Are you ready to approach an agent?

How to know if you're really ready and what to do next

Firstly, congratulations. Whether you’re an illustrator with a portfolio ready, or have written a manuscript, it is no mean feat to get to the point where you are ready to submit to an agent.

However, even though you’ve probably spent months, maybe even years getting your work ready to share with the big wide world, I cannot stress enough how important it is not to rush the process of submitting to an agent.

Agent

Kesia Lupo

recently shared that she was sent over 1000 manuscripts when she opened her submissions inbox for a single week.

(You can also read the interview where she shares the most common mistake people make when submitting to her here.)

Whilst that number of submissions might sound insanely high, the truth is, it isn’t.

When you submit to an agent you have one chance to make a first impression. You owe it to yourself to spend as much time and energy on your submission as you have on your work.

I’ve had 3 literary agents in the last 12 years, which also means I’ve been through this process 3 times. In this post I’ll share everything I’ve learned about how to tell if you’re ready to approach agent as well as how to actually go about it.

Are you ready to submit?

Have you shared your work with first readers and made changes according to their feedback?

Have you edited your work multiple times to make sure it is as good as it can possibly be?

Have you waited for a few weeks, or even a month before looking at it again with fresh eyes?

If the answer to any of these questions is no, then you are not ready to submit to an agent just yet.

You want your work to be in the best possible shape it can be before you submit it anywhere.

We’ve already shared lots of advice to help with developing your work including posts on word counts, structure, the importance of market research, how to find a writing group, how to know if you’re ready to share your work in the first place and character development.

When you are finally ready to submit your work, there are a few things to consider first…