3 Ways To Find An Agent Via Twitter

Filed under Get Published.

Finding an agent with twitterThis week writer Catherine Ryan Howard announced that she had secured representation from an agent, all thanks to Twitter.

The world is changing and it is now not uncommon to rub virtual Twitter shoulders with agents and publishers. So I thought I would share 3 tips for finding an agent using Twitter:

Search

Go to Twitter Search and type in ‘literary agent’. The result will show tweets that contain the words ‘literary agent’ and, though it will take some detective work, this should give you a good head start in your search.

Ask

We all know Twitter is magic and knows the answer to all questions. So make your followers do the work for you. Send out a tweet asking for recommendations for suitable agents to follow. You might be surprised by the @replies you get!

Go hunting

Chances are the types of agents who are on Twitter also blog. Do a Google Blog search on ‘literary agents’ and then hunt through the results. Most blogs will have links to an agent’s twitter account. Again this method is not fool proof but will produce results.

Use lists

Here’s a bonus fourth tip – use lists. Many people use Twitter lists to group their followers. A great example of this at work is Listorious. In fact they have a list for agents already formed. Go here and follow away!

I wanted to close with a quick word about ‘stalking’ agents. The best approach in developing a potential relationship is to take it easy. I would suggest that you start by making a private Twitter list of your agents. Once this is done you can watch from a distance for a couple of days. Then, when you are ready, start slowly by retweeting a few of your target’s more interesting tweets. Again, take it easy, retweeting each agent two or three times a day is more than enough in the beginning. The beauty of the RT is that each time your Twitter name will appear in their stream. After a few days they have seen your avatar popping up every now and again and will be aware of your existence.

The next step is to start @replying. Keep a close eye out for agent tweets to which you can reply. Don’t be too keen to jump in. Instead, wait until you can add value and then try and build a conversation. Again this is a timing thing. Start slowly replying to maybe one or two tweets. A few weeks of this and you will have built a relationship, though it is important that you take care to only @reply when you can add value. Finally, when you have gained their confidence you can ask if it is OK to pitch. You never know they might just say yes!

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  • http://twitter.com/cathryanhoward Cath Ryan Howard

    Thanks so much for the mention! :-)

    I would just add that you should be careful what you tweet. I actually didn’t realise the agent was, in fact, working as an agent – she was just one of my Twitter ‘friends’ that I chatted with all the time, and it was another one of my Twitter friends who told her I’d written a novel. Luckily, I mainly tweet about my self-publishing experience, coffee and how I’m tweeting when I really should be working (I’m a terrible procrastinator!) but I see a lot of writers who are in the process of trying to get an agent and talk to some of them on Twitter, but then tweet about their stack of rejection letters, how they’re considering jacking it all in, etc. etc. Just something to keep in mind.

    I would also say that how beneficial Twitter will be to you has practically nothing to do with how many followers you have. When the agent talked to me about my Twitter account, she complimented me on how I’ve used for it for (what I hope is) sparing and thus non-annoying self-promotion and how I manage to get my personality to show through my tweets. She didn’t mention nor did she care – and perhaps doesn’t even know – how many followers I have. This seems to be a mild obsession with some Tweeters, so I’d say: just relax! It’s about all quality, not quantity.

    Finally, as advised above, don’t stalk agents. (You may be surprised to hear this, but they don’t like that!!) Put as much of your stuff out there as you, keep plugging and eventually some of it will land in the right hands. The right contact may even come from somewhere completely unexpected, as it did with me but when it does, they will likely be getting in contact with you.

    And good luck! :)

    • garysmailes

      This is great advice and thanks for the reply. I used the word ‘stalking’ as a joke and wanted to show how you can build a relationship with a potentially important contacts. This post produced some debate on Twitter, with a number of agents saying you should never actually pitch via Twitter, instead ask permission and use email.

      • http://twitter.com/cathryanhoward Cath Ryan Howard

        You may have used stalking as a joke but I’ve seen people do it… Embarrassed for them!

        Yes, I totally agree. Just be yourself (a well-behaved, spell-checked version of yourself!), chat with people and you never know what will happen. Sending @replies to agents asking ‘Did you read my query yet?’ (I actually saw somebody do this) is not a good opening line… ;-)

        • Tracy Tidswell

          I often read tweets that make me cringe, people can come across as very arrogant and seem to have the opinion that their work is so fantastic that if it hasn’t been snapped up by a publisher it must be some kind of personal attack. It often turns out that they’ve only actually tried for a short time. People tend to expect immediate results in this day and age. But this advice, along with all of the advice on here, has been very useful, thank you.

          • garysmailes

            Approaching agents via Twitter can be a risky tactic. However, if done correctly it can be very successful. After all, agents and publishers are just looking for great books, they don’t care how they get to see them. You are correct in saying that the problems come when writers are over pushy or rude. Social media can help connect but a writer’s work still needs to stand on its own feet.

          • Tracy Tidswell

            If Twitter is used correctly it can be a fantastic way of obtaining advice from experienced people who know what they’re talking about, I’ve learnt a lot in a very short space of time, pre-Twitter I wouldn’t have known where to start. I think it’s very exciting how the internet/Twitter etc is changing the publishing world.

          • garysmailes

            Agree – I think that if you have a great book then social media is making it easier to get published than ever before.

