Being your own agent

I have become a little addicted to Salt's 'Office Life' Blog, and their 100 words of advice:

There are almost no agents in poetry and short story publishing, this is because they can’t make any money out of the genres. You’ll have to work as your own agent in finding the right press. A common mistake in pitching books is poor research. Sending books to publishers you’ve never bought from, whose books you don’t know well, is like choosing a spouse by sticking pins in a telephone directory and ringing to ask if they’ll marry you. Get to know a list: its editors and authors and books. That includes actually buying stuff from your potential literary publishers.

'Being your own agent : know the list you are submitting to'

It's weird, because I actually did find love by sticking a pin in the yellow pages. Now I am married to a Drain and Pipe cleaning company just off Dixon Blazes Industrial Estate, so, keep positive.