How to find a literary agent

If you want to have your book published by a publisher, chances are you are going to need an agent. Here’s how to find a literary agent.

Welcome to publishing, the land of books, writing, and agonizingly long waits. Pour yourself a drink. You’re going to need it.

In this post I’m going to give you an overview of how to find a literary agent, but I also offer online classes with exclusive resources that you can take at your leisure. They will help you every step of the way!

And if you need personalized help, I can help edit your query letter or you can book a consultation to ask questions.

How to find a literary agent

Here are the basic steps for finding a literary agent:

1. Write and polish a novel, memoir, or nonfiction book proposal
2. Learn about the publishing industry
3. Research literary agents
4. Write a query letter
5. Try to find a referral
6. Send your query letter in batches
7. Wait (and hope for an offer of representation)

Write (and polish) a novel, memoir, or proposal

If you are trying to find an agent and you are not a) a celebrity or b) a deity, you will need to have a finished, polished, and edited manuscript if you are writing a novel or memoir, and a finished and polished proposal and sample pages if you are working on a nonfiction project.

Did I mention the finished and polished part? Well, you missed a spot. Go back and polish some more.

Don’t count on a diamond in the rough sailing through the publishing process. Your project needs to be as good as possible before you start submitting to literary agents.

For further reading:

• How to write a novel
• How to edit a novel
• How to write a nonfiction book proposal
• How to find and work with a book editor
• Need personalized help? Reach out to me

Learn about the publishing industry

Okay, so you’ve finished and polished your manuscript so much it’s shining like the top of the Chrysler Building. Now it’s time to find an agent, right? Nuh uh. Time to learn about the publishing business.

Many aspiring authors feel that all they have to do is write a good book, sit back, and let the god of easy money and literary groupies take care of the rest. Not so! These days it’s just not enough to have written a good book. Treat this business seriously, because it is a business.

Before you embark on your quest for a literary agent, you should devote some time to familiarizing yourself with the business. Luckily there is more information out there on the Internet than ever before.

Read industry blogs, talk to booksellers, attend conferences, get to know authors. If you do this before you try to find an agent your odds of success will increase dramatically, because you will ooze professionalism and knowledge, qualities that bode well for future successful writers.

For further reading:

• How to publish a book (the traditional process)
• How to self-publish a book
• The Book Business: What Everyone Needs to Know (book by Mike Shatzkin and Robert Riger)
• Know your rights as an author
• What literary agents do
• Publishing FAQs

Research literary agents

Now you need to figure out who to submit to. There are three things you need to do as you are researching literary agents:

• Create a list of reputable agents who represent your genre
• Keep track of their submission guidelines so you know how to query them
• Gather tidbits you can use to personalize your query letter

You should try to target agents who represent your genre, but avoid agents who previously represented something extremely/eerily similar to yours.

Before you submit, Google the agent and the agency to try and find their submission guidelines. If you find it, go precisely by what they ask for. If you do not find any information online, I’d just email the agent directly.

A few good places to look for agents:

• The acknowledgments sections of your favorite books
• Recommendations from knowledgable author friends
• Databases such as Publishers Marketplace, the Association of Author Representatives, and Agent Query.

A good literary agent should have a strong track record of sales to major publishers. There are quite a few scam artists out there, so make sure you’re querying someone reputable.

For further reading:

• How to research a literary agent
• How to personalize a query letter
• Consider taking a chance on a young agent

How to find a literary agent with a query letter

Time to write a query letter.

A query letter is a short letter that describes your work. There are three things you want to accomplish with a query letter:

• Give an agent a sense of your plot (fiction/narrative nonfiction) or the challenge you’re helping to solve (prescriptive nonfiction)
• Show the agent you write well
• Provide your credentials (it’s okay if you don’t have credentials for novels and memoirs)

You really have to nail this letter. It’s absolutely crucial to make it as strong as you possibly can. Consult this comprehensive post on how to write a query letter, which has everything you need to know. I also offer query letter critiques.

Plan to adapt and personalize each query letter for each literary agent (yes, it’s a pain, but it helps improve your chances).

For further reading:

• How to write a query letter
• Example of a good query letter
• How to personalize a query letter
• A query letter template
• Why an author’s platform matters

Literary agent referrals

Once you have a list of agents you want to submit to and your query letter written, try to get a referral.

Referrals are a great way to find an agent, and for many of your more experienced/legendary agents they’re darn near essential. You’re coming in with an endorsement from someone the agent respects, you’ve got their attention, and you’re more likely to get a thorough look.

How do you get a referral? It’s kind of tricky. If you don’t have personal connections, the best way to do this is to get involved with writers communities (online or in person), fraternize with writers, and put yourself in a position where your work will be seen by other established writers.

Genuinely invest in those writers and you may find that they will invest in you. Trust me, they remember what it was like to be an aspiring writer.

Now, notice that I didn’t suggest the “e-mail random writers and ask for referrals out of the blue” approach, which has about a zero chance of success. These things have to evolve organically.

When you approach the agent, I’d highly recommend that you approach the agent directly (and mention the referral), rather than having someone else write on your behalf. Agents usually want to hear from the person they’ll potentially be working with, and they can check separately with the person who referred you if they feel the need.

For further reading:

• All about referrals and blurbs in query letters

Send out your query letter

Can’t find a referral? Now it’s time to send your query out wide. Don’t blanket the town with your query letter all at once, but don’t go one-by-one either.

I recommend that you have your query letter out on submission with roughly 7-10 agents at a time, which gives you some flexibility to adjust if your query letter is not working but doesn’t keep you waiting endlessly either. Receive a rejection? Send another one out. Don’t hear back within a month? Send another one out.

Only send to one agent per agency at a time, but if you receive a rejection it’s okay to query another agent at the same agency, if their submission guidelines don’t indicate otherwise. But wait a few months.

For further reading:

• The best strategy for sending query letters
• A guide to literary agent etiquette

Wait (and hope for an offer of representation)

After you send a query letter, you want an agent to request a partial or full manuscript for fiction, or the proposal for nonfiction.

Meanwhile, you wait and wait and wait some more. The submission process can take anywhere from a few weeks to a year or more.

Most literary agents have a “no response means no” policy so if you do not hear back within a month or two it’s safe to assume it’s a “no.”

And then, if an agent likes your manuscript or proposal, you get “the call” where they offer representation!

Now, chances are at this point you are going to be in a psychological state where you are ready to sign over a body part just to get an agent, and you will be predisposed to say “Yes, for crap’s sake, yes!!”

But take a step back, take your time, make sure you’re very comfortable with the agent before you enter into one of the most important business relationships you will have in your life. You and your agent are going to have to seriously trust one another, so ask questions, don’t be shy, and make sure you’re ready.

For further reading:

• How to handle an offer of representation
• What to do if an agent asks you for an “exclusive”
• How to work with a literary agent on edits
• When to follow up with a literary agent

More resources on how to find a literary agent

That’s it! That’s how to find a literary agent. Now that wasn’t so hard, was it? Oh. Wait. Yes, it was.

Here are some more resources that will hopefully help you along the way:

• 10 Commandments for the Happy Writer
• The publishing process in GIF form
• Writing and book publishing FAQs
• Book publishing glossary

Please share your questions with me about how to find a literary agent, and if I missed something I’ll update this post as needed.

Need help with your book? I’m available for manuscript edits, query critiques, and coaching!

For my best advice, check out my online classes, my guide to writing a novel and my guide to publishing a book.

And if you like this post: subscribe to my newsletter!

Art: Portrait of Father by Bruno Liljefors