Our “Dear Linnhe” video
“I’ve just sent the second draft of my first novella to four agents. I did a lot of research on manuscript formatting and I’m hopeful I ticked all the boxes. My question is if it is not 100% formatted correctly have I ‘wasted’ my shot at this?”
Linnhe Harrison writes Sails On The Horizon.
Dear Linnhe,
The good news is that you can submit to the same agent more than once. Unlike submitting to editors (publishers), it’s not a one shot deal; you can resubmit to the same agent as many times as you like. In your original question, (which we’ve shortened), you added i.e. I’ve missed a paragraph indent somewhere along the line or my chapters are deemed too long /too short . These details, however worrying to the author, won’t bother an agent at all. There are some basic dos and don’ts which I’ll go through, but the occasional formatting mistake isn’t one of them. Neither is the length of a chapter. I’m going to run through the whole process, much of which you’ll already know, but for the sake of others it’s worth laying it out, and I’m going to begin with the most important thing to bear in mind: there’s a tendency to put the power in the hands of the agent, and to handle the process as if it were an end in itself. But this is about a relationship, and a professional career, so let’s start there.
Choosing an agent
There are five ways of going about it that I know:
1. You’ll become familiar with the which authors do you compare yourself to question that accompanies the publishing train. It annoys the hell out of me (None! We’re all unique you idiots!) but hold fire because it’s really useful when picking which agents to approach. Go to your local bookstore, find the living authors who inspire you, or who you aspire to be, and find out who represents them. It narrows the field to the ones who are most likely going to love your voice.
2. If you’ve friends already represented, ask them for an introduction. They can always say no.
3. Go to writing festivals, enter every competition, make yourself visible. In the UK, Jericho is the big one.
4. There are multiple writing courses & mentor programmes out there offering big agent prizes – beware, there’s no guarantee and these are Businesses with a capital B. See Andrew Wille’s post on this. He’s talking about the promise of publishing deals, but it comes down to the same thing. No one can promise you anything, and anyone doing so is lying. However if you’ve got the funds and the programme checks out, it can be worth your while.
5. Register with The Writers & Artists Yearbook. It lists every agency in the UK. Likewise, become a member of the Society of Authors. You’ll find resources for the onward journey. For those outside of the UK, you’ll need to do a bit of research to find their equivalents.
Submitting your manuscript
Once you’ve narrowed the field, go to their websites, see if the agent you’re interested in is looking for work in your genre, and commit their submission guidelines to heart. Agencies receive hundreds of submissions a week, so those which flout the rules don’t even make it through the door. They’ll say things like first 100 pages, synopsis & word count or first three chapters in word doc, double spaced. They may not mention font, but use a standard one, nothing fancy. They won’t dictate chapter length. They may specify formatting, but as I’ve said, the odd mistake won’t matter. Yes, spell and grammar check. You want the agent to concentrate 100% on the work, and anything that detracts from that will be a pain, but more importantly, if it says first three chapters send the first three chapters. Flouting those guidelines gives the message that you don’t listen, and think you know better, which is no way to start a relationship.
Synopsis
Oh the sheer hell of them. You haven’t asked, but I’m going to take this chance to say how much I hate them, how difficult they are, how there are very specific rules around them and how every agent will ask for one so you have to learn how to write them. If you’d like Mary and I to get into the weeds on this, please ask. All I’ll say for now is that there’s no quicker way for me to feel my novel is a disaster than when I face the synopsis page. Their point is to lay out cold the major characters and main plot, and give away the ending, a cheat sheet for the agent or editor over which I’ve sweated and sworn more times than I can remember. They are harder than writing a novel by a country mile. The good news is that once you are signed with an agent, they will help you with them. My agent is supremely good at them. She has a skill. I bow at her synopsis writing feet.
