The Crowd:

“When the bicycle was introduced to society, book publishers at the time felt that people would stop reading in favor of this new form of entertainment,” offered Kelly Sonnack, a literary agent associated with the Andrea Brown Agency.

Sonnack, a young, attractive blond who looks more like a member of the Newport Beach lifeguard squadron than a tough and seasoned agent, had come to Corona del Mar on Saturday evening to address the local intelligentsia. Make no mistake, looks can be deceiving.

Sonnack joined two additional literary agents — Elise Capron, representing the Sandra Dijkstra Agency, and Sally Van Haitsma, representing the Castiglia Agency — for an evening organized by local book promoter and radio celeb Barbara DeMarco-Barrett.

An overflow crowd of both professional writers and those in search of publication came to the weekend round table at the Stellar Scape Gallery on East Coast Highway in Corona del Mar. DeMarco-Barrett appropriately labeled the event “An Evening with the Agents.”

Sonnack’s comment about the bicycle was targeted at those who fear that the Internet will kill book publishing.

“Technology is evolving and there will be new ways to deliver literature. The Internet does not represent the end of the literary world,” Van Haitsma said.

Her recent books sales include “The Leisure Seeker” by Michael Zadoorian, published by HarperCollins, and “Wesley the Owl” by Stacy O’Brien, published by Simon and Schuster. Van Haitsma shared with the audience that she often receives more than 200 inquires a day from writers seeking representation. “I can usually tell if I’m going to like the material from reading the first page of a submission,” she said. “Actually, I can often tell from reading the first paragraph.”

All three agents agreed that it is essential for any writer working in any genre of fiction or nonfiction to present the cleanest and best work possible.

“Competition is tremendous,” said Capron, who represents literary fiction, short story collections and various forms of nonfiction, including memoirs. “It is critical that the writer’s query letter, which accompanies their submission, be creative and well-written and capture the attention of the potential agent.”