5. Having a contract or a potential contract on the table means there is a deadline for an agent to get back to you, and you’re already an attractive client.

6. Once your script is submitted, don’t nag. Give a nudge after about 8 weeks, and if you hear nothing after that, let it go. They’re too busy/not organized enough for you! And if you’re rejected – burn it ceremoniously and move on. Put it down to experience, reconsider your approach if you like, but be aware that agents take on very few writers, so it may be nothing actually to do with you or your work.

7. If an agent likes your script, they’ll probably offer a meeting. It is important to meet in person if you possibly can. If it works well, you will have a productive professional relationship for many years. You are interviewing them as much as them interviewing you. Can you be frank with them? Do you like them, and trust them? You need to be able to have strong discussions with your agent, and not necessarily always agree with each other, and come away still happy to be working together. Ask them about how they develop their writers’ careers over time. Listen to what they have to say but equally, if they’re pushing you down a path you’re not interested in, alarm bells should be ringing. The big questions for you to be asking yourself are a) do you think they’re well enough connected to get your work widely seen, b) do they share your vision for your career and get what your writing is about and c) are they interested in the longterm?

8. Be clear about yourself and have a mission statement about who you are and what stories you want to tell. Agents need to be able to pigeonhole you to be able to sell you. I don’t mean limit yourself but if your ambition is to write for major post-watershed drama series, because you love gritty drama and well told crime stories then say that. If you would like to work towards writing major thriller feature films, say that too.

9. Never give up, and get on with being a writer. Get involved with the sort of writing you like – either writers groups through your local theatre (and if there isn’t one, start one), or online communities such as Raindance. Apply for schemes through BBC Writersroom, or to Rocliffe New Writers Forum. The blogosphere is full of interesting blogs and supportive communities. Make short films, or put on plays in pub theatres, or submit radio plays. If you love writing, do it. Word will get around!

Jean Kitson is a script and directors’ agent at MBA Literary and Script Agents Ltd, who represent writers from Oscar nominees to people with their first theatre commission. She works particularly with new writers, writer/directors and children’s writers, as well as representing a number of writers working in mainstream UK drama.

How to get an agent