One of the biggest ruts aspiring authors often find themselves in comes right between finishing their book and having it published. All too many authors get stuck at finding a literary agent mostly because they don't know where to start or they are not even sure whether or not a literary agent is the right way to go. While knocking on the doors of top literary agents may seem like a lot of work and if getting signed by one seems like an impossibility, keep in mind that things always seem worse before they get better, especially in the publishing world. If you need help finding a literary agent for your work, here are some great tips to follow to get you closer to the right one:

• Get to work on your book. While it is a good idea to start your search for top literary agents way before you even finish your manuscript, it is always better to present your prospect publishing partner with a complete work—something they can see the potential and gauge the success of.
• Research agents who are most likely to be interested in your work. No one agent fits all. As a matter of fact, agents have a specific niche or a favorite genre that they tend to focus on. You will have a better chance at getting picked up by an agent who is actually interested in the kind of work that you do. Don't shoot your emails blindly in the hopes of an agent taking your bait. Instead, be more purposeful and intentional in your search.
• Be interesting in your query letter. In the world of publishing, everything is an elevator pitch. No agent will want to sit through a novel-size query letter or a synopsis that takes too long to get to the point. Keep things short, concise, but impactful and always strive to capture your voice as well as the essence of your work in your communications. Sooner or later, you will find an agent who will fall in love with your work and want to be a part of it.

Now that you are closer to being a published author, you should also start thinking about rights management and promotion for your work. PubMatch is an excellent resource to help you with everything there is to do about expanding and scaling your ability to make the most out of your intellectual property, mainly through building connections with other publishers, agents, authors, and other industry players.