The Hunt for Your Literary Agent

Hunting for a Literary Agent is Hard Work. It Takes Time. But it's Often Part of the Process of Getting Published.

If you’re a writer, and you’ve completed a novel, meaning you’ve written it, revised it, hopefully put it away for a while, re-read it, revised it some more, and gotten your manuscript to the point where you’re ready to put it out there for the world to see, there’s a good chance you’re going to send it to a literary agent. Literary agents are the middlemen and middle women between you and the trade publishers, often referred to as the Big 5—Penguin Random House, Simon & Schuster, Hachette, HarperCollins, Macmillan, and their imprints, meaning the smaller publishers beneath them (there are also . Of course, you can go a different route, e.g., self-publishing, using a vanity press, hitting the independent publishers like W.W. Norton, Graywolf, Akashic, Algonquin, and others, university presses, and so on—that’s your choice. There are plenty of options available to you. But if you’re wanting one of “the bigs” or the larger independents, an agent is a must.

In previous posts, I’ve talked about different strategies to put your best foot forward when seeking an agent, such as targeting your dream literary agent with your first chapter, how to write a compelling synopsis, how I got two literary agents on the same day offering to represent two different novels I’d written, and other blog posts about writing query letters and the pros and cons of self-publishing. Of course, none of the tactics or strategies you employ when seeking an agent mean you’re going to be successful. The hunt for your literary agent takes work. A lot of it. Great writers have gone years querying and going to conferences, reaching out to published friends and others, to no avail, and, like it or not, you may be no different. No, I’m not trying to discourage you, but it’s something you have to prepare yourself for so you don’t think it’s just you. I mean, of course it may be how you’re approaching the matter, but while we’re all dreamers, we must also be realists. There’s never a guarantee we’ll turn out to be published writers, or published by the bigs, but if you are, it’s going to be because you were represented by an agent.

So, where do you get the contact information for literary agents? The truth is, there are multiple ways you should go about it if you’re serious about giving yourself the best chance.

1.     Poets & Writers Literary Agent Database

2.     Your favorite books and/or authors’ acknowledgement pages, which are either at the front or the back of the books. Authors like to thank the people who help them, and there’s pretty much a hundred percent chance they’ll say something like, “and thank you to my wonderful agent, Robert Gottlieb.”

3.     Conferences can be a great place to meet literary agents. Agents attend conferences, and they often hold “pitch sessions” where you can pitch them your book.

4.     QueryTracker

5.     Writing Organizations

If you’ve attended or are going to attend an MFA program in creative writing, you’ll meet plenty of published and unpublished writers, and you’ll have more than a few opportunities to meet not only your favorite/famous authors but professionals in the publishing industry who you can network with and often have conversations with that’ll give you ideas and (if you’re lucky) contacts that’ll help you make progress in your search for representation. Remember, when you reach out to agents, take the time to research their interests, customize your query to their specific requirements, and make sure they’re even taking queries. They’re professionals in the business, and you need to be a pro as well. Keep your head up, do your best, and don’t ever give up. Getting published is a marathon, not a sprint, and the same holds true for getting a literary agent to represent your work. Good luck.

Cully Perlman is an author and blogger. He can be reached at Cully@novelmasterclass.com