Searching For Fiction Agents
Searching for fiction agents includes reading the advice of those who are pro-fiction agents and those who denounce the need for one, keeping sane and safe while researching which are legitimate and which are con artists, and all the while growing a cowhide-thick skin that will be handy when the rejections or neglect begins. I am not a fiction writer. I write creative nonfiction (essays and memoirs) and poetry. But as a serious, or obsessed, writer, I stay informed by reading the forum boards and accompanying warnings, a number of writers’ newsletters, and all the online related blogging, writer help sites, and other I can make time for at the end of the work day. I have come across a number of points, comments, and concerns about fiction agents—as well as sites indexing listings for fiction agents—that may get you started.
You will want to know which fiction agents to watch out for or steer clear of altogether. By reading all of the entries (BEFORE you ask a question about fiction agents who may be subjects of already existing threads/warnings, that is), you will get the advanced warnings about those fiction agents who are not in the business for you but for their wallets:
Another Realm – Formerly Predators and Editors, this is the premier site for finding legitimate fiction agents and staying away from conniving ones. Bottom line is, if they charge you money up front (not counting the expected 10%-15% representation monies AFTER you publish), run the other way. As the many writers will tell you, money is supposed to flow TOWARD the writer.
Whispers and Warnings at Writers’ Weekly – Run by the renegade Angela Hoy who takes no abuse and defends many writers against abuse, this forum mostly warns against editors and publishers who have taken work from writers and failed to pay, etc.. But fiction agents who have been caught, finally, for frauding writers out of thousands are also reported here as they are at the following sites/on the following boards:
Brady Magazine
Absolute Write Water Cooler
The Writer Gazette (check each section; I can’t recall which is the warnings forum)
There are also great ways to study fiction agents—their philosophies, mindsets, ethics, etc.. One way, for example, is to read the quintessential agent’s blog, created and maintained by an anonymous New York agent who calls herself Miss Snark, the literary agent.
The bottom line is you want representation, and you deserve that kind of representation that is supportive, helpful, and maybe even lucrative. The good fiction agents will stand behind you, speak for you, and protect your literary interests. They will not steal from you, lie to you, or disappear on you. Be well-informed before you sign anything!!!!
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