The most recent 20 comments posted to Making Light by Claude Hayward:

Posted on entry On the getting of agents ::: February 21, 2004, 12:24 AM:

Teresa:

Onward to the real advice. Start by using the connections you already have. Who you know? If you have friends who are published authors, ask them whether they'll take a look at the manuscript and/or recommend you to their agents. That's a much better starting point than a query letter. Agents get query letters like we get slush.

What I hear you saying is that if I am so fortunate as to have an old friend, published, who has said: "Call my agent, here's his number, use my name.", then I should just do that and e-mail him the MS if he agrees to look at it. Sounds good to me. I'm just concerned that I put energy towards the best shot, and didn't realize that a contact like that IS the avenue to follow.

Thanks

Posted on entry On the getting of agents ::: February 20, 2004, 10:22 AM:

Teresa:

Timing is all.

I have bumped into your blog just as I am reading (again) my daughter's amazing memoir of growing up hippie. She's been stuck for a couple of years, and I've offered to pick up the ball and try to find a publisher for her. My last publishing experience was back in the sixties, when I was the first publisher of Richard Brautigan's "All Watched Over by Machines of Loving Grace" and Willard Bain's "Informed Sources: Day East Received" (both The Communication Company, San Francisco, 1967), so I'm a little out of touch with that world. I have an intro to the agent of a friend of mine who's memoir of those times was published several years ago (Peter Coyote, "Sleeping Where I Fall"), which I have not yet acted upon. My question is: am I better off starting with the agent, or am I better off trying to interest a publisher's editor on my own? I'm starting to write an initial "query/cover letter", which is, I'm told, the crucial first step in the process. How do I determine if this agent is the right one to work with?

My own (highly subjective) opinion is that my daughter has written a fine book, but it would be good to have the opinion of a sophisticated reader who doesn't know her and could render a more objective opinion. What's a good way to get some second opinions without compromising any of our options? Thanks for any help you can give>

Comment statistics for Claude Hayward on the Making Light blog

Year	Number of comments posted
2004	2

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