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Question: HOW DO YOU FIND A LIST OF 50 AGENTS TO LOOK OVER YOUR BOOK TO BE PUBLISHED!?
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Check out Author Query--it's a fantastic website!. It breaks the searching into non-fiction and fiction representation, also breaks fiction into specific genres!. So if you're looking for an author who accepts mystery manuscripts the search will give only those agents interested in mystery!. also you can search for the agent responsible for a specific book or author, but it only seems to show the most recent 3 or 4 books the agent has gotten published so the search might come up empty!.Www@QuestionHome@Com

What you need to do, once you have a highly polished novel complete and impossible to improve, is identify agents who have recently sold other novels like it!. This takes time and trips to a big bookstore, usually!. Jot down the names of the authors in your genre whose books are currently on bookstore shelves!. Look inside for thanks and dedications, where agents may be named!.

You can do a search of each author's name, in quotation marks, and the word agent and learn who represents whom!. You can find other agents seeking work in your genre through Writer's Market and Literary Marketplace (US) or Writers’ & Artists’ Yearbook (UK)!. Check the publisher listings, too, which will include “agented submissions only” or not!. (Maybe you don’t even need an agent!.)

Research each agent!. Find websites with career history, sales, personal bio, blogs, AAR membership, etc!. Determine whether they prefer email or regular mail for queries!. Figure out who’s a good fit for you!. Don’t be afraid to aim high!. The worst that can happen is they say no!.

Write a one-page query letter, tailoring it to individual agents as it’s possible with the information you got from research, and send it to the few agents you'd most like to represent you!. If the query letter is really good and you've done your homework well, at least some will ask for a partial or full manuscript!. If none does, rewrite the query before sending out the next batch!.

Remember, reputable agents charge the author NOTHING up-front!. Some agents may deduct the costs of doing business (copies, mail, phone) from your first check, but nobody legitimate needs that in order to get started!.
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