Who knew poets could have agents? Yay, we’re cool too, novelists! Poets and Writers wrote a lengthy piece on all this here: Agents for Poets: An Investigation. It’s got opinions by agents and poets themselves as well as editors and other industry experts. The general consensus seems to be that though it’s seldom the main genre agents are running after, there’s absolutely no harm in poets doing some research and reaching out. Alongside contests and indie press submissions (which, as I keep finding out, are now becoming an amorphous blog with contests), agent inquiry is a real, serious viable step to trying to get your poetry collection into print with a reputable place.
The whole business of agent-seeking is daunting. I personally haven’t yet queried any poetry but I will be helping my partner do the same over this summer. I’ll have more personal insight on how this whole thing feels then. I do think that this will grow — poets getting agents. There are only so many contests and then fewer still that are respected and fair. Poets need new and accessible models to publish their work! Hey — if you have cool innovative ideas, tell us?
No seriously, tell us. Please.
This list includes:
The agent & agency they work for
What they are looking for right now
Authors they’ve represented
Exact details on how to query them
Favorite books (where we could find them)
What else do you want to know? If we can find it, we’ll include it.
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