At our Write Links meeting this month on the 1st of April, members were treated to an informative and practical seminar ‘Finding an Agent and Pitching a Story’ presented by Rebecca Sheraton and Alison Stegert.

Rebecca and Alison clearly illustrated the importance and value of agents especially when publishing outside Australia.

Rebecca’s presentation answered many of my questions; When to look for an agent and how? What is involved in sending a query letter to an agent? Which agents should I target? And how do I keep track of all those query letters?

Alison focused on what to do if and when an agent responds.

I had assumed that all agents were the same, but Alison quickly dissuaded me from this. She provided many helpful online resources and explained how each could help in finding the right agent to target and what to expect of the whole process.

Alison illustrated her information with a powerful story of her own experience.

I was so glad that I had attended this seminar, without this knowledge I may have blundered blindly through the process, causing problems for myself and missing opportunities for want of a proper awareness of the way this whole field works.

I was interested to learn that 40 percent of manuscripts picked up in Australia by publishers are though agents and that as a Picture book writer I should have a suite of three to four picture books ready before submitting to an agent.

I felt like a teenager just learning how to look for and apply for my first job.

At least now I have a bit more understanding of how it all works and can refer to the notes and online resources to take the next step, when I am ready.

Thank you, Rebecca, and Alison for a wonderfully informative presentation.