Literary Agents, Publishers, and Known Authors.

Ever wonder how you become a writer?  I don't mean how to write a best selling novel, or what topics to write about.  What I mean is do you ever wonder what you have to do or who to contact when trying to get your novel/manuscript published.  I did for a long time.  For a short time I thought just word of mouth and talking to people would get me in touch with the right people.  When I used to work in Lindenhurst at a "cell phone company," I came across a customer who had a lot of contacts including a few in the literary world.  I gave him several chapters of my novel in hopes of getting it to the right people.  After a few phone calls, I was contacted by a well known author and agent Peter Miller.  He was nice enough to call me to discuss my novel, but unfortunately I was not a known writer and believed my material at the time was not what they were looking for.

With the one road that I put all of my hope into being closed, I didn't know where else to go.  I looked up another well known author (who will remain nameless) and emailed him directly to ask what I would need to do to become an author or to get signed.  That email to this day has gone unanswered. 

It took my father's dietician to tell me what I would need to do.  She told me most Literary Agents do not want to take a risk on a new writer who doesn't have anything out for the public to follow.  I was told to get published through different writing contests or to self publish a book.  She said books of poetry and short stories are generally disgarded by most agents because there isn't much of a market for it.

I however decided to take the idea of self publishing and use it to put out a book of poetry (The Chamber of Souls).  I knew my poems were a good way for my readers to relate to me and the situations that I went through.

In my final thoughts of this post, I want to convey that there isn't one specific way to get signed by an agent.  There are some that are picked up instantly due to circumstances or they have a well known name.  Others that seem like they burst onto the scene with a new unique concept have been on the same journey as the rest of us writers.  They have sent out querie letters to numerous agents; hoping their manuscript is finally picked up.  Although it may be a long road to hit that goal, there will always be that time when someone says yes and it will all be worth it.  I look forward to the day when I get that yes as well.