Covering letter
Back to submissions. Your covering letter is important. Be friendly, straight forward and to the point. If you’re funny, chance a little funny. Resist all urge to apologise, beg, brag or take more than a minute of their time. Keep it short and inviting. It’s the first thing they’ll read. Hi, my name is Linnhe, my book is called xxx , it’s a (genre), and I hope you enjoy it. If they represent one of those authors who inspire you, or you aspire to be, say so now. It shows you care and have done your homework.
Rejection
I have a hunch this is where or my chapters are deemed too long /too short bit of your question came from as I’ve never read a guideline that specifies chapter word count. So let’s get into the nerves of it, that intersect between soul and material world, feeling and selling. If an agent rejects you either they don’t like your work, or they think your work’s not ready. These are business decisions, it’s their job to sell you, and if they can’t do that, they’ll say no. It’s both intensely personal and intrinsically not your fault. It’s tempting to blame yourself or the manuscript or how you presented it, and even more tempting to lose faith in the work. It’s also possible that your work isn’t ready, but learning to pull these strands apart, especially if a rejection comes with reasons, will help you in the long voyage of the professional writer. You will learn when to stand by the work and when to fold, when you’re being fobbed off and when to listen, but for the record, never take notes from someone who isn’t interested in offering you a deal. Lastly, if the agent you want turns you down with more than a standard rejection letter, you can always send a polite and friendly Thanks for your time. I really would like to work with you, so I’m going to do some rewrites, and try again. There’s nothing wrong with being human and keen.
Interests & Offers
If you get multiple interests, arrange to meet them, take them out to lunch, see who you get on with. This is really important. The agent-author relationship is as close to intimate as you’re going to get in the professional sphere. Your agent will see you in tears and celebrating and nervous as all hell. When things are going badly, you’ll blame them, and when they’re going well you’ll want to marry them. You need to feel they have your back and will fight for you because it’s a tough world out there and they are the point where the literary business meets your artistic heart. So choose carefully. Don’t rush in. You and your work are valuable.
My story
I did everything wrong, 40 rejections later I worked for a year with a mentor who gave me an introduction to an agent she knew. So excited was I that I did zero research into that agent, I knew nothing about them, to this day, I’ve never met them, we only communicated through email. For seven years I sent them drafts and for seven years a reply would come back months later saying I can see you’ve worked very hard and my heart would sink. I wrote that novel from scratch four times, each version had multiple drafts, and in the midst of all that I wrote a thriller and a collection of short stories, all with the aim of trying to please this agent, and convince them to take it over the line. Can you hear my tone of voice? Yes, I look back and think jeez, where was my pride, but I was desperate and determined and thought I had one shot. After seven years, guess what. They told me I don’t think I get you, and I remember the corner of the street I was on when I got that phone call and I remember how I cried. There’s a happy ending here. I picked myself up, rewrote the book exactly as I’d always wanted it to be, went to The Festival of Writing, left with multiple interests which narrowed to one with whom I developed it through two drafts before she offered me a contract. I’m always thanking her for sticking by me, she’s always telling me to shut up and get on with the work (and that she believes in me). My point is, it took time and patience but the right agent showed up in the end. And when she did, I was ready.
And there’s one more thing to say. Frustrating and heartbreaking as those seven years were, it was there I learnt to write, and there I learnt to stand up for the work. For the right agent to find you, you need to have faith in your vision. That clear identity will be a beacon, and you must stand by it. Otherwise, how will they know who you are? This writing life is all about persistence, forbearance and determination to believe in yourself. And from signing with an agent to selling to a publisher, it only takes one yes.
Love,
Eleanor
Synopsis - YES. What you said with many bells on. Thank you for normalising my dread of these things! A handful of bare words - the quickest way to undermine any faith you had in your intricately woven plot.
I'm going to repeat here what I posted on Mary's substack: I love this series so much! :)
Really appreciate all the info you and Mary have shared; it's such an interesting discussion, and also an ever changing one, it seems! It was interesting to hear more about your publishing choices now, Eleanor, with relation to hybrid publishers. It's something I've also been looking into, for a crime novel I'm translating into English. I wish you all the best with it! I'm looking forward to reading it once it gets published.