3. RESEARCH AGENTS

When you attempt to contact agents, be aware that they divide themselves into fiction and non-fiction camps. So grab that Guide to Literary Agents and start thumbing the pages. (Here's another great source: 1999 Guide to Literary Agents: 500 Agents Who Sell What You Write by Donya Dickerson.) These directories list agents by various categories, and spend a page giving you detailed information about the agent. In particular, you can see what the agent does or does not like to see in a query and a proposal and, more importantly, what books they have represented in the past.

The second thing you should do is compile a list of twenty agents whose general interests align with the kind of book you're planning on writing. (It also helps to actually be capable of writing the book.) If you've just come back from a fantastic trip to Borneo and think you can spout off about it as well as any hippie schmo, look for agents interested in travel non-fiction. Or, if you've got a burning desire to embellish tales about how your parents abused you, make a note of agents who specialize in fictional human dramas. You get the point. If you don't, you're not smart enough to be a writer.