We all know the old Catch 22: in order to get published you have to have an agent; in order to get an agent you have to have been published. Sounds like an impossible dilemma, but there is hope for aspiring writers.

First of all, I don’t believe the first statement is entirely true. I believe that writers can get published without agent representation, and not just at the little publishing houses but at the big publishing giants as well. So what’s the secret? The secret is two-fold.

First, you mus