Literary Agents: The Essential Guide for Writers; Fully Revised and Updated

by Debby Mayer, Rosellen Brown (Foreword)

Describes the work of literary agents, explains how writers select agents, tells how to submit proposals, and discusses the writer-agent relationship

224 pages, Paperback

Published March 1, 1998

About the author

Debby Mayer is a writer and talker in San Diego, California. In addition to Riptides, she has published a novel, Sisters; numerous short stories; and reams of journalism. She received two grants from the New York Foundation for the Arts: one in nonfiction, for “Therapy Dogs,” an excerpt from Riptides, and one in fiction for “The Secretary,” a short story published in The New Yorker. She holds an MA in creative writing from City College, where Sisters won the DeJur Award. Her day jobs have been arts administration (Poets & Writers, Inc.) and editing (Publications Office, Bard College). More at debbymayer.com.

Reviews

[Tom M. · Rating 2 out of 5]

the copy i read was revised in '98 and is sorely dated. (most of the agents interviewed were not using email yet, for instance)

the first 78 pages are filled with the same type of information you can get from web sites on searching for an agent but with only scant attention to the importance of a well-formed query, how to format them, etc.

one thing that hasn't changed is that most agents interviewed said they take on more new clients from referrals from their current roster of clients than from any other source. also, under the category of "looking for reasons to not read email/mail" make sure you've addressed your query letter to the correct person and that you've spelled their name correctly.

pages 84 - 167 is a list of agents who, as of '98, were willing to accept unsolicited queries, along with some conferences and other resources.

in short, skip this book and read some good resources online.

[Cathy · Rating 3 out of 5]

This edition of the book, copyright 1998, was definitely outdated for today's market. I just happened to buy the book years ago, and I know I should have bought the updated version, but I figured since I had this version already, I should go ahead and read it! I learned a lot about the agent/author relationship and what an agent does for an author. I have no idea if the list of agents is any good anymore, because this version of the book is 16 years old. And no emails are included at all. This was applicable during the days of snail mail. Oh well, I'll obviously have to find a more updated list of agents and a book that talks about the agent/author relationship that exists in today's market. It was informative anyway, in a broad sense.

[heather · Rating 2 out of 5]

Forty rather illuminating pages about the roles agents play in writers' careers. The rest are outdated listings best available from other sources. A great 40 pages, nonetheless.

[C · Rating 2 out of 5]

I didn't find this helpful at all.