Get Connected With a Literary Agent at WEbook
Agentinbox – Write a High-Quality Query Letter and Get Discovered
Sep 29, 2009
WEbook, the successful online publishing company and writing community, is bringing something new to writers – the chance to get their work into the hands of a literary agent.
Not only that, WEbook has laid out the steps to give writers critical information needed to write a successful query letter and proposal. It's never been easier or made clearer.
Agentinbox, the brain-child of WEbook, will forward each writer's proposal to the agent selected from the available list. If agents are interested in a writer's work, they'll make contact. Typically for writers, finding the right literary agent in a list of thousands is one of the most challenging steps to getting a book into publication.
Book Publishing Agents
On the Wylie-Merrick Literary Agency blog, the agent/blogger explains that he normally receives, "a representation of a novel that wanders, is over-written and contains spelling and grammatical errors, just like the query. What I also see in many query letters is arrogance, stubbornness, and sloppiness...possibly someone who might be a future problem client." Ouch. So, this is where the writer must begin his relentless journey toward perfection.
What does Agentinbox say about successful query letters? "If a writer can't explain in a few words what his or her novel is about, hasn't the query failed the job it was intended to do?"
It boils down to knowing why the query is being written, what has been written, and what the writer's qualifications happen to be. That should be one paragraph about the story, one paragraph about who the writer is, and one paragraph about previous publication credits, brief and brilliant.
Online Book Publishing Company
Agentinbox (AIB) is barely a month old and with more than 45,000 book projects on WEbook's website, there is much happening in the online world of publishing. During this introductory phase of Agentinbox, all services for writers to connect with agents is available at no charge. In the future, the AIB fees might be based on user feedback.
According to WEbook, "AIB can't guarantee that your book will be signed to an agent, only that after checking to see that your submission meets the basic criteria, it will be seen by an agent of your choosing. The decision to represent an author rests completely in the subjective hands of each agent."
Writing Query Letters
There is a general structure to queries that agents prefer. Agentinbox lists the guidelines to query letters in detail, but here is what a good query letter includes as per guidelines on AIB:
- Introduction: Explain why you're contacting this particular agent. Make it personal. Is your style similar to some other author they represent?
- Pitch: Summarize your novel or book of non-fiction in one short paragraph. Include the word count of your manuscript, and be sure to mention it is finished.
- Credentials: Mention anything about yourself that might convince an agent that you have what it takes to write and sell a successful book. This might include education, writing background, previous publications, unique insight or business experience that relates to your proposed book.
- Conclusion: Thank the agent for considering your book. This is also the place to mention whether or not you're submitting the book to other agents.
If you're a writer and want to take this step to find the perfect literary agent, simply become a member of WEbook, set up a profile, and begin the tutorials offered by Agentinbox to hook you up with the literary agent who's been waiting for a book just like yours!
Want to learn more about WEbook? Read the following article, What is WEbook?
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