How to Hook An Agent is the definitive guide to putting together a manuscript submission and attracting the (positive) attention of a literary agent. This book is for authors who chip away at their work in their lunch hour, by candlelight, at laptops and desktops or on the back of supermarket receipts but, crucially,--whether working on contemporary crime fiction or literary memoir--for writers looking to have their story read on a larger scale. Authors who want to leave their footprint on the publishing world by having their book in stores, advertised at bus stops, studied at universities, discussed by reading groups and reviewed in magazines. If you're one of these writers, this book is for you. With practical examples (e.g. good and bad covering letters, elevator pitches) and comments throughout from some of the UK's leading agents, it answers all the questions a budding writer across all genres might ask. Developed in tandem with the highly successful W&A "How to Hook An Agent" lunches, the book is structured around a series of real-life questions that have been repeatedly raised at these events over the last five years and the advice that agents have given in response.