So you think you need an agent? Most agents do not represent poetry, short stories, non-fiction or material suitable for academic or small presses. If you have written a novel or a memoir, you might consider finding a literary representative. The best reference guide is Chuck Sambuchino’s Guide to Literary Agents published annually by Writer’s Digest Books and the 2014 issue has just been released. Before you seek representation, it’s important you do some initial research on potential agents before you send a query. Here’s a few questions you need to answer before you contact a specific agent. Is the agent a member of the Association of Authors’ Representatives (AAR)? Self-identified ‘agents’ may not be members of AAR and are not bound by their code of professional ethics. Are book deals this agent has sold to publishers reported in Publisher’s Marketplace? What comes up when you Google your agent’s name, or the name of the literary agency? How many years has the agent worked as a literary representative? Does the agency have a website? What did they do before they became an agent? The agent’s website should have a bio. How many books has the agent sold to publishers? Many self-identified agents are ‘packagers’ or ‘book producers’ who work for imprints of self-publishing companies. Investigate the track record of the authors’ books. Look at publishing houses, sales rankings, reviews, and news coverage of the agents portfolio of published clients. How many authors does the agent currently represent? The more authors an agent…

When you send an email to query an agent or publisher, or to pitch a podcast or book review, do you sometimes wonder whether your message disappeared into cyberspace because you did not receive a response? Did it end up in a spam folder? Is no response a “no”? Could your email address be the problem? If you’re using an account from AOL, Yahoo, or Hotmail, it may well be that your email was never received. If your address is associated with your website and hosted by a company with servers used by spammers there is a possibility your email address is blacklisted by the recipient. If you have never sent an email to a particular address before, there is a good chance you will receive a delivery failure notification or end up in a spam folder. Unsolicited email (a message from someone who has no previous email contact with you) runs the risk of refusal by the recipient. Once you have been whitelisted by the recipient (by using the reply button to a message they have sent you), you can rest assured your email is being delivered. And if you’re using Apple Mail you can relax as there tend to be fewer problems with their email applications. But how do you know where you email goes? You can take steps to make sure your email messages get delivered. Gmail is the most reliable method for business correspondence. Google Workplace (formerly known as G Suite) offers custom and secure business…

The launch of Green Bay author Melissa Gorzelanczyk’s debut Young Adult novel ARROWS (Delacorte Press, 2016) is one example of how social media can play an important role in author success. Melissa’s novel ARROWS is a modern cupid story set in present-day Wisconsin combining the fantastical elements of Greek mythology with the contemporary drama of MTV’s Teen Mom,” according to Melissa’s website. Her novel also has an element of social justice – a young woman learning how to leave a bad relationship. I asked Melissa that favorite question of up-and-coming authors: How did she find her literary agent? During a Twitter pitch party. That’s right. What’s a Twitter pitch party, you ask? Here’s how it works. Periodically on Twitter, moderators will host an event during which writers have the chance to pitch their manuscripts to agents. What’s tricky is Twitter’s 140-character limit. You must summarize your novel in a very compact and effective sentence. That’s a challenge for any writer who has faced the agony of writing a query letter, during which an author must summarize his or her novel in an accurate and enticing premise within a few short sentences. Now tighten that. “I actually recommend creating a Twitter pitch for every story that you start, even if you’re never going to pitch it that way,” Melissa says. “It makes you look at the true bones of your story.” This is an unusual way to obtain an agent. Twitter pitches aren’t a substitute for a query letter or a good…