The Internet offers up a plethora of possible suitable literary agents for the aspiring author.

I write a list of possible ones and then I make a note of what the agent requires. This is an area that is quite tricky as they all request different styles of query methods.

Some require a traditional query letter, others want the writer to sell themselves as a person first and foremost. We then move to the synopsis where some agents accept one up to six pages, whilst others prefer a one page synopsis.

We then move onto the novel where the norm appears to be the first three chapters,but I have seen requests for the first ten pages or the first four chapters.

The next issue appears to be the mother of all minefields. One agent I looked at said that a writer could only query them and no one else at the same time, which I found rather off putting due to the time factor involved, and the fact that some agents don’t give a response time.

However, on the same day, I came across an agent who advised that the writer query several agents at once seeing as the wait can be as long as three months. The agent seemed to empathise with the agony of the query process.

I do understand how overwhelmed agents must be, many are closed to submissions currently, so the whole process is even harder.

Sometimes it’s easier just to compile a list of potential agents, because I know that once I start the process, there is a lot of work and heartache involved. However, having taken months to write, re-write and re-re-write a novel, I should at least take the time to query suitable agents – I have nothing to lose, and rejection isn’t the end of the world, it’s the beginning of moving onwards and upwards.

Happy Word Flow One & All