Landing a Literary Agent: How the Publishing Industry Works Today
By Caleb Patton Collier
I’ve been a storyteller since I was able to arrange words on paper. Writing has always been an intimate process for me, a way to make sense of the world through my own imagination. Growing up, I wrote pages and pages of stories, for no one to read but me. Gradually, I shifted to publishing short stories in literary journals. Then, I set my sights on finishing a novel. For the longest time, I thought that to become an author all I had to do was write a good book. Little did I know that the world is full of people who’ve written good books, and the vast majority of those books will never get published.
You see, the publishing industry is just that: an industry. It’s full of gatekeepers, processes, and protocols. If you want to become a traditionally published author, you have to learn how to “play the game” of publishing. The first step, once you’ve written your book, is securing a literary agent who will represent your work to publishing houses. In this article, I’ll highlight the process I used to land an agent to pitch my first novel.
HOW TO LAND A LITERARY AGENT
So, you’ve written a book and want to get published. First off, crack open that bottle of wine and treat yourself to your favorite dinner to celebrate. Then, take a deep breath and roll up your sleeves. No one ever tells you that writing a book is the easy part. The road to publication is much harder.