I now follow a number of literary agents who use twitter, thanks to a recently distributed list. It has turned out to be quite an education. Amongst the personal messages and posts about the day, are sprinkled some real gems of information for the searching author.

Interesting tips, valuable insights, even the odd rant, help to build a slightly more colourful picture of an agent’s day to day life than one might discover in a reference book or a formal website. I have found it interesting and educational.

One would-be author (Chuck Weinblatt), decided the apparent accessibility of contacts via twitter could short-cut his path to having his book published. You can see a small sample of the many identical messages he sent to agents and publishers.

It’s not hard to research

Approaches to an agent or publisher must be handled with professionalism and, most of all, respect. Researching agents in particular is critical to ensure you are not offering them a type of book they simply do not handle.

It’s not difficult to do some basic research. The book 2009 Guide to Literary Agents provides ample information to select a number of agent or pubisher targets, propare and format an approach, and handle the process with dignity and professionalism.

On the other hand, there’s always the option of alienating an entire list of agents and publishers through ignorance of social media.