Putting your work "out there" to be ripped apart, rejected or thrown into a slush pile somewhere is no easy task.  We toil over which words to use, which order to put them in and how to make it all flow in a grammatically correct fashion.  This isn't easy for a lot of writers, despite how easy they may make it look to their peers.

When it comes to searching out literary agents, many fiction (and nonfiction writers, for that matter) throw in the towel and choose an alternate route: print on demand (POD) or self publishing.  Though this works for some, it may not work for others.  We'll save that for anothe discussion.  For those who choose not to embark upon this path, I offer these guides to help you become your own agent:

• How to be a Literary Agent: An Introductory Guide to Literary Representation, by Richard Mariotti and Bruce Fife.  (1995)  If you're interested in setting up a business as a literary agent, this book offers you practical instruction and how-to information about this pursuit.  Those interested in representing themselves, though, will also benefit from this resource.
• How to be Your Own Literary Agent: An Insider's Guide to Getting Your Book Published, by Richard Curtis. ((2003) Richard Curtis has been an agent for more than thirty years and, in this practical guide, he teaches you everything he knows about the process from beginning to end.  A must have!

If you're not interested in representing yourself, though, there are some very excellent guides available about the publishing industry.  Here's what's on my shelf:

• The Career Novelist: A Literary Agent Offers Strategies for Success, by Donald Maas. (1996)  You may be a seasoned writer or you may be just starting out.  Either way, this published author (of fourteen novels) offers instruction from both sides of the table: from an agent's point of view and from that of an authors.  This is very beneficial reading!
• The Everything Get Published Book: Everything and everyone you need to know to become a successfully published author! by Peter Rubie.  (2000)  I'm a big fan of "Everything" books, anyway, so I'm already biased about how good this book is.  Rubie breaks things down into the basics from the beginning to the end of the publishing process.  This book also offers multitudes of outside resources for writers to research and use to strengthen their skills and knowledge of the business.

Again, this is just a sampling of what's out there and I can't stress it enough: read, read, READ!