Literary Agents for First-Time Authors

Literary agents are essential for first-time authors aiming to be commercially published. A literary agent will act as a liaison between you and commercial publishers, representing you during the process of selling your book. There are many factors to take into consideration when selecting a literacy agent for your first book. Below are some tips to help you make that decision and things to consider before submitting your book to a literary agent.

Industry Connections

As a first-time author, you likely haven’t built a repour with publishing companies. This can make the process of getting your book published much more challenging. However, experienced literary agents already have existing relationships and connections with publishers. This can help make the process of finding the right publisher much easier for first-time authors. When literary agents submit a first-time author’s work to book publishers, they focus on the author’s writing style as well as the book’s commercial potential.

Sales Potential

If you haven’t published a book before, it is helpful to compare your book with best-selling titles of the same genre. Literary agents, as well as publishers, want to gauge the potential market success of your book. Since unpublished authors can’t demonstrate sales potential based on previous books, comparative titles are a great measure of illustrating market potential. Additionally, be sure to let literary agencies know if the book you’re submitting is the first of a series or is being optioned for a film. These factors increase your book’s market potential.

Subject Matter Knowledge

It is important to demonstrate your knowledge and previous experience writing on the subject matter. If you haven’t previously published books on the topic of the work you’re submitting, don’t panic! Articles or interviewes you’ve given on the subject can demonstrate your experience and establishes credibility. Communicating this to the literary agent will help you to sell your manuscript.

Marketing

When it comes to first-time authors, marketing and audience outreach are essential. It is crucial for authors to establish a platform for promoting and marketing their books to readers. Authors can do this by engaging in social media marketing, creating a blog to interact with readers, and working with beta readers. Literary agents are much more inclined to work with authors who already have a strong platform for online outreach. It will also make it much easier for the literary agent to sell your book; publishers are more inclined to work with first-time authors who can demonstrate a preexisting audience for their book.

Langtons International Agency has successfully represented many first-time authors and sold their books to commercial publishers. Examples of these include the best-selling Art in the Blood by Bonnie MacBird, Power Your Profits by Susie Carder, The Spa at Lavender Lane by Phyllis Melhado, Missions by Marc McGuire, and Pivot, Disrupt, Transform by Marcia Daszko.

We are always looking to help new writers turn into published authors!  Please contact us here: https://langtonsinternational.com/contact/, or email us at langtonsinternational@gmail.com