How to Land (and Keep) a Literary Agent

by Noah Lukeman

"Noah Lukeman, one of the top literary agents in New York, gave writers a great gift." --James Frey (regarding The Plot Thickens)"This will certainly help writers of any kind defeat rejection and possibly score." --Writers.com (regarding The First Five Pages)Many books have been written about how to get published. But few have been written by literary agents, who receive thousands of submissions each year and who grapple with them on a daily basis. Even fewer have been written by active literary agents who are willing to write from the trenches and offer their perspective on why they reject manuscripts, and why they accept them. And no books have been written from an agent's perspective on what it's like, step by step, to work with an agent on a daily basis, and on how to assure that you maintain a long, happy working relationship with your agent.How to Land (and Keep) a Literary Agent is the first book written from an active literary agent's perspective that teaches authors why agents reject or accept manuscripts; why they decide to represent certain authors and not represent others; the best way to approach agents; the best way to work with an agent on a daily basis; and that offers them dozens of specific resources to make the difference in their finally finding the perfect agents for their work. New York literary agent Noah Lukeman, President of Lukeman Literary Management Ltd, has represented multiple New York Times bestsellers, winners of the Pulitzer Prize and American Book Award, National Book Award Finalists, and has himself written three critically-acclaimed books on the craft of writing, The First Five Pages, The Plot Thickens, and A Dash of Style. During his last 13 years as a literary agent he has read thousands of manuscripts and represented hundreds of book deals, and in this book he shares his insider's perspective, offers insight and practical tips about what works and what doesn’t. How to Land (and Keep) a Literary Agent is a must-read for any author serious about getting published. Geared for a broad range of authors, its subject matter is relevant to authors of fiction and non-fiction, screenwriters, poets--any serious author--offering principles that will help lead to success no matter what your craft. Practical and engaging, filled with exercises, anecdotes and sidebars, this 200 plus page book takes you on a journey, and will bring you that much closer to finally landing a literary agent.How to Land (and Keep) a Literary Agent * 10 Reasons Why You Need an Agent * 9 Steps to Building Your Bio (for Fiction) * 8 Ways to Build Your Non-Fiction Platform * 13 Factors to Consider When Evaluating an Agent * 24 Free Resources for Researching Agents * 11 Fee-Based Resources for Researching Agents * The 4 Musts of Submitting * 4 Keys to Successful Follow Up * 3 Resources to Protect you from Agent Scams * 5 Ways an Agent Can Take Advantage of You * To Use a Book Doctor? * 7 Ways to Protect Yourself in an Agency Agreement * To Hire an Attorney? * What it’s Like to Work With an Agent (a Step-by-Step Timeline) * A Publication Timeline Chart * 15 Ways to Assure a Great Relationship With Your Agent * 6 Reasons to Drop Your Agent * To Self Publish?"Lukeman’s advice is practical—and often entails multiple, time-consuming steps—without a hint of the flakiness that creeps into many writing guides."--Publishers Weekly (regarding The Plot Thickens) This 100,000 word file includes two additional books written by Mr.

Genres: Writing, Nonfiction, Reference

69 pages, Kindle Edition

First published July 11, 2008

About the author

In addition to being an active literary agent, Noah Lukeman is also author of the best-selling The First Five Pages: A Writer’s Guide to Staying out of the Rejection Pile (Simon & Schuster, 1999), which was a selection of many of Writer’s Digest 101 Best Websites for Writers and is part of the curriculum in many universities. His The Plot Thickens: 8 Ways to Bring Fiction to Life (St. Martins Press, 2002) was a National Bestseller, a BookSense 76 Selection, a Publishers Weekly Daily pick, a selection of the Writers Digest Book Club, and a selection of many of Writer’s Digest 101 Best Websites for Writers. His A Dash of Style: The Art and Mastery of Punctuation (W.W. Norton, 2006 and Oxford University Press in the UK, 2007) was critically-acclaimed, a selection of the Writers Digest Book Club and the Forbes Book Club, was profiled on NPR, and is now part of the curriculum in over 50 universities and writing programs. His e-book How to Write a Great Query Letter, which he gives away for free as a way of giving back to the writing community, was the #1 Bestselling title on Amazon Shorts for many months. His most recent book geared to help aspiring authors is How to Land (and Keep) a Literary Agent. To help aspiring authors, he has also made available free chapters from all his books, which you can read by clicking here.

Noah has also worked as a collaborator, and is co-author, with Lieutenant General Michael “Rifle” Delong, USMC, Ret., of Inside Centcom (Regnery, 2005), a selection of the Military Book Club. His Op-Eds co-authored with General Delong appeared in the Sunday New York Times, The Wall Street Journal and The Dallas Morning News. He has contributed articles about the publishing industry and the craft of writing to several magazines, including Poets & Writers, Writers Digest, The Writer, the AWP Chronicle and the Writers Market, and has been anthologized in The Practical Writer (Viking, 2004).

Creatively, Noah is author of The Tragedy of Macbeth, Part II, (Pegasus Books, 2008) an original play written in blank verse, which aspires to pick up where Shakespeare’s Macbeth left off. Macbeth II was critically-acclaimed, and featured as recommended reading in New York Magazine’s 2008 “Fall Preview.” He has also written several screenplays, one of which, Brothers in Arms, was chosen as one of Hollywood’s 100 Best Scripts of the Year on the 2007 Black List and is currently in development at a major studio.

