LITERARY AGENT ADVICE

• • Uncoachable authors. Some authors (ironically) register for a literary agent advice session but don’t want advice. If that’s you, please save your money, and save us both frustration.
  • Authors who don’t want to hear the truth about their book, or the reality of the publishing industry. The only way to help an author increase their odds of getting a book agent is to give them honest feedback. Kind, but honest. The goal of a literary agent advice session is to help authors become more aware of their challenges, and address them.
  • Authors who want or expect someone else to do the work for them. I’ve had some writers say they’ll pay anything to have me (or someone on my team) do the work needed to get a literary agent for them. That’s not empowering, and that’s not how I work. I’ll share what you can do to improve your chances of getting a literary agent. No one can do it for you. Or, at least, in my experience, no one can do it as well as you (if you have a good guide).
  • Overly cynical authors. It’s easy to become jaded as a writer, especially if you’ve already had a difficult or negative experience(s) with literary agents. I don’t suggest being naive, but I do suggest focusing primarily on being positive and productive. In other words, don’t dwell on the daunting odds regarding how hard it is to get a publishing agent. Put most of your energy and effort into discovering and doing all you can to increase your odds.
  • Authors with major trust issues. Some writers have been disappointed by people in the past. If you’ve been let down by someone who didn’t seem to care as much as they should, or they didn’t perform professionally, I feel for you. But don’t let that ruin your future prospective relationships with people who want to treat you right. I perform best when people trust me, or at least give me the benefit of the doubt early on. However, I also believe trust is earned. That’s why I put so much time and care into this literary agent advice page, to help authors understand my commitment to helping writers achieve success and have a positive experience.
  • Authors with major control issues. One author in one of my longer-term coaching programs was having difficulty early in our work together. I’d make suggestions and she’d get snippy and say she’d “comply with” my advice. “No,” I said. “That’s no good. I’m your ally, your partner. You can do whatever you want, of course. It’s your life and your book. But you should want to follow my advice, because that’s what you hired me for. My only goal is to help you reach your goal of getting a literary agent!” Fortunately, she felt I had her best interests at heart, then admitted she had major control issues. After that, she started acting differently, and went on to get multiple offers from literary agents.
  • Authors of poetry books or short story collections. It’s too difficult to get a literary agent for those book genres unless you’ve already been published in prestigious outlets and/or you’ve won prestigious writing awards.

Any of the following: book concept, book title/subtitle, query letter, book synopsis, book proposal, first 50 double-spaced pages of your book, author platform, brand development, book agent selection, or anything else related to getting a literary agent.

Here are some reasons this is the premier option when it comes to getting literary agent advice:

• • Decades of industry experience. I’ve worked with both bestselling authors and brand new authors as a former AAR literary agent and literary agency owner, as well as the Marketing & Licensing Manager of a well-known book and gift publisher.
  • More success stories than anyone. I’ve now helped 300+ authors get offers from literary agents and/or traditional publishers. That’s not bragging, but experience you can trust.
  • Exclusively focused on helping authors get book agents. Most other coaches and consultants providing literary agent advice do so as a “side hustle” or “add-on” to their “real” or main job/focus. For me, working 1-on-1 with writers to get literary agents is my entire focus and it’s been that way since 2011.
  • The most comprehensive. I take time to get to know the authors I coach and consult via a detailed author questionnaire, before we talk. It’s impossible to advise an author regarding the best way to write their query letter without understanding as much as possible about them and their book. I also have a proprietary list of 125 things authors should (and shouldn’t) say or talk about in a query letter.
  • You can be you. I genuinely like writers, and I don’t judge. I want you to be comfortable being you, and I want you to write what you want to write. My job, as I see it, isn’t to change you or your work, but to appreicate you for who you are, and for the book you want to write to have the best chance of getting published and reaching the maxium number of readers.
  • The most enjoyable. As much as I’m committed to giving authors the best literary agent advice during their session, I’m committed to giving them the best experience. I’ll bring energy to your call, positive energy. You’ll know I want to be there. I’ll be sure to identify and celebrate the things you have going for you. And I’ll make it as easy as possible for you to accept and overcome the challenges facing you. In fact, we’ll do our best to turn your challenges into opportunities.

