I attend a lot of writers’ conferences. Most of the people I meet there, not surprisingly, are looking for agents. You can always find well-attended classes and workshops that have to do with the steps the writer must take to find an agent; subjects like: making effective pitches, how to compose query letters, and how to write non-fiction book proposals. A lot of the readers of my blog are looking for answers to help them get published. I try to do that, but frequently I seem to indulge myself in rants of one sort or another. I thought it might be nice to talk a bit about some other agent blogs. It’s a good way to get the kind of information you are looking for and to learn a little more about how agents think. There is a longer list of agent blogs along with other publishing and writing related blogs at Agentquery.com.
Here are some agent blogs that I think are pretty good and have a lot of substance.
Guide To Literary Agents. Chuck Sambuchino is the blogmeister of this extremely popular blog for writers sponsored by Writers Digest. His site has lots of interviews and posts of agents talking about their life and work . It also includes guest posts by writers giving tips on how they found their agent. It is one of the most widely read blogs about publishing.
Nathan Bransford. Nathan was a literary agent for many years until he left last year for greener pastures in the tech industry. He is still an indefatigable blogger on all matters related to book publishing. This blog won the best publishing industry blog in 2009. Check it out.
Rachelle Gardner. I love this blog. It has sound tips and advice. But a lot of blogs have that. Rachelle’s personality really shows through. She has warmth and a very encouraging manner. Rachelle is relatively new to agenting. She started in 2007. She is associated with Wordserve Literary Agency in Denver. She specializes in the Christian market. But at least one Jewish – secularist- humanist- former Berkeley radical agent (me) really likes this blog.
Laurie McClean Agent Savant. Ask the Agent had a great interview with Laurie last year about genre fiction. Laurie specializes in this. In case you didn’t know, “genre fiction” is a term of art for: romance, science fiction, fantasy, mystery, and thrillers. She also works in teen fiction. Agent Savant is filled with tips and thoughts about writing and publishing in this genre. When I need information about genre fiction, I always go to Laurie for advice.
I’d be interested in hearing from you what you think of these agent blogs and if you have others to recommend.
