Do Top Agents Read Their Slush?

Among the many dispiriting aspects of submitting a literary work for agent review is the suspicion that our carefully honed queries and snippets of manuscripts will never be seen by the actual agents to whom they're being sent.

Most agents find themselves drowning in a large "slush pile" of submissions from unpublished writers hoping to be discovered. Since we writers are quite aware that agencies employ assistants and interns to help with the workload, we tend to believe that these still "wet-behind-the-ears" post-grads are actually the ones who winnow the slush pile down to what their inexperienced eyes believe are potentially promising projects.

It sucks to think that the manuscript you spent years developing and have invested a considerable sum in being professionally vetted and edited was being judged by some neophyte fresh out of college. Since I'm restarting my querying effort this week--and for my own peace of mind--I decided to spend some time to find out if it's really true that top agents relegate slush pile duty to support staff.

And the good news is: they probably don't! To my surprise, almost all my sources indicated that even the most successful agents at least glance at all the submissions that come his or her way. This is succinctly explained by Mark Malatesta, a well-known book coach:

Most literary agents worry (like you) that a junior team member (even a well-trained one) might reject a good book. A bestselling book. As a result, the majority (90%+) of literary agents don’t delegate query and manuscript review.

He goes on to say: 

So, don’t worry about your talent being undiscovered due to the whims or inexperience of an assistant or intern. Nine times out of ten, agents are making the decisions. Not only are they (rightfully) paranoid about missing out on the next big book. They also, nine times out of ten, will tell you they enjoy discovering the next big book.

Not only is this reassuring to the writer, it also makes a lot of sense. In the end, I want to make sure that my book is being rejected by the very best!