2011 Guide To Literary Agents [Paperback]

Chuck Sambuchino (Editor)

Book Description

Publication Date: August 5, 2010 | ISBN-10: 1582979537 | ISBN-13: 978-1582979533 | Edition: 20

Now includes subscription to GLA online (the agents section of writersmarket.com)!

Now in its 20th year, Guide to Literary Agents is a writer's best resource for finding a literary agent who can represent their work to publishing houses, big and small. The days when a writer could deal directly with a large publisher are over. Literary agents represent writers and shepherd manuscripts to the right editor; and a good representative is the difference between a published book and a manuscript that never gets read. To help writers acquire an agent, GLA provides names and specialties for more than 750 individual agents around the United States and the world. GLA includes more than 90 pages of original articles on finding the best agent to represent your work and how to seal the deal. From identifying your genre to writing query letters to avoiding agent pet peeves, GLA will help writers deal with agents every step of the way.

NOTE: Subsciption to GLA online NOT included with e-book edition.

Product Details

• Paperback: 368 pages
• Publisher: Writer's Digest Books; 20 edition (August 5, 2010)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 1582979537
• ISBN-13: 978-1582979533
• Product Dimensions: 7 x 0.9 x 9 inches
• Shipping Weight: 1.8 pounds
• Average Customer Review: 4.7 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (25 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #551,325 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

Editorial Reviews

About the Author

Chuck Sambuchino is a Writer's Digest Books editor. He also edits Screenwriter's & Playwright's Market and assists in editing the Writer's Market. He blogs at www.guidetoliteraryagents.com/blog.

Product Details

• Paperback: 368 pages
• Publisher: Writer's Digest Books; 20 edition (August 5, 2010)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 1582979537
• ISBN-13: 978-1582979533
• Product Dimensions: 7 x 0.9 x 9 inches
• Shipping Weight: 1.8 pounds
• Average Customer Review: 4.7 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (25 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #551,325 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

More About the Author

Chuck Sambuchino (chucksambuchino.com) is an editor, bestselling humor book author, and authority on how to get published. He works for Writer's Digest Books and edits the GUIDE TO LITERARY AGENTS as well as the CHILDREN'S WRITER'S & ILLUSTRATOR'S MARKET. His Guide to Literary Agents Blog (guidetoliteraryagents.com/blog) -- all about agents, submissions and platform -- is one of the largest blogs in publishing. He was recently included in a FORBES Top 10 list of "Social Media Influencers in Book Publishing." He teaches at a dozen writers conferences each year.

Chuck's first humor book, HOW TO SURVIVE A GARDEN GNOME ATTACK (gnomeattack.com), was released in 2010 and has been featured by Reader's Digest, the New York Times and AOL News. The film rights were optioned by Sony and director Robert Zemeckis (Back to the Future). His second humor book, RED DOG / BLUE DOG: WHEN POOCHES GET POLITICAL (August 2012, reddog-bluedog.com), is a humorous photo collection of dogs doing stereotypical liberal and conservative things. It has been featured by Political Wire, USA Today, and the Huffington Post.

In addition, Chuck has also written two other writing-related titles: the third edition of FORMATTING & SUBMITTING YOUR MANUSCRIPT (2009), and CREATE YOUR WRITER PLATFORM (fall 2012).

Besides that, he is a freelance book/query editor, husband, cover band guitarist, piano lover, chocolate chip cookie fiend, and owner of a flabby-yet-lovable dog named Graham. Find him on Twitter (@chucksambuchino).

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

35 of 35 people found the following review helpful

2.0 out of 5 stars A big disappointment February 11, 2011

By Stephen Arkanell

Format:Paperback|Amazon Verified Purchase

In the past, this book has been very useful, but this year's version was a big disappointment. It is not up to date. When I cross-referenced many of these agents online, I discovered that quite a few have left the business. I know that when this book went to press, the information might have been up-to-date, but not this many. I would recommend using this book only as a starting point for online research. In the end, all the active agents I found in this book, I had already found on PublishersMarketplace or AgentQuery.

But most annoying to me was that, in a book that chides writers on every other page of the importance of proofreading your work and ensuring that it is free of typos, misspellings, etc., this book has a typo on nearly every page, and really obvious ones at that. It's as if no one researched or proofed this book.

25 of 25 people found the following review helpful

5.0 out of 5 stars Very Useful August 9, 2010

By Patrice Fagnant-macarthur VINE™ VOICE

Format:Paperback|Amazon Verified Purchase

I purchased this book because I am looking to obtain a literary agent for the first time. I found the articles at the beginning of the book to be very helpful. There were useful articles on how to use the book, what agents do, what agents are looking for, dos and don'ts of writing a query letter and more. The listings are easy to peruse and give information on what the agency is looking for and what types of books they have sold. There are also submission guidelines. Whether I will actually get an agent or not remains to be seen, but if I don't, it won't be the book's fault. This is a must-get for anyone looking for a literary agent.

