You need to be canny, careful, and assiduous in your search for an agent or a publisher, but—this bears repeating—the most important thing you can do for yourself is read the market.

找经纪人和出版商的时候，你得精明，小心，勤快，但是——好话不怕多讲一一你能为自己做的最重要一点就是要了解市场。