IT’S a common fantasy for writers, up there with the star-studded movie adaptation and surprise Nobel: the dream agent who thrills at your brilliant query, clears their schedule to chat, and, enchanted, signs you on the spot. Then you become best friends, traipsing to lunch when they can get away from their docket of auctions (selling your future best-sellers, of course).
Maybe that’s how it happens for some, but for most of us, finding an agent is a bit like dating, with promising prospects that fizzle out, long-term commitments that end in tears, and, ideally, a perfectly imperfect partner who gets you, waiting at the end of all that searching. But how do you tell the difference between an agent you’ll fall in love with and one who’ll break your heart (i.e., ghost you, manhandle your work, or otherwise fail to be there as an ally and advocate)? You can start by taking advice from the folks who know agents best. Editors see agents’ handiwork day after day, receiving their pitches, learning their tastes,