Immediately after you register, you’ll get access to the author questionnaire you’ll need to fill out prior to scheduling your literary agent advice session (with instructions).

Virtually all literay agents require all material be submitted electonically via email or an online form on their website. I work the same way. If you want to query book agents, use your literary agent advice session with me as one more reason to figure out how to submit your work electronically. I’m not able to provide technical support in this area, unfortunately.

You won’t have to do much talking. One of the reasons I have authors fill out a detailed questionnaire before we talk is it allows me to spend most of the session coaching. Not asking questions and getting “up to speed” regarding you and your work. I might need to ask some clarification questions during your session, but my goal is to do 95% of the talking. I want to give you as much literary agent advice as possible during our time together.

You’ll get a recording. I do this for every literary agent advice session. You’re the only person who will ever have access to the recording. I will record your session so you can take notes after the call instead of during the call. We’ll be more connected that way. And, even if you’re the world’s fastest note taker, you won’t be able to capture everything during the call.

I’ll talk fast. I’ll do that because it will allow me to share more literary agent advice during our time–and we’ll be recording the call.

You’ll get honesty but also kindness and positivity. You’ll hear things during your literary agent advice session you like, and things you don’t like. It’s the nature of this type of work. I’ll assume you want the truth, and even if I sense you might not, I’ll share it anyway. However, I’ll do so in a supportive way, and offer as many solutions as possible to obstacles.

You’ll get everything I can give. Since most authors only have one literary agent advice session, I don’t hold back. I’ll share everything I can that might help you in the short- and/or long-term, working off the assumption we’ll only be doing the one call together. That way, if we only do one session, we’ll both feel good about the session. You won’t feel like I “held back” information as a ploy to get you to do more coaching.

You’ll get “clean” literary agent advice. Many coaches, consultants, editors, and literary agents let their personal preferences and biases interfere with giving good advice. I’ve been told I’m good at not doing that. My only goal is to help you increase your chances of getting a book agent. I don’t have beliefs or biases that will get in the way of me giving you good advice. I also won’t try to get you to change your book to be what I think it should be.

Your session will be about YOU. In other words, your literary agent advice session won’t be about me or my ego. Helping authors get publishing agents is what brings me fulfillment. I don’t want or need flattery, and you’ll feel from the beginning of our session to the end that I genuinely want to help you.

You’ll get concrete and personalized advice. Some of the information I share with you will be general and conceptual. In other words, there are some things I need to tell everyone. However, I’ll also give you concrete, specific, and actionable advice. And, when possible, I’ll give you personalized advice. You’ll need all the above to have the best chance of getting a  literary agent.

You will NOT get a sales pitch. The good news about me providing literary agent advice sessions since 2011 is I’ve worked hard to make my business successful. That means I’m able to only work with authors in my longer-term coaching when it feels good to both of us. When that’s the case, I send the author information about the longer-term coaching after the session. I don’t use an author’s valuable coaching/consulting time to talk about the possibility of us doing more together.

Within 24 hours of me receiving your completed author questionnire, and verifying everything I need to give you a good session is there, I’ll email you a link to my scheduling calendar so you can book a day/time.

Most writers are able to have their literary advice session within 1-2 weeks of submitting their completed author questionnaire. It depends on how well the author’s schedule matches up with mine at that moment. To be fair to everyone who registers for an introductory author coaching/consulting session, calls are scheduled on a first-come, first-served basis.

Literary agent advice sessions are currently available most weeks from Tu-Th between 1 pm and 8 pm Eastern time. If you live outside the United States and need help to see the corresponding times where you live, visit World Clock or a similar website.

My goal is to deliver the maxium amount of advice during an author introductory coaching/consulting session. For that reason, I don’t do video sessions. During our time together, I’ll be completely focused on your author questionnaire, the thoughts in my head, and how you’re responding to them. My hope for you is that your focus will be on making sure you’re understanding what I’m sharing with you. To me, that’s more important than us worrying about how we look or maintaining eye contact. I assure you, if we talk, you will feel connected.

Authors rarely reschedule their introductory author coaching/consulting session, so I don’t have a waiting list.

