The Writer Books, Waukesha, Wis., 2004; 2nd edition by Crispin Books, Milwaukee, 2018
“If you’re serious about getting published, this is a must-read!”
—Jeff Herman, owner of the Jeff Herman Agency
“Here’s a very useful book for first-time writers. Most how-to books for writers deal with this important subject (finding an agent) in a chapter or two, but Sands, a literary agent in New York, shows that there’s a lot more to it than one might expect. Drawing on the experience of a variety of agents (plus one copywriter), she demonstrates that finding an agent involves finding the perfect match between author and representative, between material and market. Think it’s easy to write a query letter? Think again: Agents get a lot of mail, and you only have one chance to get their attention. Think it’s easy to put together a book proposal? Try it sometime, but try not to be too wordy or too self-promoting or too been-there-done-that. Do your homework, Sands stresses: Don’t pitch a genre novel to an agent who deals primarily in nonfiction; do know what other books cover the same ground as yours. But, above all, do read this book, which should teach you pretty much everything you’ll need to know.”
—David Pitt, Booklist, © American Library Association, all rights reserved
“Knowing how to pitch your book is every bit as essential as knowing how to write it (unless you want to keep writing for an audience of one). Just one tip from Making the Perfect Pitch can dramatically boost your chance of breaking into print and launching your career.”
—Steve Schragis, national director of the Learning Annex