Choosing Your Dream Agent

  • By: Jessica Faust | Date: Sep 13 2022

Authors talk all the time about querying their dream agent, but here’s the thing. Until you get that offer of representation and have that first call, you have no idea who your dream agent is. When querying, I would suggest we all focus less on who our dream agent is and instead spend time identifying what qualities make an agent our dream agent.

A dream agent isn’t someone with amazing social media or a really cool client list. I mean, that could still be your dream agent, but those aren’t qualities that make a dream agent. What makes a dream agent is the way you connect with them and how your visions align for your book and your career.

Rather than decide who your dream agent is before querying, decide on who the best agents are for your book and your genre. And then find the dream once you interview them. But before you even get that offer of rep have an idea, a vision, of what that agent might look like.

Questions to Ask Yourself About a Dream Agent

When deciding what a dream agent is for you, ask yourself what you want in a business partner and what you envision an agent being for you.

  1. Am I looking for an agent who is editorial, who will give revisions and editorial feedback?
  2. What is my preferred form of communication—do I like long phone calls, zoom, or Twitter DMs? Can the agent accommodate that?
  3. How does the agent envision selling my book? Do they see my women’s fiction as romance? Do they think it’s commercial when I was hoping for literary?
  4. Does their personality mesh with mine? Does our conversation flow or do I feel nervous to talk or like I won’t be able to speak or get a word in?
  5. If I were to write a page on what my relationship/partnership with my agent is like what does that look like? Does this agent feel like they fit that role.

A dream agent isn’t one person. It could be many. It’s the person who best aligns with your vision for you book, who you mesh with best, and who you feel you can trust and work with. That person will be and should be different for many people. Remember, one person’s dream can be another’s nightmare. The same is true of dream agents.

 

 

 

Thanks so much for coming to the blog. Please don’t forget to like and share this post. We value feedback and questions from readers, so feel free to leave a comment below! Lastly, subscribe to our YouTube channel for even more publishing insights and advice, and follow us on our socials to see what we’re up to.
Twitter | Instagram | Illustrator Instagram | Facebook