Fairly recently I was offered the opportunity to try out a website called Agent Hunter.
I’m not usually one for taking on requests like this. I can’t do book reviews because if I started, I fear they would come in thick and fast and I don’t have the time to read books I don’t choose for myself and I don’t believe in the review in it’s typical sense, from me, as a writer on another writer.
But this isn’t about book reviews and it’s not something that could start a trend of requests, so I was interested. I was offered subscription to the site free of charge, as long as I blogged my feelings on it afterwards. This is an excerpt of the email I received “The only requirement is that you explore the site a bit and write a blog post saying what you liked, what you didn’t, etc. We want you to be completely honest.”
Well, if you’ve read this blog at all, you will know I have a thing about honesty. I want to be as honest as I can with my blog readers and if asked to look at something I haven’t searched out myself for the sole purpose of reviewing it, then I’m going to be honest about it. So here are my thoughts on a website called Agent Hunter.
This is what Agent Hunter states it does –
It’s a website that is a one stop shop for searching for agents or publishers with capability of narrowing searches down by specific criteria. A place for writers wanting to query either agents or publishers.
Positives
It’s easy to navigate. You’re either looking for an agent or a publisher.
It has a side bar navigation menu for all various options you could consider when searching for an agent; Length of time the agent has been working, whether email submissions are accepted, amount of clients they represent, the state of their list, for example, actively looking for clients, open for submissions or closed.
The amount of options in this side bar is quite extensive giving you enough choice to really tailor your search to your specific needs.
You can see the agent list to the right of this search bar dropping as you narrow your fields.
Everything you need is in one place. Your search can be saved if you need to go back to it later and you can keep changing your choices as you work through the agents or publishers.
It’s really user friendly.
Negatives
Perhaps it’s me, but I didn’t quite get why I needed to know an agents specific likes, and we’re not talking, say, specifically crime fiction, because I tried putting that in. It’s a blank fill it in yourself box and it’s actually for things the agent likes. For me, I don’t get why I care if the agent likes abseiling. But, if you really want to sweeten your query to that extent, then the option is there.
That’s it. That’s all I can complain about!
Overall
I used Agent Hunter as a front end user. I wasn’t looking at it just to give the site a review, I logged in to use it and use it I did. I like it. Everything is in one place. And for no more money than the up-to-date Artists and Agents Yearbook, you can search for agents within the criteria you want.
I found that agents actually like this as well because I found an agent who, on his profile page on the actual agent website, was a link to his Agent Hunter profile! Now this shows me that Agent Hunter isn’t just some gimmick that was set up to take money from desperate writers. It’s taken seriously by the agents being listed on there.
If I didn’t have a free subscription, would I subscribe for £12 to make life quicker and easier? Absolutely yes. But, this is me, my opinion, how I like to work. We’re all different. If I can cheat and use drop down boxes rather than flicking through pages then bringing up web pages, then I will. I like Agent Hunter. You can have a try with it before subscribing, you are just restricted on the information you can see on the agents it brings back, so it might be worth your having a nosy around. I’m glad I did.
This is a really useful post, Rebecca. Thank you! 🙂 xx
I’m glad you liked it Elle. It was really easy to use. I need easy or I’m flummoxed!
I have used this site too. It was good for narrowing down all agents who except memoir submissions . Really liked it.
It’s good isn’t it. Great to find something so user friendly when doing something so stressful!
Rebecca – Thanks for the honest and thorough review. It does sound like a useful site! I may check it out.
It was really great to use Margot. Especially when looking for something so important.
Both agents and publishers? That is complete.
It’s a comprehensive site!
This looks useful and is obviously very reasonably priced, too! Thank you for highlighting it!
Once I’d had a nosy I was really glad to have been approached!
I like the idea that it is a digital and hopefully constantly updated digital version of ‘the yearbook’. If I was looking for an agent I would choose this over ‘the yearbook’. I’m surprised the cost of membership is so inexpensive…that would have put me off I think, so it’s probably a good idea they let people have a ‘try before you buy’ policy.
The yearbook does have some extra stuff in it though, but if all you’re using it for is to look for agents, this site is comprehensive. I was happy with it.
It sounds like a very useful website, that I will have to check out. Thank you for sharing. I awarded you the sunshine award on my blog.
Thank you Murees!
Sounds like just the kind of thing I’ve been looking for. A Duotrope like website. I always baulk at paying subscriptions. How many subscriptions can one person have? I subscribe to Duotrope because I trust it and I use it regularly, and have done for many years. It’s an excellent resource for, I think, only $5 a month. I found a publisher for Loathe Yor Neighbor on Duotrope. I’ll have a gander at Agent Hunter because I persist with the possibly fanciful notion that an agent is what I need to move to the next level, whatever that is.
The site is definitely worth having a look around!
I was interested in your review, and then I realised it was an English site – bonus!
Very helpful review post – thanks Rebecca. I am now officially a fan of your blog.