Authors who aspire to getting picked up by a traditional publisher should find an agent first, given that about 80 percent of books from publishing houses are sold by agents. Agents are the ones with relationships with editors, developed carefully over the years. An agent knows what a publisher is looking for, and how to present an author and their work to a publisher But how do you get an agent, and what exactly is their role, apart from—of course—sending your work to the right publisher?