: Re: What is Considered to be a Large Portfolio to be Sent to Agents/Publishers? I am currently looking for an agent to represent a portfolio of books. But I was wondering, what is considered to

@Angie602

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The fact that you have five books completed is a plus point to literary agents and publishers, but it is not how you approach them. Offering to send an agent or publishing editor five books to read/consider would overwhelm them.

In their mind, you are initially the enemy in that you're going to have, alas, another dud that will waste their timer and energy. The reality of their daily affairs is they are overwhelmed with poorly written manuscripts and aspiring authors who haven't done their homework in how to approach them properly.

You are doing your homework, so I commend you for that!!

My suggestion is to select your best work to submit to literary agents.

You do not submit a portfolio, but rather a query letter and book proposal about a single book you want them to consider for representation. If it's a small to mid-size publisher, you can approach them directly with these items. The larger publishers will not communicate directly with first-time authors and require they have a literary agent as the liaison.

Ideally, you will approach an agent (or publisher) with your query letter. This is typically a one- or two-page professional letter inquiring whether they would be interested in your book. If they are, they will ask for the book proposal, which you need to have ready to send off immediately. Otherwise, you lose your opportunity by screaming, "I'm not a professional" or "I' slow at getting things done and would be a bad candidate for an agent."

There is an expected format for book proposals and query letters too involved for this post. But if you would like more help with this, contact my team at my company.

You're off to an amazing start with having five books already!

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