The Insider's Guide to Getting an Agent [Paperback]

Lori Perkins (Author)

Book Description

ISBN-10: 0898799090 | ISBN-13: 978-0898799095 | Publication Date: September 1999 | Edition: 1st

In today's changing publishing world, getting an agent is crucial to getting published-but where do aspiring writers begin? New York literary agent, Lori Perkins, takes the mystery out of finding and keeping the right agent. Perkins simplifies the industry, explaining the role of literary agents and what writers should and should not expect. She then guides writers through researching and contacting an agent, including advice for writing agent queries, proposals, synopses, outlines, cover letters and follow-up correspondence. Throughout, Perkins keeps writers keenly aware of an agent's needs and goals, so they can communicate effectively and benefit more from the agent/client relationship. Writers will also gain helpful knowledge on everything from contracts and editors to sub-rights and promotions, and Perkins also provides a thorough checklist to help writers assess their efforts and chart their careers.

Editorial Reviews

Amazon.com Review

Very little of The Insider's Guide to Getting an Agent is devoted to getting an agent. A more apt title would have been Your Agent: A User's Manual. It's common knowledge that, as author Lori Perkins states here, "The essential task of agenting is matchmaking between editors and authors." We know as well that agents spend all day on the phone (minus two hours for lunch) and all evening poring over proposals and manuscripts. But there are questions about agentdom that beg to be answered: Is an agent a salesperson, editor, legal advisor, or all of the above? What goes on during those mysterious agent-editor lunches? How can you help your agent help you? And what exactly are all those rights and options that your agent is busy negotiating for you? Perkins uses her 15 years of experience as a literary agent to answer these and other ponderables.

At bottom, though, an agent, she quotes author Robert Weinberg here as saying, should be like "a good Jewish mother.... Pushy, annoying, constantly questioning, and wanting the very best for you." And a writer, Perkins reminds us, should let her writing do the talking. "While I remember getting a query with a blood-dripping plastic axe," she cautions, "I don't remember the book." Finally, in case you think all those New York agents are just a bunch of heartless dealmakers, guess again. "There is no bigger accomplishment," says Perkins, "than seeing one of the books that I have sold in a bookstore or in the hands of someone reading it on the subway." --Jane Steinberg

From the Author

I imagine that all of you reading this book are like me. You have always written. You've always known that some day you would write a book, and everything you've done until then has somehow been grist for the writing mill within you. This is not a how to write a book. I assume you already know how to do that. This is a how to get your book into the right hands and sell it book, so you can share your writing with all those who love to read. This is a guerilla guide to getting published, a sort of no holds-barred look at the inner workings of the publishing industry, a naked literary lunch. Once you've read this book, and taken its advice to heart, you should be well on your way to getting an agent who get you published. This book will show you beyond a reasonable doubt that without a literary agent, you will not be published well. And, without the right literary agent, you will not continue to be well-published. So finding the right literary agent for your work, career and personality is the second most important thing you can do in becoming a writer - after writing the book. I want to you get published, and to be well-published, which is why I wrote this book.

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Product Details

• Paperback: 240 pages
• Publisher: Writer's Digest Books; 1st edition (September 1999)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0898799090
• ISBN-13: 978-0898799095
• Product Dimensions: 9 x 6 x 0.8 inches
• Shipping Weight: 13.8 ounces
• Average Customer Review: 3.8 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (17 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #1,870,086 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

20 of 20 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars So Much More Than Getting An Agent!, October 17, 1999

By 

Patti Biringer (New Jersey) - See all my reviews

This review is from: The Insider's Guide to Getting an Agent (Paperback)

I am "prepublished" and have a very respected agent for my novel. I bought this book because I am going to be teaching a workshop on getting an agent, and just wanted to make sure I hadn't missed anything.

I read it two days, and could not believe how much more I learned about the entire process of having a book published. I've studied this subject to about two years, but in this book Lori answered questions that I've never seen answered anywhere else. Getting An Agent really made me sit down and evaluate why I write, AGAIN.

The only problem is I think the title is very limiting and many people who could benefit will pass it up because they already have representation.

27 of 29 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars A "must" for all aspiring authors seeking to be published., March 4, 2000

By 

Midwest Book Review (Oregon, WI USA) - See all my reviews

This review is from: The Insider's Guide to Getting an Agent (Paperback)

The publishing industry is inscrutable to the uninitiated. And the road from the act of writing a first draft is long and laborious. Writer's Digest publishes some of the best "how to" books around to aid writers in the process, and Lori Perkins has lent her knowledge and experience to their ranks in writing this book. Ms. Perkins is a former editor and has been an agent for fifteen years.

Ms. Perkins writes this book as an advocate for writers. Not only does she stress the writing itself, but she gives a coherent explanation of the publishing world and what makes or breaks both new and established authors. The world of publishing is like a small community, with unspoken rules that writers need to know about to be successful:

"I wanted to write a book on etiquette for writers because I had a brief period of time where many of my established writers seemed to all have their planetary influences in stupidity. What I mean by this is that a number of authors who should have known better did a whole bunch of really self-destructive things to their writing careers."

Ms. Perkins carefully explains the role and necessity for agents in publishing. She teaches the writer how to find an agent, hook an agent, and work with an agent. She gives an excellent overview of the publishing business and how it changes direction very quickly, sometimes snagging writers and their agents in the middle of a project. Editors change jobs, creating "orphaned books." In order to survive as a full-time writer, one must learn to adapt and change at the whim of the public.

Writing is also not as easy as it seems, and Ms. Perkins describes healthy habits to adopt, including how to deal with an agent, once one is signed. Many excellent authors have perished due to bad interpersonal relations, and Ms. Perkins takes pains to point out the pitfalls.

The Insider's Guide to Getting An Agent is a warmly written resource that is invaluable for almost anyone considering the life and perils of writing. The volume should stay at the top of the stack of "how to" books for anyone involved in the writing and publishing business.

Shelly Glodowski, Reviewer

33 of 37 people found the following review helpful:

1.0 out of 5 stars HIGH ON HYPE, January 30, 2001

By A Customer

This review is from: The Insider's Guide to Getting an Agent (Paperback)

This poorly written book falls far short of coming anywhere near to living up to its title: "The Insider's Guide to GETTING AN AGENT." There was nothing "inside" about it. There were very few solid suggestions and not much space devoted to "GETTING AN AGENT." It should have been called, "Lori Perkins' Guide to Working for Lori Perkins." Or, "Some Lori Perkins' Trite Expressions." There must have been a half dozen mentions in the first half dozen pages that the author had been an agent for 15 years. Wow! How many times to I need to read that? It was an ego trip for Ms Perkins who admitted she wanted to write a different book than what got into print. I also found several errors in the book which read like it was written it short takes and the author forgot what she had already written in earlier pages! Very sloppy editing. Very sloppy writing. Very unworthy of the price. Obviously, I could not recommend this but I could recommend Ms Perkins read some of the reference books she mentions. That was the best thing I got from the book. It is certainly nobody's "Definitive Writer's Resource."