How I Got My Agent: Brian McClellan

“How I Got My Agent” is a recurring feature on the Guide to Literary Agents Blog, with this installment featuring Brian McClellan, author of PROMISE OF BLOOD: Book One of the Powder Mage Trilogy. These columns are great ways for you to learn how to find a literary agent. Some tales are of long roads and many setbacks, while others are of good luck and quick signings.

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SINCE I WRITE FANTASY, I WENT TO CONVENTIONS

I've heard a number of various stories over the years about how authors ended up with their agents. My own mentor first met his agent at a convention; bought him a drink, chatted him up, and left with an offer to submit manuscripts directly. This is a wonderful way to go about it and how I usually recommend new authors try and grab an agent. The agent now has a personal connection with you, and this makes all the difference in the world for how hard they will look at your stuff.

Of course, that's not how I got my agent.

I tried for a long time. I write epic fantasy, and so I went to the appropriate conventions (Worldcon and World Fantasy). I was introduced to agents and editors by my friends. I even had a couple of them ask for the manuscript of my first novel.

I wound up getting form rejections from all of them, except for one polite editor who said he could see I had talent but I needed far more experience, and feel free to submit to him in the future.

"I CAME HOME DEFEATED"...

Fast forward to World Fantasy 2010. This was my first solo convention, and I was shopping a novel I had just finished a couple weeks before. I didn't know anyone there, and I didn't realize until I arrived just how terrified I'd be. My hands shook. I stuttered. I didn't sleep more than a couple of hours the entire four day weekend. One agent blew me off, and another editor took pity on me and offered to look at the first three chapters.

I came home defeated. The whole weekend was a bust. But I had this new novel to shop and damn it, I was going to shop it. Maybe I didn't make a good impression in person where they could see my nervousness, but I had confidence in my ability to write and I knew I had a good book. The key now would be to write a fantastic query letter.

(Note that Brian's novel, PROMISE OF BLOOD, is on sale on Kindle for $1.99 for the month of September 2013.)

I researched query letters. I found dozens of examples and looked over them, reading about what made them good or bad. I read agent's blogs to find out what they were looking for. I tried to find as many as possible for works of genre fiction because, after all, that's what I was submitting.

I kept my query letter short and sweet. I told them the length and genre. I told them the hook¬—the reason that readers would pick up my book instead of someone else's. I gave them a single paragraph that summed up the story, and finally I provided my credentials (of which I had very few).

My query, what I had spent weeks working on, was a basic form letter. But it's a terrible idea to send form letters to agents, so I changed it a little bit for each agent: I addressed them by name. I commented about the books they represented, or an author friend that had recommended them, or that I had met them at such and such a convention. I made each letter into its own personalized query.

PERSONALIZED QUERIES PAY OFF

My first batch of letters was seventeen queries. Some were paper. Some were by email. I sent them all out and then sat back, prepared to wait for months until I received a response. A little over a week later, I had two offers of representation for my book, Promise of Blood. Needless to say, I was ecstatic. I ended up signing with the fantastic Caitlin Blasdell of Liza Dawson Associates.

The experience gained by going to cons, networking, and composing queries all contributed to my success in landing an agent. Although I reached my goal rather quickly, the key factors in this often intimidating process are patience and preparation. Do your homework, set goals, and expect to encounter rejection along the way. Make finding an agent your priority and keep in mind that this is an essential relationship for your writing career.

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