Agent Friday: Chris Kepner

Chris Kepner, a new agent in the past two years, has begun blogging recently. Though his blog, The Writer's Advocate is relatively new, it looks like one to visit in the months to come.

A member of the team at Victoria Sanders & Associates, Kepner is busy making deals, and answering questions on his blog.

One of the big questions for pre-published writers is when to begin looking for an agent. How do you know you're ready for that next step, so you won't be flooded with standard rejections? Kepner weighs in on this question in Getting Started.

Kepner recently began a series of interviews with publishing professionals. The first one is a fascinating look at how an editor works with an author, and makes sure to represent the author's vision to the publishing house. A real eye-opener for me. Make sure to take a look at The People of Publishing.

If you've got questions you'd like Kepner to ask a publishing professional in a future interview, post it in the comments of his post Have Your Questions Answered By an Editor at a Major Publishing House.

Ebooks and digital rights have brought all kinds of questions into the minds of everyone involved with publishing. Find out Kepner's take on some of these issues in The Shirky Principle.

Do you even need a literary agent? What do they do for you that you couldn't do for yourself? Read The Evolution of the Literary Agent, and find out a few things you didn't know.

On Wednesday, I reviewed Donald Maass' book, The Career Novelist. Kepner's post, Real Careers Are Built Stepwise, fits right in.

And finally, are you terrified of writing--or sending--your query? Find some reassurance in Scared of the Query.

For a little more information, read Kepner's guest blog on The Debutante Ball, where he talks about social media.