How to land a literary agent for teen authors?

[S.K.]

You get an agent the way all authors do, assuming you have a parent who will sign a contract in your behalf if an agent offers representation. If you don't, then there's no point in seeking an agent or publisher now.

You have a completed book, which is great, but I bet it's not yet as good as you can possibly make it. Your first step is to rewrite and polish it until it can’t possibly be improved. This may take years. If you merely have a completed novel you've gone over a few times, it's not ready, even if it's pretty damned good.

Put it away for six months, no peeking, while you do your agent homework. You can jot yourself notes, but you literally cannot read any of it. You will be amazed at both the ideas you get for improving it and the flaws and weaknesses which fresh eyes see six months later.

Next up, identify agents who have recently sold other novels like yours. ("Recently" means in the last two years or so.) Visit large bookstores. Note titles, authors, and publishers of the books in your genre.

Get online and try to determine which agent sold each book. (Search “Full Title” + agent. Also try “Author Name” + agent.) You can find other agents seeking work in your genre through “Writer's Market” and “Literary Marketplace” (US) or “Writers’ & Artists’ Yearbook” (UK). Check the publisher listings, too, which will include “agented submissions only” or not. (Maybe you don’t even need an agent.)

Research each agent. Find websites with career history, sales, personal bio, blogs, AAR membership, Twitter feeds, Facebook, etc. Determine whether they prefer email or regular mail for queries. Figure out who’s a good fit for you. Don’t be afraid to aim high. The worst that can happen is they say no. Your research should include a visit to Preditors and Editors and another to AbsoluteWrite.

Write a one-page query letter, tailoring it to individual agents based on the information you got from research, and send it to the few agents you'd most like to represent you. If the query letter is really good and you've done your homework well, at least some will ask for a partial or full manuscript. If none does, rewrite the query before sending out the next batch.

Remember, reputable agents charge the author NOTHING up-front. Some agents may deduct the costs of doing business (copies, mail, phone) from your first check, but nobody legitimate needs any money to get started. If they ask for any money, no matter what they say it's for, that's the announcement that you didn't do your research well enough. Say no and move on.