New Podcast Episode: How to Connect with Literary Agents with Lucinda Halpern

How do you find your authors or how do your authors find you? What are the different ways that you get connected with them?

Agencies have long been a referral-based business, meaning mostly word of mouth. So once you get your first author, and your first author has a successful experience, they may recommend you to five other author friends. Recently, I decided to do a bit of a breakdown of where we’re actually getting most of our business, because so much of the landscape is changing with social media. So I created this pie chart, and I observed about 70% of our business remains by referral, but that it isn’t always authors who are making those referrals. Our referrals also come from publicists, book marketing firms, ghostwriters, and book collaborators. I would also argue that, with the rise of media, authors need a platform in order to get the opportunities they wish to obtain.

Another thing I tell my authors to consider is that people can come to them, they don’t always have to do all the knocking on doors. For example, years ago I read a Modern Love column. Modern Love is historically known for bringing writers many opportunities and connections. A wonderful author, Michelle Dowd, had written a piece called “In Love in the Time of Low Expectations.” It became one of their most popular articles that year. What I noticed in the essay was that she had a unique background: she was raised in an evangelical cult by a sort of patriarchal father figure. I said to myself, “that’s the book.” I wanted the next “Educated.” I reached out to her proactively, and she was interested. These are the sorts of things I want new authors to be striving for. It is an inventive way of getting an agent’s attention that’s not always about your proactive outreach, but about how visible you are elsewhere. 

What exactly goes into an author query or book proposal? Is there a difference between the two?

There is a difference. I created this book called “Get Signed,” and there is an entire chapter on creating the perfect query letter. In the book, I aimed to give readers advice that you can’t find online for free. It’s almost like secret agent advice. Some people wonder if a book query is like a regular letter… it’s not. A query letter is your first foray into the conversation, and essentially your pitch letter. It should be a 300 word or less pitch that you send via email. The letter should tell people: why your book matters, why this book is important now, why you are the person to write it, and other pieces of convincing information. 

On the other hand, a book proposal is for mainly nonfiction authors, and it’s a 50-page blow up of the pitch. A proposal is a longer marketing presentation that contains some sample writing to show how you write your book. This is because, for nonfiction, editors and agents want to get in on the ground floor to develop and shape the book. Nonfiction tends to morph, whereas fiction needs to be considered in a full manuscript. With fiction, we need to see the beginning, middle, and end. 

Is there a way to make this grueling query and proposal process easier? 

There honestly is no easier way. There is no one size fits all approach, which is what makes books so beautiful. I like to view pitch letters as opportunities to lead with your strengths. Publishing is a very Hollywood business. This is the next x meets y. You would think that that’s super trite and sounds really dumb, but that’s absolutely the way that agents talk and the way that readers think when they’re looking to pick up their next book on Amazon. I say that every query letter needs to have a personalized intro. The personalized intro is much more about why you are a fit for someone’s list. Agents know the risk, specifically the financial risk, that they’re taking on for something that may not sell. Therefore, that personalized intro tells agents exactly why the book WOULD sell, leading with its strengths. I always talk about including the five w’s, the who, what, where, when, why… and the why is most important.

What is your advice to authors?

Most writers think that they have one shot and then they’re done. This is not the case. There are so many reasons why a pitch didn’t land the way it should have, so there is no reason to give up completely. An author should either follow up, or move on to find their way into their dream agent. There’s always a way in. It hurts my heart just hearing the idea of authors giving up on their books. If one avenue doesn’t work out, reach out to a publisher, publicist, or a freelance agent, because you don’t know the connections they have or the ways that they can help you get out there. 

 

 

Lucinda Halpern is a literary agent and the founder of Lucinda Literary, based in New York. She has worked with all major publishers, including Penguin Random House, Simon & Schuster, Macmillan, Hachette, and Scholastic, and currently represents New York Times and internationally best-selling authors in the categories of personal growth, popular science, narrative nonfiction, memoir, and upmarket fiction. Her classes and coaching programs have been taught to hundreds of writers worldwide, and became the inspiration for her new book Get Signed: Find an Agent, Land a Book Deal, and Become a Published Author (Hay House; February 6th, 2024). Learn more at lucindaliterary.com or download Lucinda’s free author training. Follow Lucinda Halpern on Instagram, LinkedIn, and X @lucindaliterary and @luncindahalpern.