May 26, 2022
It's notoriously hard for authors to meet agents so for the past few years we've been running Agent Tables. Lots of authors have found agents and some have secured publishing deals, others have got useful advice that they have used to refine their submissions.
This event is sponsored by HW Fisher. There will be spaces for just eighteen authors, each author will submit their work first and get the opportunity to take two of the thirty-six slots on the day to meet privately with two agents each who have read their work.
We ask that you submit your work to us by 16th May 2022 to give us time to send work to the agents.
Tickets are £100* for Byte The Book members and £150* for non-members.
If you're not already a member you can join Byte The Book here.
**Ticket price excludes booking fee and VAT.
*Submission Guidelines (once you have purchased your tickets)
Please submit to info@bytethebook.com and include all below in a single document. Also please save the document as your name then title: e.g. JoeBloggsAgentsTablesMay2022ByteTheBook. Also please note in your covering email to us which agents you have already submitted to, if any, or if there are any agents who want us to avoid for any other reason.
We require for all submissions:
A generic covering letter addressed, Dear Agent. This letter should be 80% about your book and 20% about you the author. This is your chance to sell your book to the agents. The letter should be brief and punchy, ideally three or four paragraphs and not exceed a single page. Please also include a comparison to other authors or titles in this letter. Showing an awareness of the current book market and thinking about where a book would sit within it is really helpful. If authors feel uncomfortable about comparing their works to those of published authors, or struggle for examples, please say which authors you most enjoy reading.
(Note we don't give out names of agents prior to the event, hence your letter is just addressed just Dear agent, rather to a specific one. Ordinarily if you were sending your manuscripts out you would be writing to specific agents and some of your covering letter should cover why you have approached them particularly).
Plus:
For adult fiction:
A brief personal biography of around 250 words with anything that you feel is relevant to your application
A synopsis up to 600 words outlining the plot of your novel
A brief pitch of your novel of up to 250 words, including genre (crime, thriller, literary, commercial women's fiction, SF, etc.)
First three chapters or equivalent amounting to 8,000-10,000 words
Please also state what stage you are at - e.g. unfinished/finished manuscript; second draft, etc.
For adult narrative non-fiction (memoir/biography):
a brief personal biography of around 400 words with anything you feel is relevant to your submission, including why you are the best person to tell this story and how you might help to promote it - details of your online presence, blog, social media platform, etc
a pitch of around 250 words telling us why the focus of the biography/memoir makes for an interesting or relevant subject/why this is story that needs to be told
an outline of around 600 words
First three chapters or equivalent amounting
to 8,000-10,000 words
Please also state what stage you are at - e.g. unfinished/finished manuscript, second draft, etc.
For ideas-led/serious non-fiction (science, smart-thinking, health/wellbeing, history, etc.):
a brief personal biography of up to 400 words with anything you feel is relevant to your submission including why you are qualified to write on this subject and how you might help to promote it - details of your online presence, blog, social media platform, etc
an overview and outline (including brief chapter breakdown) of the book of 600-800 words.
Two or three chapters amounting to around 8,000-10,000 words.
For children’s fiction:
A brief personal biography of around 400 words with anything that you feel is relevant to your application and how you might help to promote it - details of your online presence, blog, social media platform, etc
A brief pitch of your story of up to 250 words, including genre (early reader (5-9), chapter book (7-10), middle-grade (8-12), YA (12+) and who is the target audience (ie what might they be reading already?)
A synopsis up to 400 words outlining the plot of your story.
First three chapters or equivalent amounting to:
Picture Book: 150-500 words
Early Reader: 500-1000 words
Chapter book: 1,000-2,000 words
Middle grade: 2,000-3,000 words
Young Adult: 3,000-4,000 words
Please also state what stage you are at - e.g. concept and sample text; unfinished/finished manuscript; second draft, etc.
If you have suggestions for illustrations include sample work from illustrators you like, but do not present the text with illustrations in place unless you are an author/illustrator (ie the Holy Grail).
For children’s non-fiction:
A brief personal biography of up to 400 words with anything you feel is relevant to your submission including why you are qualified to write on this subject and how you might help to promote it - details of your online presence, blog, social media platform, etc
An overview and outline (including brief chapter or spread breakdown) of the book of 600-800 words, including subject (history, science, environment), relevant school curriculum elements and how the book might fit into a gap in the market. List relevant books in the market that you like, and how your book is different to them.
Two or three chapters or spreads amounting to no more than 1000-1500 words.
Please also state what stage you are at - e.g. concept and sample text; unfinished/finished manuscript, second draft, etc.
If you have suggestions for illustrations include sample work from illustrators you like, but do not present the text with illustrations in place unless you are an author/illustrator.
