Jeffrey Trachtenberg over at the WSJ has an interesting profile on Andrew Davidson (The Gargoyle, Doubleday, August), and how to court an agent.

When his first pitch to Eric Simonoff for The Gargoyle resulted in an encouraging rejection letter, he took the criticism to heart, rewrote his book and then resubmitted it.

Hoping to make an impression, Mr. Davidson printed a single paperback copy on his own and sent it to the agent. On the cover were these words: "Manuscript submission for Eric Simonoff, Janklow & Nesbit Associates." Bound inside was a letter to the agent. And on the back were several blurbs from Mr. Simonoff's original rejection letter. One read: "Shocking, riveting, evocative, and intellectually satisfying. You are really good and I think you know it."