TAB029: How to Find the Right Agent for your Book – With Anne Hawkins

Literary agent Anne Hawkins is the guest for Episode 29 of The Author Biz Podcast.

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Do you have an agent? Do you have the right agent?

If so you already know how valuable your agent can be to your author business.  But if you don’t, this episode is for you.

Literary agent Anne Hawkins represents bestselling authors across multiple genres, from mysteries and thrillers to literary fiction and even non-fiction. Her clients include New York Times bestselling authors, Tasha Alexander, Taylor Stevens and Miranda Beverly-Whittemore.

Anne works for the John Hawkins and Associates Literary Agency, a New York firm with a long history in the publishing business. Through the years, the firm has been the agent of record for authors like William James, Jack London, P.G. Wodehouse, James Clavell, Alex Haley and other literary stars.

In this 58-minute episode, we take a deep dive into the literary representation end of the publishing business, covering topics like:

• The History of the John Hawkins and Associates Literary Agency, which dates back to 1893.
• Anne’s clients range from best sellers in mysteries and thrillers to history, politics and even nature and the outdoors.
• Where literary agents fit into the publishing process.
• An in-depth discussion of how to find the right agent for your work.
• The importance of having an agent that both understands your work and knows your genre.
• The many reasons why an agent might not be interested in your book that have nothing to do with the book, itself.
• A step-by-step process for querying agents that will give authors the best possible chance to find the right agent.
• How much follow up should you do when querying agents?
• What should an author understand about an agent before agreeing to representation?
• Should an agent’s membership in the Association of Author’s Representatives (AAR) be an important factor when an author selects an agent?
• Anne describes the process of submitting manuscripts to different publishers.
• Anne walks us through the different rights the agent negotiates before a publishing contract is signed.
• The importance of carefully negotiating the terms of the option book.

Links:

The John Hawkins and Associates Website  www.jhlit.com

John Hawkins and Associates submission guidelines 

Publishers Market Place website

Association of Author’s Representatives www.aaronline.org

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