No. Most professionals in the entertainment industry (including literary agents and publishers) won’t agree to either. However, many publishing professionals state, as I do, in their website terms, that everything you share with them will be kept confidential. They often say something like the following as well, since most of the time when authors believe someone has shared or stolen their idea, that is not the case:

Our literary agency and/or any of our clients may have created, may create, or may otherwise have access to materials, ideas, and creative works which may be similar or identical to your material with regard to theme, motif, plots, characters, formats, or other attributes; and you shall not be entitled to any compensation because of the proposed use or use of any such similar or identical material that may be or may have been created by our literary agency and/or any of its clients.

If you want  to protect your book prior to sharing it with someone, you can copyright your book at https://copyright.gov/.

We can talk about multiple books during a literary agent advice session. However, you’ll get more out of your introductory author coaching/consulting session if we focus primarily on one book. The only time it can be advantageous to talk about multiple books during a session is if you want or need help prioritizing projects. In other words, figuring out which book may be closest to ready to pitch and/or more likely to get a positive response from literary agents.

I’m flattered when someone asks that, but I’m no longer representing authors as a literary agent. Since 2011, I’ve been exclusively devoted to helping authors get book agents as an author coach and consultant.

Most book agents don’t require referrals. Those who do, are primarily seeking writers who are already published by major publishers and/or have already published bestsellers. For example, authors who’ve parted ways with their book agent, or authors whose agents have retired or passed away.

In some cases, literary agents accept referrals for unpublished authors, but most book agents only want referrals from people they know personally. People they know very well who are very knowledgeable about their personal tastes and preferences.

That’s why I don’t provide referrals for authors, including those who participate in my author coaching. The good news is you don’t need a referral to get a literary agent. I’ve helped hundreds of authors get book agents, and not one of them was from a referral.

There are 1,000+ literary agents representing 100+ book genres. So I’m unfortunately not able to recommend specific agents or provide a list of book agents for you to query if you schedule an introductory coaching/consulting session. I can, and will, however, explain the best “types” of agents for you to query, based on your unique situation and genre. I’ll also explain how to see which book agents are better than others, so you can prioritize. This information is not on my websites.

Yes. Within 24 hours of completing your introductory author coaching/consulting session, you’ll receive an email from me with an attachment of the mp3 audio recording. You’ll be able to download and save the literary agent advice recording to your computer, tablet, or phone and replay the recording. If you ever lose the recording, I’ll resend it.

Yes. I keep everything authors share with me 100% confidential. The only exception is when I promote authors I’ve worked with who’ve given permission to promote them via our websites and newsletter.

No. I will, however, provide an audio recording via email within 24 hours of completing your introductory author coaching/consulting session. If you choose, you can hire a freelance audio transcription professional, at your expense, to convert your session recording into a text transcript through a website such as Upwork.

No. I will, however, share as many actionable suggestions as possible (verbally) during your literary agent advice session. I will also provide an audio recording, sent via email within 24 hours of completing your introductory author coaching/consulting session.

During your literary agent advice session, I’ll tell you how to improve your pitch materials and provide a recording of the session. However, an introductory author coaching/consulting does not include hands-on writing or editing of material. That’s the type of thing I do in my longer-term coaching.

During your literary agent advice session, I’ll tell you how to improve your material. I’ll also provide a recording of the session to make it easier for you to apply the suggestions. However, an introductory author coaching/consulting doesn’t include the opportunity to submit additional questions, clarification questions, or follow-up questions. It also doesn’t include the ability to submit or resubmit material after applying the suggestions provided during the session. Those are the types of things I’m only able to provide as part of a longer-term coaching program.

Additional coaching after an introductory coaching call is by invitation only. I do work with a small number of authors in longer-term coaching/consulting programs.

If you want to see if you’re a fit for a longer-term coaching/consulting program, after your intial session, I’ll send you information about that after our first session. I’ll only suggest we explore doing more together, however, if we both feel it might be a fit, and if I believe you have a chance of getting an agent.

For the reasons listed above, I don’t share information about my longer-term coaching/consulting programs with authors prior to them having their first session. I also have different coaching/consulting programs for different genres, as authors of different types of books have different needs.

If you have a question about author coaching or consulting that isn’t answered above, please scroll below to submit it using our email contact form. We will respond within 24 hours.