Since you’re looking into finding a literary agent and ended up here, I’m going to assume three things:
- You have a completed, proofread, edited, beta-read, multi-draft, polished-brighter-than-a brand-new-bowling-ball manuscript.
- You have written a phenomenal query after doing a ton of research that has been critiqued, rewritten, and polished the same as, if not brighter than, your manuscript.
- You’ve written a one-page synopsis of your work to send with your query + manuscript in case it’s requested on your agent of choices’ submission guidelines.
helpful when it comes to finding an agent that’s not only open for
queries, but is a good fit for you and your work.
#1 - QueryTracker.net
First on the list, we have QueryTracker.net, and there’s a reason it’s first. Out of all the resources I’ve used to find available literary agents, QueryTracker has remained my starting point.
Not only is it completely free to make an account and use, the amount of information you can get from clicking the agent tab in the top left corner is bar none to other sites I’ve used. The second you’re on the agent page, you’ll see a big list of names in alphabetical order according to their literary agency name, whether they’re currently open to queries, and what query methods they accept (snail mail, email, Query Manager submission form). After seeing if the agent is open to queries, all you need to do is click on their name and voila–you’ll find their website, twitter account, email, and sometimes blog. Keep in mind, not all of this information will always be available on QueryTracker for every agent, but in my experience, it will at the very least have their website/email, and from that you can find the rest.
Once you’ve dug a little deeper and checked out the agent’s Manuscript Wish List (more on that later), website, and bio to see if your work would be a good fit for them, all you have to do is send your query out, go back to QueryTracker, and check the box next to the agent’s name on the website. Checking their name will add them to your query list on the website and automatically track what date you sent the query and can even be set up to notify you after it’s been 90 days.
The ease of use, zero cost, easy list adds/tracking, and links QueryTracker provides to get more information on agents make it my easy #1 resource to use as a starting point when you’re looking for an agent. Not to mention, the site is regularly updated to provide the most accurate information, and often times you can even see comments on the agent page to see who has sent a query and whether or not the person that sent it got a response.
That said, ALWAYS be sure to cross-reference and check the agent’s literary website to make absolutely certain that they are in fact open to queries. The last thing you want to do is to annoy the literary agent of your dreams by sending them a query when they’re not even open to them. Not only will your query be instantly discarded, if they happen across it and remember your name, you’ve shown that you can’t follow direction.
#2 - Literary Agency Websites
Once you’ve found an agent that’s open to queries on QueryTracker, the next step you’ll want to take is to go to that agent’s agency website and read their bio there. Doing this will not only give you more information about the agent and whether or not they’d be a good fit for your work, it will give you a guarantee that they ARE, in fact, open to queries. Although QueryTracker is regularly updated, I’ve found that many times it is still behind the actual website of an agent. After all, there are thousands of agents to keep track of, and expecting one site to be instantaneous in updating every single one with the most recent status of submission acceptation is a bit outlandish.
Important Note: No matter what resources you use to find an agent, never rely solely on one to give you all the information you need. ALWAYS cross-reference whatever you find on them with at least two other sources to be sure you have the most accurate/updated information. It does you no good to send an email off to an agent’s old email address. Often times, agents will switch agencies and change up what they’re looking for. Querying is painful enough as it is; you don’t want to make things harder on yourself by sending your query off into the void to the wrong person.
Not only will going to the agent’s agency website give you the most up-to-date information on them, it will also give you the most accurate submission guidelines. Every agency differs in what they ask for when it comes to submitting a query. Some will want only your query in the body of an email, others will want the query, synopsis, and first ten pages, others still may want actual .docx(word) attachments (although, requesting attachments for a query is very rare).
Having a look at the website will also give you a good idea of what they’re currently representing/helping to get published and how recent the works they’ve had published are. If you go to a site and the most recent book deal they’ve helped an author get is from 2009, you might want to rethink the agent/agency. (Just use your best judgement.)
#3 - PublishersMarketplace.com
When it comes to a database that helps writers to figure out what works a literary agent has most recently helped publish, I can’t think of a better place than PublishersMarketplace.com.
After deciding that the agent you’ve hand-picked is a good fit, one of the most important things you can do is to see if they’ve recently had any book deals signed for their authors. If the last deal they made for a client was ten years ago and they haven’t been active in getting deals since, sometimes that’s a good sign that maybe you don’t want to go with that agent, after all.
An agent-author relationship is exactly that: a relationship. The last thing you want to do is to tie the knot with an agent that isn’t doing everything in their power to help you get a book deal with a publisher. Getting a book published is a long, long, long and slow process as it is. Chances are, you already spent countless days, months, even years (not to mention sleepless nights) slaving over your work to get it to the point of being ready for publishing (and you’ll have many more days like that when your editor gets back to you, I promise you), so you want an agent that is working hard to get your baby into the arms of a publishing house that is going to care for it like you do and give it the best chance of success.
