Green Flags & Red Flags: 30 Things Literary Agents Notice – 11am September 13th

Description

Authors spend an enormous amount of time wondering what literary agents are looking for. Is it the query? The premise? The writing? The comps? The author platform?

But what are those little things that can make an agent suddenly want to move to the next steps?

Just as important: what makes an agent hesitate?

In this practical and candid class, Amy Collins and Rachel McMillan will share 15 Green Flags—things authors do that immediately make an agent more interested in the author and the project—and 15 Red Flags that can create doubts, weaken a submission, or occasionally turn an agent off altogether.

These aren’t simply rules about where to put your word count or how long a query letter should be.

Some of the strongest signals happen before an agent ever reads the manuscript. Others appear in the opening pages, the author bio, the comp titles, an author’s online presence, follow-up emails, or conversations after an agent requests more material.

You may be surprised by what agents notice.

More importantly, you’ll learn which things really matter—and which things authors spend far too much time worrying about.

The goal isn’t to teach you how to query like the “perfect author.” There is no such thing. It’s to help you recognize the signals that tell an agent: this author is prepared, professional, knowledgeable about their book, and someone I would like to work with.

What You’ll Learn

During this class, Amy and Rachel will walk you through 30 real-world Green Flags and Red Flags they encounter while considering authors and manuscripts.

You’ll learn:

• What can make an agent excited about a project.
• The qualities of a query that make an agent want to ask for pages.
• Why knowing your genre, audience, and market matters so much.
• How good comp titles can strengthen an agent’s confidence in a project—and how bad ones can hurt it.
• What agents notice in an author’s bio.
• What your opening pages quietly tell an agent about the rest of your manuscript.
• The difference between confidence and overselling.
• Which kinds of author platforms and online activity agents actually care about.
• Small submission mistakes agents barely notice—and the ones they definitely do.
• What happens when an author doesn’t follow submission guidelines.
• How being receptive to editorial feedback can be a major Green Flag.
• Communication “tells” that make agents eager to work with an author.
• Things that can make an agent worry about a future working relationship.
• How unrealistic expectations about advances, sales, publishers, or careers can become a Red Flag.
• What agents are thinking when they request a partial or full manuscript.
• What agents notice when communicating with an author after a request.
• How to follow up without becoming either invisible or overwhelming.
• The qualities that suggest an author is interested in building a publishing career rather than simply selling one manuscript.

Along the way, Amy and Rachel will also tackle some of the things writers think are Red Flags but usually aren’t.

Because authors worry enough already.

You’ll leave knowing where your energy is worth spending—and where it isn’t.

Who This Class Is For

This class is ideal for:

• Writers preparing to query literary agents for the first time who want to avoid common mistakes before hitting Send.
• Authors currently querying who aren’t getting the response they hoped for and want to understand what might be getting in the way.
• Writers receiving requests but not offers who want to know what agents consider beyond the initial query.
• Previously published authors looking for representation for a new book or a new stage of their career.
• Self-published authors considering traditional publishing who want to understand how agents evaluate authors as well as manuscripts.
• Authors revising their query packages who want to make their submission more compelling.
• Writers who are tired of trying to decipher conflicting advice online and would rather hear directly from two working literary agents.

If you’ve ever wished you could be invisible for an afternoon and sit beside an agent while they worked through their inbox, this class is about as close as you can get.

You’ll discover what makes agents lean forward, what makes them hesitate, and what makes them pass.