How I got an agent (and a book deal)📚

Redesigning worklife | #79

A friend asked me recently if I knew any agents who might be interested in her memoir. She did an online course with Gotham Writers' Workshop during the lockdown, which kept her sane, and she doesn't want to self-publish. It got me thinking about how I got my first agent in my 20s, so I thought it would be useful to share my strategy…(passion, persistence, writing lots of emails), which paid off eventually. 

1. Writers' & Artists' Yearbook – the industry bible and the first place I look for inspiration, trends, advice, and finding agents, publishers, and new opportunities. I didn't have a detailed proposal, but I didn't let that hold me back. I was deep into my subject area: women's health & sexuality and working as a freelance journalist. I chose 10 agents and sent them an email offering my services. Some replied that they weren't taking on new authors at the time but would keep me on file. Then one got in touch to say she was looking for new authors and had a publisher I should meet,…