The awakening

     On September 30 I submitted a request for representation from The Knight Literary Agency.
     I first found out about this agency from a Facebook ad.  They seemed to be what I was looking for.  They appeared professional and listed several clients who went on to become bestselling authors.  Though I hadn't finished my novel it was nice to have a target to shoot for.  And even though their website sold me I still searched for information on them to be certain they were legitimate.  I found information on them in a book titled Guide to Literary Agents.  This book was endorsed by the senior editor of Writer's Digest.  I was convinced.  I decided this would be my first, and hopefully last stop in finding an agent for my book.
    This act of acquiring an agent tends to be a long process and is by no means a given.  First of all, the agency receives over 1,000 submissions a month and only a handful are accepted.  This is fairly normal for all the legitimate agencies.  It is also just the first step.
     This agency has a portal where you submit all the required information.  Each agent has their own portal so there may be some differences, especially regarding fiction and non-fiction works.  Here are the items I had to submit:  Personal information such as name, email, website (though not required), blog (though not required), and Twitter handle (again not required).  Required items are word count, query letter, synopsis, bio, and first 10 pages.  Now I have to wait to see if there will be a next step.  For this agent it can take up to 8 weeks to hear back.  If the agent is interested they will ask for the entire manuscript.  Then it's another long wait.  Tick tock.
     I have downloaded my first chapter on my site.  The novel is science fiction.  See if you think I have a chance.