I had some free time this afternoon so I set myself to a task. I researched literary agent databases, found a promising source which wasn't behind a paywall, and then performed a full-search for agents who publish non-fiction music books who are actively accepting email queries and new clients. I found 69 resulting agents, then researched each one to build a database of potential matches for my book.
More than half of them had broken links to their listed websites so I had to reverse-search those entries to find their current active sites and contact information. I also documented any details about their fields of specialty which align with my writing so I can call attention to those elements in my queries. When I was reading about strategies for proposal and query-writing they said to personalize your message to stand out from other submissions and to show that you've done your homework on the agent.
Tomorrow I'll start drafting query letters for the 24 best matches I found today. Projects like this are far-healthier ways to make use of my idle time rather than scrolling mindlessly though social media. It felt good to accomplish something today.
Maybe I'll find a print publisher!
