Someone advised: “while an agent can help you place your book, getting one is hard so you might as well submit unagented to publishers as well.”
No, no, no!
I have a close friend who has been a successful and respected literary agent for twenty years. Think through this scenario: reading through the slush pile, she finds a manuscript she likes. She contacts the author.
Agent: Hi, I like your book. We’ll gladly take you on. I thought of sending it to Faber first, they usually like that kind of work.
Author: Uh… I’m sorry, Faber has already read the thing, and said no.
Agent: (long pause) I see. Well, I though of Pan Macmillan next…
Author: Uh, sorry… they said no, too.
Agent: (long pause). I see. Pan Macmillan have already read the thing, have they? Well, they won’t want to read through it a second time, will they? Okay, Cannongate was third on my list of possible publishers…
Author: Look, I’m sorry, but Cannongate has read it, and they said that while they like it, they’re not in a position to publish it.
Agent: Well, as you seem to be very practised at sending your book out on fruitless errands, maybe you’d like to continue doing that. I have absolutely no chance of interesting any publisher who has already wasted its valuable time reading through your book. They are hardly going to want to do that twice, are they? And now I find that I have wasted my time reading your book. It took the best part of a working day. Good bye! And don’t try to contact us again!