Or do some new writers manage to get published WITHOUT an agent's help? PS. I should add here that I live in Australia...not sure if that makes much difference...

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You will get published without an agent. Check the magazine market, find out their preference for what type of fiction. Send them short stories (they have word/page limits) and just keep going. You are going to get many rejection notices. But sometime, somewhere, someone is going to love your story and publish it. Strength & Peace.

Unfortunately yes. I'm a screenwriter and believe me before I got an agent, you can't get your stuff read no matter how good it is.

I managed to get published without an agent. However I'd been writing short stories for magazines fourteen years, so I guess I had a track record. I understand that in the US it's not very likely you'll get published without an agent. In the UK some publishing houses still accept un-agented work. They claim an agent can increase your advance - however, a new author rarely gets an advance. The agent will certainly deduct his expenses before you see any royalties .... BUT he might be worth it. Anthony James Barnett - author of WITHOUT REPROACH

Many novelists have sold without agents. Your chances of doing that depend on what genre you're writing in and which publisher(s) you're targeting. In my genre, romance, most publishers won't look at unagented material. But the biggest publisher, Harlequin, will. I've sold four books to them without an agent. Such things are possible in every genre, but having an agent will almost certainly increase your chances of selling.

Some publishers do, HOWEVER, if you are aiming at nabbing the attention of a big print house like Simon & Schuster or Random House, you will need an agent. Research small print publishers if you want to try sending your own submissions directly to publishing houses.

I am not un-published -- I have two books in print, one coming out in Sept, one coming out in Jan 09, and one accepted but not scheduled yet. I do not have nor have I had an agent. However, to be considered by the big houses, you probably do. No- I am not self published, but my publisher, Multi-Media Publications is a smaller one

you can get published without an agent -- IF you want to take all your time away from writing to do business. I'd rather write. It's hard enough business trying to find an agent.