What a literary agent does
A literary agent sells books to publishers on a writer's behalf. You'll also hear them called book agents or publishing agents; same job. They know which editors are looking for what, they negotiate the deal and the contract, and they handle the money side. A good one stays with you across a whole career, not just one book.
Agents work on commission. They take a percentage of what your book earns, typically fifteen per cent for UK sales and a little more for translation and film. Until your book earns something, they earn nothing. A reputable agent never charges you to read your work, to represent you, or to submit you to publishers.
Do you need one?
For some routes, yes. The largest publishers are built from imprints, named publishing lists with their own identity and editors. Most of them accept submissions through agents only. If your ambition is a deal with one of those publishers, an agent is the practical way in.
For other routes, no. Plenty of independent publishers read submissions directly from writers, and self-publishing needs nobody's permission at all. Those are real roads, not consolation prizes.
Before you start
If you write fiction, finish the book. Any agent who's interested will ask for the full manuscript, usually sooner than you'd like, and "nearly done" doesn't survive that request. Then make it as good as you can get it on your own: redrafted, read by someone honest, and free of the errors a tired eye misses.
Non-fiction works differently. It mostly sells on a proposal, an outline of the book and the case for you as its writer, before the whole thing is written.
Finding the right agents
The single biggest factor in getting a yes is asking the right people. An agent who doesn't represent your kind of book will reject it however good it is, so the research is not optional homework. It's strategy.
Start from books like yours. Writers thank their agents in the acknowledgements, agency websites list who represents whom, and many agents publish wish lists describing exactly what they're hoping to find. Build a list of agents whose taste overlaps with what you've written, and note why for each one; that reason becomes a line in your covering letter later.
This is also the job Alterean was built for. The directory shows which UK agents represent what, and whether they're open, with the date we last checked.
Check who's open and what they want
Agents open and close to submissions as their reading piles grow and shrink. Some agencies run submission windows that open a few times a year. Before you send anything, check that each agent on your list is currently open, and read their agency's guidelines properly.
Requirements differ more than you'd expect, and following them exactly is the easiest way to look professional before anyone reads a word.
Put together your submission
Most UK agencies ask for some version of the same three things. A covering letter introducing you and your book. A synopsis telling the whole story, ending included. And sample chapters, often the first three or around fifty pages, though the exact ask varies by agency.
Prepare the versions each agency asks for, at the lengths they ask for, in the formats they ask for. It's tedious. Do it anyway.
Submit in small batches
Don't send to your whole list at once. A batch of six to ten gives you room to learn. If the first batch brings only silence and form rejections, something in the package may need work before the next wave. Better to learn that with six agents than with sixty.
Personalise each submission. Agents can tell a mail-merge from a letter written to them, and the reason you chose them is one sentence that does more work than any boast.
The waiting
Response times run from weeks to months, and many agencies say plainly that silence after their stated window means no. It isn't personal, and it isn't a comment on your chances elsewhere. Chase only once an agency's own stated window has passed, politely and once.
The best thing to do while you wait is also the best thing for your writing career: start the next book.
Rejection is part of it
Almost every represented writer was rejected first, usually many, many times. Form rejections carry no information about your book; they're a function of volume. If several agents ask for the full manuscript and then decline, that's a pattern. It shows that the opening is working but something later may not be, which is useful to know.
When an agent says yes
An offer usually starts with an email asking to talk, then a call where the agent tells you what they love and how they'd sell it. It's also your interview of them. Ask about commission, the agency agreement, what edits they'd want, and how they like to work.
If other agents still have your manuscript, tell them you have an offer; it's standard, and it may prompt a quick decision. Then take your time. You're choosing a business partner, not accepting a favour.
One thing to watch for
The UK trade body for agents, the Association of Authors' Agents, has a code of practice that bars charging writers reading fees. Money in this business flows toward the writer. If someone asks you to pay to be read or represented, walk away.
How long does it all take?
Longer than anyone wants. Some writers find an agent with their first batch; many query for a year or more.
Research well, submit carefully, and keep writing while you wait. That's the whole method. Everything else is patience.