Estimated reading time: 4 minutes
We are mixing things up once a month with our Really Useful Links column and will be bringing you all the very best articles from Writing.ie on a particular topic. This week we are covering everything to do with Agents. From the perfect cover letter, the killer pitch, and a succinct synopsis, and what agents are looking for, we have it all.
This article gives you all the resources that accompany Everything You Ever Wanted To Know About Publishing But Never Dared Ask featuring literary agent, Simon Trewin. It also gives you the links to the videos. The series covers: making sure your book is ready for submission, your submission package, cover letter, pitching your book, synopsis, contracts, and preparing yourself for publication.
Anna Field demonstrates what she learnt by having an agent submission assessment. She shows the original version of her cover letter and the new, improved one. She also shares her synopsis.
Paula Tully leads by example and gives us some brief information about her story and then shows how to put together a pitch and synopsis.
This interview with literary agent, Kate Nash, delves into the job of a literary agent and what she looks for in a submission.
Angela Clark is The Sunday Times bestselling author of the Social Media Murder Series, including Follow Me, Watch Me, and Trust Me. Here she shares her tips on how to write a synopsis in a short video.
Sally Clements explains that the point of the synopsis is to make the recipient want to read your book. She tells us that the synopsis is not about you, it is solely about your story. If you can you should try to write your synopsis in the writing style of your book. Sally shares a checklist of things to cover, and talks you through a step-by-step guide to writing and condensing a synopsis.
Hannah Schofield, a literary agent from LBA, tells us her story about becoming an agent and what impresses her most about some submissions.
As well as being a YA author and a creative writing teacher, Claire Hennessy is a YA editor at Penguin, Ireland. She shares advice on writing your cover letter and synopsis with some do’s and don’t’s such as Do keep it short for both the cover letter and synopsis, Don’t make the ending a mystery in your synopsis – it should reveal all, and Do start something new while you are waiting to hear back from editors or agents.
Nicola Morgan’s book Dear Agent – Write the Letter that Sells Your Book contains everything you need to know and everything you didn’t know you needed to know in writing that crucial first impression query to a potential agent. Tips and Stories from the book are shared in this article.
Vanessa Fox O’Loughlin aka bestselling author, Sam Blake, has penned this article with her top tips to consider when writing a cover letter.
Literary agent Clare Coombes is interviewed in this feature. She shares some important advice about submitting to agents.
This article is one of our Really Useful Links columns that shares articles and podcasts about finding the right literary agent for you.
There is a lot of information to digest here and I hope that it is useful for going forward and preparing your submission. As always, if there are any topics you would like me to cover, please get in touch.
(c) Lucy O’Callaghan
