my search:
“How to find a literary agent.”
One of the first sites that popped up was Jane Friedman’s blog post on finding a literary agent. Friedman is a publishing expert who is well-respected in the field and recently wrote the book, The Business of Being a Writer.
In her post, Friedman goes through whether you even need an agent (it depends on a variety of factors, like whether you think your book is material for one of the big five publishers), how to find an agent, what materials you’ll most likely need to send to an agent (for fiction, probably a query letter, a novel synopsis, and sample chapters), including links to examples of these items, as well as what a professional agent should know and how they should interact with you.
As I have seriously delved into the world of fiction writing, I have found that the Internet is awash in scammers just looking to make a buck off of the thousands of would-be writers out there, desperate for help in navigating the labyrinthine publishing industry. Thankfully, I have also found some great resources, like the blog “Writer Beware,” which posts about just such scammers.
And I’m also thankful for publishing professionals like Jane Friedman for help as I gather up my courage to enter the fiction publishing world.
If you are working in the nonfiction and business book realm, I have worked closely with Josh Bernoff, so I can vouch for the fact that he is an amazing nonfiction author and has a variety of blog posts addressing the business book publishing realm as well as a recent book directly addressing the topic (Build a Better Business Book).
And now, I’m off to start on my final read of my manuscript and to draft a query letter and book synopsis. Wish me luck!
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