Just that really. I've written a novel - well, actually two although the second is still at first draft stage - however I keep talking myself out of actually submitting it to agents. The reason is my biography is sorely lacking.
I haven't done a creative writing course. I don't do writing as a living (e.g. a journalist). I haven't won literary competitions and don't know anyone who could "refer" me.
I can't even compensate with experience in the genre I'm writing - a historical novel. Have I done my research? Absolutely! But I'm not a Professor in Medieval Studies, an archaeologist or a museum curator. I don't even have an A Level in History (I loved the subject, but got steered towards the sciences by the careers advisor).
Everything I read on and hear tells me this stuff matters - partly because a risk-averse literary industry wants to be sure you've got pedigree and partly because (in the case of the latter) it helps them market you. I've even read JK Rowling largely only got her agent through luck - that her manuscript only got read because one of the agency staff took it home on a whim to read to her kid. The kid loved it and this then prompted her to tell the actual agent to take a look. If she hadn't, who knows? Maybe we wouldn't have heard of Hogwarts at all?
Is it actually worth me bothering to submit any novel I write to an agent? Should I just save myself the bother and just self-publish it as an e-book instead?