One of our chat room guests brought up the topic of agents last Wednesday so I thought I'd make it a Topic.

When submitting to an agent or a publisher, there are several important items you must keep in mind—follow the agent’s submission guidelines, spell his or her name correctly, etc. But there are six basic elements you really need to focus on when crafting and submitting your query letter. Thankfully, we’ve gathered them here in one helpful checklist. Bookmark this list and reference it each and every time before you send out your queries to agents that represents fiction.

—Mollie Glick

Join us on Sunday 7PM EST for our Topic Chat.

Paul McDermott

Jack Olesker

John and Flo Stanton

When writers ask me “Can you find me a literary agent?” they don’t realize it’s kind of like asking me “Can you find me the right spouse?” This is a research process and decision that is best conducted by you. I think you’ll understand why by the end of this post.

PublishersMarketplace.com is the best place to research literary agents; not only do many agents have member pages there, but you can search the publishing deals database by genre, category, and/or keyword to pinpoint the best agents for your work. Some other resources to consider are found on Janet Friedman’s website.