It’s the question every aspiring writer asks. When they ask it might vary. Some before they set out to write a book, some when the finished manuscript is in sight, others when they have their polished hopeful bestseller: How do I get a good agent? It’s a fair question because the inner workings of the publishing industry can seem ambiguous and the process of selling your book, mysterious.

In reality, getting a good agent is simple. Well, the process is simple. The execution is hard. Hear from the industry’s experts – how to get a book agent:

[*] Tim Ferriss is the New York Times, Wall Street Journal, and USA Today bestselling author of, including The 4-Hour Workweek.

“Finding a good agent seems mysterious, so I’ll suggest one effective method. Look at the ‘Acknowledgments’ of authors you like, then look up those agents’ contact information on Publisher’s Marketplace, where you can also look at their sales track record.”

[*] Ryan Holiday is the author of six books: The Obstacle Is the Way, Ego Is the Enemy, The Daily Stoic, Perennial Seller, and Conspiracy. And his creative advisory firm, Brass Check, specializes in working with authors, including Tony Robbins, John Grisham, and Robert Greene,

“Have a really great book. A book with a lot of potential to sell or win awards or accomplish things that people in publishing find important. Actually not just potential, but likelihood, real likelihood of fulfilling it. That might not be easy, but it is really simple.

Jack London put it well about a 100 years ago, ‘If you are going to write for success and money, you must deliver to the market marketable goods.’ That’s the answer for how you get a book agent. Because guess what, very few book agents have ever said (and I know my fair share of them): Man, I just have way too many good clients. In fact, they’re always complaining: How can I get more great clients?”

[*] Teresa Nielsen Hayden is an editor at Tor Books and writes extensively on this topic at her site Making Light. Neil Gaiman says “she knows publishing better than anyone else I’ve ever met,”

“There is no substitute for writing a book that people want to buy and read. If you can do that, you can get published. If you can’t, no clever workaround will help, because we can’t force people to buy and read books they don’t like.”

[*] Jane Friedman has 20 years of experience in the publishing industry and is the co-founder of The Hot Sheet, a publishing industry email newsletter, and author of ten books about the industry, her latest, The Business of Being a Writer is said to be “destined to become a staple reference book for writers and those interested in publishing careers,” by Publishers Weekly,

“When writers ask me “Can you find me a literary agent?” they don’t realize it’s kind of like asking me ‘Can you find me the right spouse?’ This is a research process and decision that is best conducted by you…While there are many well-meaning agents out there, it’s true that some of them are amateurish, incompetent, or bad.”

Friedman is adamant that writers should undertake this research themselves. She recommends these resources: AgentQuery , PublishersMarketplace, and QueryTracker

[*] Victoria Strauss is the cofounder of Writer Beware, the publishing industry watchdog group that uncovers literary scams, schemes, and pitfalls:

“There are a number of reliable ways to identify reputable agents who might be appropriate for you. The easiest is to invest in a couple of good, informative market guides, such as Jeff Herman’s Guide to Book Publishers, Editors, & Literary Agents. A more laborious method is to find books that you think resemble yours in genre, tone, subject matter, or style, and try to discover who agents them. You can read industry publications such as Publishers Weekly to find out about recent book deals.”

[*] Mike Shatzkin has nearly five decades of experience in the industry in roles across the board–bookseller, author, agent, production director, sales and marketing director, and, for the past 30 years, consultant.

“Of course, I do know dozens of agents personally. But rarely do I have a sense of what they are looking for, what kind of author would be suitable for them…I find I have no good way personally to distinguish among the dozens of agents I know…What I suggest — not rocket science but most writers don’t know about it — is using the databased information at Publishers Marketplace to find which agents to target.”

See, it’s simple really:

(1) Write a Good Book

(2) Research agents who have represented authors who had success with a book in a similar genre

Jack Canfield calls it the feminine and masculine parts of being a writer. The feminine part is birthing the book – the introverted creative process. The masculine part is getting out in the world to sell, market, and promote your creation. There is no magical agent waiting to receive your query to then break out their wizard’s wand and grant you literary fame. If you take care of the feminine part, agents will be willing and waiting to help you with the masculine part.