OnyxTowers: What Do Literary Agents Really Want

BEFORE you choose to burn your novel out of frustration with all the manuscript rejections, check out these websites for insight into the mind of the literary agent...

Manuscript Submission Do's And Don'ts

via GIPHY

So!

A major frustration of the publishing industry seems to entail much miscommunication between potential authors and literary agents, where submissions are concerned. Every wannabe author seems to think they're adhering to guidelines, but sometimes the reality is far from the truth. Rookie mistake, no big. But this can cause response delays and head-scratching issues on both sides of the fence.

I've perused quite a few writings direct from some literary agents' blog posts, and they all seem to have many of the same headaches from submitted manuscripts. Though this is not a full list, I'm quickly gonna outline some of these frustrations:

submitting more pages than are requested
poorly formatted manuscripts; an example: margins too wide/not wide enough
Query letter needs to include word count at top right corner (some people forget)
submitting to a romance imprint when your manuscript is of a sci-fi genre
submitting a manuscript when the agency's website clearly states that they do not accept unsolicited materials
Submitting a story revolving around tired tropes, kinda like vampire boyfriends, 'the chosen one' cliche, and magician kids
not everything can be labeled YA just because you wish to cater to a broader audience, let the agent make that distinction for you
if you're submitting a Halloween-themed story, for goodness sake, do not submit it in January!
do not label your query letter to "Whom It May Concern" because that implies laziness, the kind that indicates you are too much of a tool to do a simple search on their website
do not spell the agent's name wrong, especially when you can cut and paste it directly from their website
spelling and punctuation - it most definitely matters here!
keep the query letter brief and succinct; nothing over a page and a half
don't get cutesy with font types - use Times New Roman for the query letter, and Courier for the actual manuscript
don't forget to put your signature at the bottom of the query letter
if you want your manuscript back, include a SASE (self-addressed stamped envelope) so they can snail mail it back to your home address

Just treat this process as if you were applying for a job:

Query letter = Cover Letter

Manuscript = Resume

That's easy enough to understand, right? And you must also treat it with every degree of professionalism as you would if you were submitting a resume to a business.

How to get a literary agent's attention

I have found so many helpful websites about this subject, and so I thought I'd share some with all of you:

And there you have it, straight from the agents themselves! Hope it helps.

My Suggestion

One more thing: Before emailing your query to the agencies, email it to a friend.

Why? You've been staring at it on screen for so long, and making changes, and changes, and changes...
A fresh pair of eyes will catch any errors your frazzled mind won't. Do it. You only have one shot to make a good impression. Better than dispatching embarassing amateur mistakes!