33 of 36 people found the following review helpful

5.0 out of 5 stars You Need This! September 7, 2010

By Beck Digs It

Format:Paperback

As I near completion of my first major novel, I've been dreading the next step - researching the hundreds of agents out there, trying to find a good match for my manuscript. I know I need an agent. That's the most important thing I've learned from all the writing conferences I've attended over the last few years. Editors have become so overworked, many are accepting submissions only from agents. I can't really blame them. Agents help weed out the "bad" manuscripts, or help whip them into shape before passing them on.

I am so thankful I discovered the "2011 Guide to Literary Agents." (Okay, I should have known it was out there, but I've been procrastinating this research for a while.) I know there's all kinds of information online, but I really like having something that's easy to tote around (without printing out) and that I can take notes on and highlight and even rip some pages out of.

I love the format, the Specialties Index, and the Glossary - which I wish I had had years ago so I could have done more than nod knowingly when someone mentioned a genre I had actually never heard of. I wish that the Juvenile Fiction section of the Specialties Index had subcategories for Early Readers, Chapter Books and Middle Grade, but I was happy to see that Young Adult and Picture Book were listed separately. (I had no idea there were 29 agencies who handled Picture Books!)

The opening pages of the Guide are packed with helpful information, much of which I already knew, but only because I have spent hundreds of dollars attending conferences and workshops over the last several years. I'm really happy to have that knowledge condensed down for me - and much more legible than my handwritten notes.... I will definitely use those pages as a refresher/checklist before sending out my manuscript.

I was happy to see that the Guide also includes a handy list of major conferences throughout the country. Conference fees can add up (as mentioned above), but they are the best thing you can do for your career and craft. Since many are starting to feature agent pitches and/or consultations, I plan to use the Guide as a starting point for my pre-conference research.

All-in-all, I'm extremely pleased with the "2011 Guide to Literary Agents" and highly recommend it for those ready to send out a manuscript, or for anyone interested in learning about the process of getting published. Read more ›

13 of 14 people found the following review helpful

5.0 out of 5 stars A Lantern Over Murky Waters September 14, 2010

By Tom Bentley

Format:Paperback

This is a juicy book. The publishing world is all in a tumult over mergers, layoffs, ebooks and self-publishing, but so much of what seems like "old school" approaches--getting a literary agent to represent your book to traditional publishers--is yet the most solid means to author recognition, deep distribution, rights management and future opportunities for writers. The front-of-book essays are great, from agents answering frequently asked questions (on query problems, genre issues and what's "normal" in agent world) to revising your book, to a great essay on opening lines and how central they are to readers being impelled into your story.

The "Write a Killer Query Letter" piece was great, both for its overview and it displaying good and bad queries, a hands-on look at the sublime and the ridiculous. Speaking of hands-on, that's what this book is really about: taking a practical, informed approach to locating--and securing--good representation for your work. Oh yeah--there are a couple of hundred pages in there all about the agents themselves, what they want and how to make them want it, and conferences too.

I've got a finished novel and a nonfiction proposal going--and now I've got a map to get them going in the right direction.

3 of 3 people found the following review helpful

4.0 out of 5 stars Lean and clean March 1, 2011

By Jill Dianne Swenson, Ph.D.

Format:Paperback|Amazon Verified Purchase

The 2oth anniversity edition of this Writer's Digest Book seems a bit leaner than in previous years; despite new articles, hundreds of listings for writers' conferences, and fresh material on this rapidly changing business. Nearly a third of the book is dedicated to how-to and background information for authors on finding the right agent for your work. The second third of the reference guide offers 550 updated listings for literary agents. The last third is a specialty index for those who use it as a business tool for handy reference.

Chuck Sambuchino is the editor of this 20th edition of 2011 Guide to Literary Agents. He's built a career on helping authors find the right agent.

What I like about this book is how useful it is to someone just dreaming of becoming an author and to veteran professional writers. It lets novices know what to expect of an agent, and what is expected of writers to prepare for literary representation.

Most publishers now only accept manuscripts from agents. (The exceptions to this generalization are found largely in non-fiction trade small and independent publishers.) No unsolicited manuscripts is a constant refrain new writers hear. This guidebook offers an author the necessary background to understand the role of an agent and what they will do for an author.

The Softcover price of the book includes acess to a free online seminar on how to use the tools in this book to get an agent, a searchable online database of the listings in the book, and a free digital download of Writer's Yearbook 2011 which I read cover to cover.

As a book development editor with Swenson Book Development LLC, this reference guide is always within arm's reach.