Literary AgentOdds of Getting In

The few. The proud. The bitter, broken and disgruntled. It isn’t easy getting in, and the ones who do still have to claw, scrape and brown-nose their way up the agency ladder and earn the hard-won right to represent clients as an agent at a major firm. Some would call this process soul crushing. Very few would say it’s nurturing.

Getting in as an agent is fierce at every level. Getting your first job out of college as an entry-level nobody? Be ready to ask mom or dad for cash. Competing with your entry-level nobody “friends” for the privilege of answering the phone at a junior agent’s desk? Try luck and six-months of sucking up. Finding a way to prove to your superiors that you have what it takes to on a client of your own? Maybe try voodoo, persistence, and a prayer. At an agency, you’re expected to be capable, talented, and smart, but proving that you want it more than anyone else is the real test of your worth.

At a smaller firm, the process is slightly less competitive, though the commitment will be no less of a life-suck. You can expect to do all the dirty work underlings at major agencies do, but if you’ve found the right fit, you can expect to be treated a little less like just another rat in the race.