Finding the right agent for your work can be daunting. In the UK alone there are thousands of literary agencies. Author’s Pen can help you to create a covering letter and synopsis, which is a requirement from each agent you approach.

Why would you want an agent? Because they know where to place your work to get it over the final hurdle and into the hands of a publisher. They will also negotiate the contracts and rights sales for worldwide sales of your work, together with TV and film rights negotiations.

The national press is full of stories of debut authors who have famously picked up a six-figure sum for their first novel. But in reality this rarely happens and certainly not without a huge amount of work and luck.

Stephen King kept a long nail in his office to keep track of the thirty rejection letters he received before Carrie was picked up for publication. King felt he learned a little more about publishing and writing each time he received a rejection letter. 

Rejection can be daunting and crushing, but if the traditional route is your preferred path, Author’s Pen can manage your agent pitches by submitting your manuscript and keeping track of the feedback you receive and communicating it to you. Gone are the days of submitting one manuscript at a time and waiting weeks for a response. Author’s Pen will aim to send your manuscript to five to ten agencies at a time, and will send more – if needed – a few weeks later.

The ideal situation is to get agent interest which can be used to lever interest from other agents. This would begin a buzz of interest around your manuscript. Once you have signed with an agent they will begin to contact publishers with your manuscript which might even result in a bidding war. All of this needs careful management and must be timed precisely.

It is also important to remember that the market might not be ready for your book, or your topic might already have reached perceived saturation by some agents or publishers.