How to Impress a Literary Agent

SUGGESTIONS ON CRAFTING YOUR FIRST THREE FICTION CHAPTERS

Thomas M. Hill, Literary Talent Scout for Lampas Books

In This Presentation, You Will Discover• How to think like a literary agent• How celebrated novelists, like Dan Brown, craft their first

three chapters• Why including short, detail-rich windows in introductory

chapters is important• Editorial recommendations for crafting your first three

chapters

Understanding Literary Agents

How do they operate?

• Literary agents make commissions when they sell a manuscript to a publisher.

• Generally, they receive a commission of 15% of a publisher advance and 15% of total book sales.

• Literary agents take a risk in acquiring new projects; they must find work that can be easily sold to turn a profit.

When soliciting for agents

• Do your homework; have a full working knowledge of the types of titles they like to acquire.

• Success with similar projects increases their chances of selling a new title.

• Oftentimes, an agent’s web page or bio will inform an author of what types of writing he or she is looking for.

• You only have a short amount of time to get an agent’s full attention.

The Three-Chapter Format of a Celebrated Novelist

BY STUDYING THE FORMAT OF ONE OF THE MOST CELEBRATED NOVELISTS IN HISTORY, YOU CAN GET A BETTER

UNDERSTANDING OF HOW TO CRAFT YOUR FIRST THREE CHAPTERS

Chapter Length in Pages (Dan Brown Novels)

Digital Fortress Deception Point The Lost Symbol DaVinci Code0

2

4

6

8

10

12

Prologue Chapter 1 Chapter 2 Chapter 3

Dan Brown Follows a Simple Format in Digital Fortress• Brown offers short, detail-rich

windows into his story.• The same format is repeated

throughout the first three chapters.

• The reader is obviously left with questions after reading the first three chapters, which will likely be addressed later in the novel.

• Brown provides just enough detail to keep readers interested.

• A man is dying.• He has a golden ring.

Prologue

• The protagonist is dreaming about her fiancé.

• The protagonist learns of an emergency situation at work

Chapter 1

• The protagonist’s fiancé has a special mission.

Chapter 2

By the End of the First Three Chapters, We Know• A little bit about what the protagonist does for a living• How the protagonist met her fiancé• The protagonist is facing a problem at work that requires

her immediate attention

By the End of the First Three Chapters, We Don’t Know• Anything more about the dying man from the prologue• What kind of secret mission the protagonist’s fiancé is on• Whether or not he is hiding this from his fiancée • What type of emergency the protagonist is facing at work

Editorial RecommendationsEMPLOYING WRITING MECHANICS TO CRAFT CONCISE,

BUZZ-WORTHY PROSE

Tips for Writing the First Three Chapters• Don’t overload the reader with extraneous information. Provide just

enough detail to get the ball rolling, but no more.• Imagine how the reader will respond to your writing, as you’ve

written it. What types of questions will the reader have after reading the first three chapters? Consider answering a few of them within the first three and keep other details for later in the story.

• Demonstrate your competency with a certain subject area. Readers enjoy reading books that teach them new information. You can keep them interested by expanding their knowledge.

• Position your first three chapters as a novel within a novel. Come full circle for some of the elements that are introduced in the first three chapters, such that someone reading just the first three can have some understanding of how the story if unfolding. By the end of the third chapter, the reader will either be fully invested or bored.

Learn More about the Mechanics of Good Writing

Check out The First Three Chapters: How to Impress an Agent with Your Knowledge of the Mechanics of Good Writing

Contact us for Writing Coaching, Developmental Editing, Ghostwriting, and Literary Agent Searches

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