Book Proposal Depot

Your stop for literary agents and publishing success.

Literary Agents and Signings Resources

Literary Agents Resources

There are several resources available to authors for finding an agent. While keeping in mind that these resources don't necessarily validate the credibility of an agent, they are a good place to start:

1. Association of Author Representatives at http://www.aar-online.org. This organization is designed to help distinquish a level of credibility for literary agents. An agent must abide by certain ethical guidelines in order to be a member, including not charging for particular literary fees. They allow visitors access to their database of agents.
    
2. Everyone Who's Anyone's Listing of U.S. Adult Trade Literary Agents by Gerard Jones at http://www.everyonewhosanyone.com/agus1.htmlThis site lists a number of prominent agents, addresses, and emails, including rejection letters sent to Gerard.
    
3. Agent Query at http://www.agentquery.com claims they are the largest and most current database of literary agents on the web.
    
4. Publishers Marketplace at http://www.publishersmarketplace.com allows visitors to search for members. Categories of members include literary agents.
    
5. Preditors and Editors at http://anotherealm.com/prededitors/pubagent.htm gives a listing of agents and assesses the recommendation level of select listings, such as "recommended" or "not recommended."
    

Literary Agents' Signings Resources

Another method for keeping tabs on the trends in the publishing world is to observe the deals that agents are making with publishers for their authors. A few sources are listed below:

1. Publishers Marketplace at http://www.publishersmarketplace.com has a free newsletter, Publishers Lunch, that delivers limited deal information weekly to subscribers. For $20 per month, you can receive the Publishers Lunch Deluxe, which includes more deals and substantial information about the deals. The membership also includes other benefits.
    
2. Publishers Weekly magazine at http://www.publishersweekly.com also reports deals with agents or publishers. (See their website under the menu option, "Book News.") Also has a weekly email newsletter and a print magazine, which is an excellent resource for keeping up with the industry.
    
3. Done Deal Professional at http://www.donedealpro.com has a database of scripts sold or made into movies. Also has other information and a monthly newsletter regarding the business of screenwriting.
    

Free Proposal Consultation or Sample Edit

After reading the articles (or even before, if you'd like), I'd be happy to provide you with a free initial consultation or provide a sample edit for a manuscript. To set up either, simply:

1. Fill out the Contact Form to request a phone appointment (from Lori Lisi).
    
2. Include the status of your manuscript and any submission materials.
    
3. Include several possible time frames to set up a phone appointment.
    
4. If you have a draft of your proposal and/or the first two chapters of your manuscript, please upload that into the form as well.
    

You will be contacted within 24 to 72 hours. This will allow me the time to review the materials and information you might send before we set up the phone appointment. Please be sure to include times you might be available to set up the appointment.

I'll look forward to speaking with you!

Book Proposal Services

If you prefer that I write the book proposal for you, please review the Writing service.

If you would like to write the book proposal yourself and primarily want guidance for doing so, please review the Coaching service.

If you already have a book proposal and would like a critique of it, please review the Critiquing service.

Manuscript Services

If you would like general feedback regarding your manuscript, please check out the Book Critique service.

If your manuscript would be better served by an edit, check out the Book Editing service.

If you are uncertain as to the type of assistance your manuscript might need, simply request a Free Sample Edit for an initial assessment of the editing level that might be needed.

Literary Agents and Query Letters Services

Do you have your manuscript and/or book proposal ready and need to know what to do next? We research literary agents and write query letters specific to your project. See our Literary Agents Research and Query Letters services.

Find Literary Agents and Book Publishers at BookExpo America