  • http://blog.dianeshipley.com diane shipley

    I think the most important thing (which you allude to when you talk about “adding value”) is, as Catherine says, making a real connection with people and being yourself. Less is more when it comes to desperation to be published ;)

    Also, I totally agree that tweeting about how often you’re rejected is a real turn off. Someone in my stream who has had some writing success but wants more does this a lot (and what’s more, never announces any success in this area) and it makes me feel that person isn’t very self-aware. If I’m thinking “well, how can you improve your work?” then why aren’t they? I can only imagine what editors and agents think when they see those kind of tweets. And it’s not “Wow, I really should publish this person!”

    • garysmailes

      I often wonder what is the correct balance when talking about book deals. I pitch a lot of ideas and have been lucky with book deals. Yet, it is my job. I am always worried about putting off writers who are struggling to find a deal…

      • http://blog.dianeshipley.com diane shipley

        I think you’ve written about it honestly – emphasising
        1. It’s not easy to get a book deal and a lot of work goes into it
        2. The reason other people don’t necessarily succeed isn’t because they’re terrible writers, they’re just making common mistakes which can be corrected and which you know about from years of experience
        and
        3. You’re very grateful for your good fortune and want the best for other authors, too.

        That must be a hard balance but I’d say you’re getting it right.

  • http://twitter.com/cathryanhoward Cath Ryan Howard

    Thanks so much for the mention! :-)

    I would just add that you should be careful what you tweet. I actually didn't realise the agent was, in fact, working as an agent – she was just one of my Twitter 'friends' that I chatted with all the time, and it was another one of my Twitter friends who told her I'd written a novel. Luckily, I mainly tweet about my self-publishing experience, coffee and how I'm tweeting when I really should be working (I'm a terrible procrastinator!) but I see a lot of writers who are in the process of trying to get an agent and talk to some of them on Twitter, but then tweet about their stack of rejection letters, how they're considering jacking it all in, etc. etc. Just something to keep in mind.

    I would also say that how beneficial Twitter will be to you has practically nothing to do with how many followers you have. When the agent talked to me about my Twitter account, she complimented me on how I've used for it for (what I hope is) sparing and thus non-annoying self-promotion and how I manage to get my personality to show through my tweets. She didn't mention nor did she care – and perhaps doesn't even know – how many followers I have. This seems to be a mild obsession with some Tweeters, so I'd say: just relax! It's about all quality, not quantity.

    Finally, as advised above, don't stalk agents. (You may be surprised to hear this, but they don't like that!!) Put as much of your stuff out there as you, keep plugging and eventually some of it will land in the right hands. The right contact may even come from somewhere completely unexpected, as it did with me but when it does, they will likely be getting in contact with you.

    And good luck! :)

  • garysmailes

    This is great advice and thanks for the reply. I used the word 'stalking' as a joke and wanted to show how you can build a relationship with a potentially important contacts. This post produced some debate on Twitter, with a number of agents saying you should never actually pitch via Twitter, instead ask permission and use email.

  • http://twitter.com/cathryanhoward Cath Ryan Howard

    You may have used stalking as a joke but I've seen people do it… Embarrassed for them!

    Yes, I totally agree. Just be yourself (a well-behaved, spell-checked version of yourself!), chat with people and you never know what will happen. Sending @replies to agents asking 'Did you read my query yet?' (I actually saw somebody do this) is not a good opening line… ;-)

  • dianeshipley

    I think the most important thing (which you allude to when you talk about “adding value”) is, as Catherine says, making a real connection with people and being yourself. Less is more when it comes to desperation to be published ;)

    Also, I totally agree that tweeting about how often you're rejected is a real turn off. Someone in my stream who has had some writing success but wants more does this a lot (and what's more, never announces any success in this area) and it makes me feel that person isn't very self-aware. If I'm thinking “well, how can you improve your work?” then why aren't they? I can only imagine what editors and agents think when they see those kind of tweets. And it's not “Wow, I really should publish this person!”

  • garysmailes

    I often wonder what is the correct balance when talking about book deals. I pitch a lot of ideas and have been lucky with book deals. Yet, it is my job. I am always worried about putting off writers who are struggling to find a deal…

  • dianeshipley

    I think you've written about it honestly – emphasising
    1. It's not easy to get a book deal and a lot of work goes into it
    2. The reason other people don't necessarily succeed isn't because they're terrible writers, they're just making common mistakes which can be corrected and which you know about from years of experience
    and
    3. You're very grateful for your good fortune and want the best for other authors, too.

    That must be a hard balance but I'd say you're getting it right.

  • Tracy Tidswell

    I often read tweets that make me cringe, people can come across as very arrogant and seem to have the opinion that their work is so fantastic that if it hasn't been snapped up by a publisher it must be some kind of personal attack. It often turns out that they've only actually tried for a short time. People tend to expect immediate results in this day and age. But this advice, along with all of the advice on here, has been very useful, thank you.

  • garysmailes

    Approaching agents via Twitter can be a risky tactic. However, if done correctly it can be very successful. After all, agents and publishers are just looking for great books, they don't care how they get to see them. You are correct in saying that the problems come when writers are over pushy or rude. Social media can help connect but a writer's work still needs to stand on its own feet.

  • Tracy Tidswell

    If Twitter is used correctly it can be a fantastic way of obtaining advice from experienced people who know what they're talking about, I've learnt a lot in a very short space of time, pre-Twitter I wouldn't have known where to start. I think it's very exciting how the internet/Twitter etc is changing the publishing world.

  • garysmailes

    Agree – I think that if you have a great book then social media is making it easier to get published than ever before.