Finding an agent for your first health book

A lot of people think they can simply write a book about their health topic or experiences and mail it off to a big commercial publisher who will be happy to receive it, publish it, promote it, and make millions for the happy author. It can happen that way, but unfortunately, this isn’t usually the way it works. Just like you need a real estate agent to best sell your home, you need an agent to help find the best publisher for your book and guide you through the negotiation process.

Here are some online resources for finding agents to approach, and some book suggestions which will explain how the agent/author relationship works and how to properly introduce yourself.

Resources:

• The searchable literary agent database of the Association of Authors’ Representatives (AAR).
• The FAQ page of the AAR (explains how to find and work with an agent)
• The literary agent search page at Publishers Marketplace.
• The literary agent database at Agent Query
• The literary agent directory at Writers Net.
• The Literary Marketplace available at the library.
• Ask other authors for agent recommendations.
• Writers conferences and workshops. (More about this coming soon.)

Once you identify a potential agent, you don’t want to just send out your complete book proposal. You should always send agents a brief letter first, asking if you may send your proposal for consideration. In this letter, you want to include your credentials for writing a health book, whether that’s your profession or something from your personal experience. If you don’t have writing cred, you can always write articles for your own or other people’s websites, or write an article, essay, or op-ed on your health topic and send it to a newspaper.

You can also sign up for Peter Shakman’s HARO (help a reporter out) and make yourself available for interviews by health journalists. (It’s free for both writers and sources.) If they quote you in their article, you can include that in you query letter and proposal.

Send your letter, proofread and polished, on nice white stationery. Most agents won’t accept query letters by phone or email. Include a stamped self-addressed envelope for reply. Go ahead and send it out to several agents at the same time. Agents get tons of these in the mail, so don’t expect a quick response. In fact, many won’t respond at all, so don’t take it personally.