Monday, March 4, 2013

Agency Quest

By the end of 2012, I had a respectable amount of trade and educational titles under my belt, and it was time to find an agent who represented what I wrote—picture books. Anyone who has ever tried finding an agent, much less a picture book agent, knows it can be a daunting task. Out of the hundreds of agencies out there, only a fraction represents children’s literature and out of those, a smaller fraction represents picture books. Although I’d sold some trade picture books myself, some doors were perpetually closed unless I attended a conference where the editor spoke.  That worked to a point, but it wasn’t a good strategy in the long run.

So, I began my search. I started by studying SCBWI’s agent list and supplemented it with Casey McCormick’s and Natalie Aguirre’s blog www.literaryrambles.com that I’d read about on a listserv. Finding their blog was like finding a treasure trove of information that I didn’t even know existed. Links in the upper left hand corner separated agents based on genre, and even if a particular agent wasn’t a good fit, there was usually a link to the agency’s website where I could do further research on other agents.  Query Tracker at http://www.querytracker.net/QueryTracker was another great source of agent information. As I delved into the research, I saw that no one list had all the information. So, after a couple of days of searching online, I cobbled my own list that I’ve included below with links to their websites. About half them represent only children’s literature. The other half has at least one agent that represents picture books and other children’s literature. A few of them were closed to picture book submissions currently, but I included them as agencies to watch in the future.   

The good news? After a thorough evaluation, submission, and discussion process, . . . I'm delighted to be represented by Eden Street, LLC.  I hope my search helps your own picture book agency quest. 


17 comments:

  1. Thanks for sharing your resources! Yes, picture books can be extremely hard to find an agent match for.

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    1. You're welcome, Angelica. Thanks for stopping by. :-)

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  2. Lori
    Thanks for sharing so much of what you researched. You're doing well, huh! I'm still hanging in there.-How come we're not still critiquing together????

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    1. Hi Mona--you're welcome! I'm glad you're hanging in there. Writing for children is an exciting journey.

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  3. I appreciate the work you did and that you shared it and I love hearing your good news. It is hopeful for the rest of us! It takes a lot of work to research agents. But I'm sure it is worth it. Good luck and I hope this adds even more writing successes to your career.

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    1. Thanks, Carol. Researching the agents was very interesting. This time around, I really tried to study likes/dislikes and match what I submitted to that--what a concept, eh? And without sharing, it would all be so much more difficult!

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  4. Terrific, helpful post. Thanks so much for sharing all your work!

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  5. Very helpful resource, Lori. Thank you.

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  6. What a great list, Lori, and how generous of you to share it. Congratulations on getting an agent for your wonderful books.

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    1. Thanks, Elizabeth. I'm crossing my fingers for new sales in 2013!

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  7. Conratulations on betting an agent, Lori! Good thing Mira shared your post on Facebook group, children's book creatives. Great resource. Thanks for sharing your list with us!

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    1. Thanks, Romelle. I'm glad Mira posted it too. I got the three big links because others shared--it makes the writing journey so much easier! :-)

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  8. Congratulations, Lori! That was fast! :)

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  9. Congratulations, Lori. I'm sure you've heard this before- "it's about time!" You are so talented. i just happened to come across your book at the library. I can't believe I haven't read Cindy Moo yet. Loved it! Going to get Cowpoke Clyde and Dirty Dawg!

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