My last blog showed you how to use Twitter to find agents who might be interested in repping your work. That blog gave the basics about the #MSWL (Manuscript Wish List) hashtag. If you haven’t checked it out, you can read it here.

This week, I’m highlighting two websites connected to #MSWL:

WEBSITE #1: www.manuscriptwishlist.com

The first, www.manuscriptwishlist.com, offers a ton of useful information, including podcasts, blogs, and — important! — agent and editor profiles. The profiles on the site are excellent, and you can search them in a number of ways, including genre and keyword.

The agent and editor profiles give more than just basic info like genres, query guidelines, and links to social media accounts. Most also include more personal information, such as favorite books, writing styles, hobbies, fun facts, etc.  Bottom line? The profiles give info to help you make decisions about (1) who to query and (2) how to personalize your query letters.

The site is free for writers to use/search. Podcasts are also free. The site also links to additional resources available for a reasonable fee:

• Manuscript Academy – courses on a variety of helpful topics for writers 
• Virtual consultations – online, personalized feedback from select agents and editors, scheduled by appointment

I found this website very user-friendly during my query process. (This is by design. The team who put it together wanted to make the search and process more accessible.) If you want to learn more before digging in, though, you could read their FAQ and/or their blog post on how to get started.

WEBSITE #2: www.mswishlist.com

The second site, www.mswishlist.com, is a searchable compilation of tweets by agents and editors. You can choose to view all #MSWL posts, see profiles by agent or editor (alphabetical), or you can search by genre to pull up agents and/or editors who are interested in the genre you write.

Also, the top nav bar on the site has other searches set up, including:

• Queries –  all #tenqueries tweets (why agents accept/pass on queries)
• Ask Agent –  all #askagent tweets (agent-hosted twitter events where writers ask questions and get answers in real time)
• Tips – all #querytip tweets (often eye-opening, as they reveal what does and does not work for them in the query process)

And for all you sprinters out there, the site has a neat page called Word War Central, where sprint times are already set up, three per hour. 

Two great sites. Hope you find them helpful in your query process. 

And Finally…

Always, always, always do in-depth research. Whenever I found an agent of interest, I’d check them out in the Guide to Literary Agents (also available at your local library) or look them up on Publishers Marketplace. Querying takes time and research and a ton of patience.

Thanks for Reading and Happy Researching

If you’ve got feedback on this blog, or if there’s a topic you’d like to see, please comment in the section below. (Future blog topics: writing an elevator pitch, pitch conferences, online pitch events, and other websites you can use to find an agent)