THE ICE PICK

Making the Perfect Pitch : How to Catch a Literary Agent’s Eye, edited by Katharine Sands. Waukesha, Wis., The Writer Books, 2004. 287 p. $18.95. Includes: index and "Selected Resources: How To Find & Contact an Agent." ISBN: 0-87116-206-7.

This book is a collection of interviews with agents and articles by them telling both what they themselves are looking for in a submission and giving general advice on how to make a good impression when querying.

Much of the advice is the same basic information you hear over and over, but if you are new to the game of trying to get an agent, it may be very helpful to you. Things like: don’t query an agent before finishing your novel or non-fiction work; don’t allow spelling or grammatical errors to ruin your query letter; don’t send to agents who don’t deal in your genre or subject; don’t send candy or dog-doo (or any other weird thing) with the query; don’t tell the agent you’re the next J.K. Rowling or you’ve written the best thing ever written; don’t say you’re going to make him or her rich; don’t lie about anything; and don’t give up after "a mere thirty rejections."

I think I was most impressed with the differences in what agents want or expect. Some recommend just launching into a description of your book or "a single attention-grabbing sentence." Others want you to first state that you are writing to them because you would like them to represent your work. One warns against calling your book a "book," saying that technically it’s a "manuscript" until published, while others don’t seem to care. Some of them are turned off by the very thing the next agent wants. It is confusing and discouraging and made me realize why it is so tough to get an agent. There is, after all, only so much research you can do about an agent before you send something out.

But as I continued to read, certain patterns appeared and I started taking notes, trying to think how I could make my own query letter better.

In the end, of course, it is your writing that will sell or fail, but if you can’t get an agent’s attention in the first place, he or she will never see your manuscript to be able to judge your sparkling prose. You have to somehow make that dull query contain some of the same charm, vigor, and color that shines in your novel. There are hints and tips and advice galore in this book to help you make that happen, and if you think you are ready to start sending out your work, this book may save you a lot of time and a lot of grief.

{Published in SF and Fantasy Workshop Newsletter, Sept. 2005.}