Dear Geist,

Why do literary agents’ requirements vary so much? My writing buddy and I both got our first books accepted by agents in the same week. Sweet! But my friend only had to submit a short summary of his book (non-fiction), a ten-page writing sample and a one-page author info sheet. To sell my novel, I had to send the agent a full draft and notes on potential buyers, as well as an author info page. What gives?

Dear Fabio,

. A typical non-fiction book is signed up on the basis of a core proposal, which is then tweaked for ideal market position before the sentence-to-sentence writing begins. In the final totting up, you and your friend will both have written harder, longer and better than you knew you could!