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Why it’s more important than ever to research literary agents
Doing this one step before you submit can save you from heartbreak later
If you’re a writer, this may sound familiar. You’ve spent months or more likely years, writing your magnum opus. You’ve revised and had your manuscript critiqued by your fellow writers. You, by all accounts, are ready to submit your work to agents.
You’ve spent hours locating agents who represent the type of manuscript you write. But you forget one important step. You haven’t thoroughly researched those agents you submitted to.
Researching agents has become more important now than ever.
Why can’t you just compile a list of agents who accept manuscripts in your genre and submit to them?
Like any industry, there are bad actors in the publishing industry. Recent reports of seemingly reputable agencies making questionable business decisions have been on the rise.
One agency, after parting ways with one of their agents, also fired many of that agent’s writers. Some were even out on submission. This was such a concern that the Author’s Guild stepped in to assist the stranded writers.