Noah Lukeman has been a guest speaker on the subjects of writing and publishing at numerous forums, including Harvard University, The Hotchkiss School, The Juilliard School, the Wallace Stegner writing program at Stanford University, the Writers Digest Panel at Book Expo America, the MFA at Northern Michigan University, the National Society of Newspaper Columnist’s annual Boston conference, and Riker’s Island Penitentiary. He earned his B.A. with High Honors in English and Creative Writing from Brandeis University, cum laude.

Reviews

[S. Wigget · Rating 3 out of 5]

I've grumpily realized, th as his to this book, that I really should create an author website...never mind that I have no idea how and little patience with technology.

[K.A. Wiggins · Rating 5 out of 5]

Exceedingly helpful for prospective authors, with clear advice and insight into the submission process, what to expect at every stage, and bonus sections on writing query letters and Q&A. An inexpensive buy with consolidated advice that will save you Googling for hours (days... weeks...) Includes helpful links to additional resources and industry databases.

[Nicole Roth · Rating 4 out of 5]

This guide is brief and helpful. It's great to get an insider's perspective on the agent -writer relationship, and I think it will help me during the querying process. The edition I downloaded also contained Lukeman's query ebook, which was handy (although I already downloaded that one separately).

[Andy Lind · Rating 3 out of 5]

There is A LOT of information in this book, which makes it well worth getting, but I must say the reason I am giving it 3 stars and not 4 or 5 is because the part where the author answers questions he has received gets a little long.

[Raymond Paquette · Rating 4 out of 5]

It gave some great advice, but is dated. There was no mention of Query Tracker in it and most of the agents I’ve found no longer want physical copies. It’s all email.

The best advice it gives is if you want success put in the work. If you put in zero effort you will get zero results.

[James Baxley · Rating 4 out of 5]

Helpful Insight Into the World of Publishing

Very well written. I learned much mor than I expected to. I highly recommend this book to any one who's thinking about writing a book.

[Andrew Corsini · Rating 4 out of 5]

I thought this was a great book, full of terrific, but the fact I've decided to stick to self-publishing after reading it surely must speak for itself

[Julia · Rating 5 out of 5]

An incredibly helpful guide for anyone seeking a literary agent. At times the book was redundant, but overall Lukeman addresses each agent/publisher topic very thoroughly. 10/10 would recommend!

[Cayla · Rating 4 out of 5]

Good info!

[Charlene · Rating 5 out of 5]

Your Personal Literary Advisor

One of the things that makes it so difficult to find a literary agent , is the fact that you only hear back about your submission , if they are interested. When a writer is unaware of the mistakes that they are making, it is unlikely that they will land an agent,because these mistakes do not get corrected. In this book, How To Land And Keep A Literary Agent by Noah Lukeman, Mr Lukeman act as Your Personal literary advisor. He points out common mistakes New writers sometimes make. He give you first insight on what a literary agent looks for in a submission, and he guides writers in how to find agents who are representing their genre. This is a necessity for every serious novelist's library.Thank you Mr. Lukeman for writing this book! It is just what I needed!

[Suzanne · Rating 4 out of 5]

I'm muddling through revisions now, hoping to query agents in the next six to eight months. There's a lot of great info in here about how to prepare for querying, what to expect when you sign with an agency, and the likely time frame for seeing your books on the shelves if your agent sells your work. My book is fiction, but there's also great info in here on querying nonfiction and memoirs, too, since those tend to be handled differently. (I had no idea!)

There were a few things that seemed dated to me (though this book is not even five years old). He suggests that a snail mail query (don't forget the SASE!) could be better than e-mail, since e-mail tends to be in 10pt Arial font, as opposed to a nice 12pt font that you print. Wha? You can change the font in most e-mail interfaces. Some agencies do not accept electronic queries, however, so all the advice surrounding the preparation of a paper query letter is still certainly relevant.

There was a section, too, encouraging blogging, podcasting, and basically building an audience before you query. I'm wondering if this was more relevant to the nonfic crowd, though I suppose it can't hurt for fiction writers, too, if you happen to build a substantial following. I see more and more advice saying that it's not essential for writers to blog and have a strong social media presence, however, because prospective agents are going to care a lot more about your work than your 10,000 twitter followers. Views on this sort of thing are bound to change or even just vary from agent to agent, I'm sure. Lukeman acknowledges this, and of course that there is no magic formula for success.

Still, there's loads of great advice here. It's well worth a look if you're planning to pursue representation and traditional publishing. It's so generous that he's made it free for download, too!

[Laura L. Weller · Rating 5 out of 5]

I enjoy this agent's work on the inductry and the was helpful to understand the industry from the agent's perspective. Kind of a "What to Expect If You're Expecting" view on writer-to-agent relationships, the publishing timeline, and everything in between. Highly recommend.

[Sarah Weathersby · Rating 3 out of 5]

Very informative. I got to 60% complete, and the book went to "How to Write a Great Query Letter," which I've already read.

[Margit · Rating 4 out of 5]

A free book with some good tips on how to prepare for a query and what to expect once you get an agent (including timelines).

[Darren Sapp · Rating 4 out of 5]

Lukeman offers a valuable rescource for emerging writers, based on a wealth of experience.

[Phyllis Shearer]

A truly helpful and common sense guide to the do's and don'ts of this tricky business of landing a literary agent. Noah Lukeman knows his stuff and conveys his information well.

[Justin · Rating 4 out of 5]

A well-composed, valuable resource. It's awesome that is was free. Thanks, Noah!