If Your Goal is to Get an Agent...
...the September issue of WD--which hit newsstands just last week--is tailor-made for you. We began working on this annual issue devoted to all things agent back in the spring with a lot of anticipation: We get many, many, MANY questions here at WD throughout the year related to literary agents (and, specifically, to our annual roundup of Agents Looking for New Writers) and so it’s always a thrill, from an editor’s perspective, to be involved in delivering something you know your readers are already chomping at the bit to read. But I can honestly say that by the time we were done compiling this issue, the whole editorial team here was more excited than we’d been when we began.
One of my favorite features, “Life After Almost,” is not quite like anything we’ve done before. I was blown away when I received a joint query proposing this piece from literary agent Scott Hoffman and aspiring novelist Rachel Estrada Ryan. Was Ryan one of his clients? Not quite. She was actually a writer he had rejected in the nicest of ways: with genuine interest in her writing career but a decision that her current project wasn’t a fit for him. You always hear about how “an encouraging rejection” is a good thing, right? This is an honest look—from both sides of the desk—at how you can learn from it, and what you should do next.
Of course, the issue also has the annual agent roundup, plus an analysis of Real Query Letters That Worked (compiled by yours truly), and a lot of useful stuff on contract negotiations. And I have to say it's been getting rave reviews on the WD Forum.
So if you haven’t already, please check it out. Besides, what would a guest blog post be without a little shameless promotion?
Wink wink.
Jessica
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Editor, WD
