Last night I attended the final of three excellent workshops at The Writer’s Center led by Zahara Heckscher on obtaining agents for publishing fiction and memoir. Jeff Kleinman, an agent at Folio Literary Management, was kind enough to call in and give us an informal snapshot of what agents are looking for. There are a lot of would-be writers out there clutching their manuscripts and feeling exasperated, so I thought it might be useful to give a quick report.

First, Jeff gave some technical advice concerning writing a query letter, which in essence, is to give a (very) short glimpse of what your book is about – the so-called elevator pitch – and an even shorter introduction about yourself. But here’s the challenge: the elevator pitch, the premise, must excite any prospective reader to ask you when the book will be available. Jeff looks for a premise that tantalizes the imagination and arouses curiosity. Second, and certainly no less important, the letter, and of course the book itself, must have an original voice, a style that depicts you. These are the two goals: a premise that begs to be read, and a voice that makes the author a distinctive individual. It’s not about collecting thousands of social media friends (though that doesn’t hurt!), or wallowing in self-pity and resentment that you’re not already what you dreamed to be. Think of Renoir or Van Gogh or Rembrandt, or any great artist. Their painting or sculpture is like a signature. And writers strive to be artists, at least the ones I know.

Jeff hit the nail on the head (I know, clichés are bad) as far as I was concerned, not only because I am writing both fiction and memoir, but because his assessment of what a writer should strive for resonated so precisely with my fifty years of experience as a research scientist. Typically young scientists writing their first articles for publication try to outguess the reviewers of the journal (so do many more mature scientists!). They focus on what they think others might like and accept. Writers too have told me they go to book stores to see “what’s hot” and use their books as templates for developing a story or the characters, and so on. I certainly don’t advocate ignoring what’s out there, but when it comes right down to it, you – the author – are the product. Anything modeled after what’s already there is, by definition, no longer novel. Discoveries in science are not repeating the results of others.

And the beauty of peering in instead of looking out, which I admit takes courage, is that no two people are alike. Beneath your skin, within your brain, are nuggets galore, a rich field of gold to mine. The mining takes time, it takes failure and disappointment, but it’s everything a writer (or scientist) ever really wants.

Does this sound like a fairy tale, or Pollyana singing in the wind? Well, try it. Try to be yourself. Jeff Kleinman, or another agent, may just like your voice. Remember, agents are looking for their voice as much as writers are looking for theirs. The playing field may be more level than you think.