My book is focusing on religion and spirituality. Anybody know a good agent who specializes in that field? Thanks.

All Answers To Questions

Actually I just finished doing a lot of research on the agent and publishing process. Fiction writers always have agents, but nonfiction writers usually communicate directly with the publishers. Research publishers and or magazines you want to send your article or book to, and send a manuscript to them. Be patient if you still haven't received a reply after a few months, they are often short staffed.

Nope, sorry. I would just not worry about finding one that works in a certain field.

Probably not. Most non-fiction writers don't go through agents. The reason being that agents are generally very specialized. To find an agent that works in the religion and spirituality field will be a long and grueling quest. Plus, those who write non-fiction generally write their one or two books in that field and that's it. An agent often sticks with an author through a large portion of their writing career. If you only write one book with no chance or no ideas of writing another in the exact same field, you'll find few agents who'll spend their time on you. Your best bet, if you are determined to get an agent, is to pick up a copy of Writer's Market, go through the agent listings, find those who match your genre, and then look up those agents online or write them an inquiry about their field. Online, most agents will have advertised whether they're accepting submissions, the details of their specializations, etc. Again, Writer's Market is the best place to start looking. The best, or at least the most common route to go through for non-fiction publishing is to contact the publisher directly. Since non-fiction publishers generally make one time selling deals rather than holding long term contracts, they usually prefer not to work through agents anyway. Once again, Writer's Market is your best source for finding reliable publishers, and from there do more research online with Writer's Market by your side. If you want to get an agent, then go ahead and hunt. Don't let me get you down. There are exceptions to everything, so just because it's not the norm to have non-fiction agents, there are still plenty of them out there and there are still plenty of non-fiction publishers that have no problem working through agents (there are some who do actually require it). Definitely do some research on both agents and publishers and do what you think will be best for your writings.