Important Note: To get the most out of PublishersMarketplace, I’ve found that you do need to pay (at least for a month or two while you’re on an agent hunt) to see the most recent deals of many big agents. There are a lot of agents that are locked behind the site’s paywall for you to see the most up-to-date information on them. Even so, I have yet to pay for the site, and there are plenty of agents that aren’t locked behind a paywall, so simply search them in the bar at the top of the site and check if you need to pay to see their page or not. If you do need to pay, sometimes all it takes is a couple google searches and some digging to find recent deals they’ve helped to acquire for their authors (but it is extra work for you, and for ease of use, I don’t see a problem for paying for premium for a month or two while you search if you can afford it).
When you can be sure that the agent you’ve set your heart on has been active in getting recent deals for the authors they represent (I’d say within the past 1-4 years, at least, as a rule of thumb), then you can be confident that you’re sending your work to someone that’s going to do as much for it, and you, as they possibly can.
#4 - ManuscriptWishList.com
This is another great resource that could have easily been #2 or #3 on the list. But remember what I said about cross-referencing all your information? Well, that’s the reason I put it at #4, because this is the site I would recommend using to check what an agent’s preferences are for what kind of works they want to see against the literary website itself–just to get an a crystal clear picture.
If you’ve been on Twitter at all as a writer, no doubt you’ve seen #MSWL tossed around. Well, this website is the direct counterpart to that hashtag. On ManuscriptWishList.com, you’ll find everything that an agent you’re looking into querying is looking for in a book. Whether it’s a work with a dysfunctional family, heart-wrenching thrills, who-dun-it mystery, or anything you can think of. If an agent has a page on this site, they’ll list off what they want to see.
Now, although they may be looking for something specific, don’t get discouraged if your work isn’t exactly what they’re looking for. If you’ve written a contemporary YA which is a genre accepted by your agent of choice, but it doesn’t have the dysfunctional family they’re looking for, still feel free to send it to them. It could be your writing and narrative voice is so strong that it’s exactly what the agent didn’t know they needed, and I’ve heard of this happening.
In any case, using this website as a resource to get a taste as to what an agent that piques your interest is looking for, you can’t lose. It can also be a good research tool to get a sense of what’s hot in the current market. If 8/10 agents that are accepting YA are looking for books with found-family elements, then that’s a good indicator that it’s a popular trend and those types of books are selling. If you can find books with similar elements an agent is looking for and use them as comparisons in your query letter (so long as they’re relevant and applicable to your work), then you increase the chances of them taking a look at your manuscript and pages.
This site is completely free and it’s easy to find agents. Sometimes, however, I’ve found that it won’t have agents in the database that I’ve marked in QueryTracker as an interest, in which case going to the agent’s agency website is, again, your best bet, and why I put this site at #4.
#5 - Twitter
Is it any surprise that Twitter made it on this list?
When it comes to getting a feel for an agent’s personality and what they’re looking for, Twitter is a great place to check out. Although many agents aren’t really active on Twitter and it’s not necessarily a good indicator as to how active the agent is in the industry, Twitter has a few unique advantages over the other resources I’ve listed.
For one, Twitter is one of the only resources in which you can take preemptive action to prep yourself for when the agent of your dreams is open to queries again. All you need to do is follow them on Twitter (if you need to get started on Twitter, you can check out my blog about it here) and check out their profile every once in a while. A lot of the time, when an agent opens to queries again, they’ll post a #MSWL tweet to let potential writers know what they’re looking for and open the flood gates. Not only that, but if they are an agent that posts frequently, it gives you the chance to make yourself familiar to them before you even query. If they see your name time and again as you like/comment on their posts (but please don’t be a stalker or get excessive), then when they see your name pop up in their inbox, they may be more inclined to request pages. That being said, I’m a firm believer that good writing will always trump familiarity.
Second, Twitter is the only resource that I know of when it comes to finding agents where the agents can actually find you. Pitch contests are constantly happening on Twitter, and I’ve gotten both partial and full requests from participating in these contests. If you’re tired of hand-picking agents and querying into the void, then hop on Twitter and put your pitch out into the world. There is literally no downside to participating, and if an agent likes your pitch, you can instantly get into their inbox and increase your chances of a partial or full request because you already know that they’re interested in the concept of your work.
So what are you waiting for? Stop doubting yourself and your work. Make a Twitter account, follow that dream agent, and participate in that pitch contest. There’s no better way to get your foot into an agent’s door than to have them invite you over themselves.
#6 - Google
Last on the list, but certainly not least, we have old reliable. The search engine giant. Google.
Some of the best agents and information I’ve found in my querying journey has been through blogs found on Google. By simply searching “literary agents currently accepting queries in 2022,” chances are, you’ll find plenty of blogs that list off 10+ leads to agents that may be accepting queries in your given query year.
The thing about Google is that you can be as specific as you want, and in all likelihood, you’ll find agents relative to what you’re looking for. More than a few times, I’ve started my agent hunt with a search like “Canadian literary agents open to queries in 2022” or “YA literary agents open for queries”, and gotten leads on agents to research.
If you start off with Google, the main thing, again, is to cross-reference what you find in blogs, websites, etc. using the other resources I’ve listed above. A lot of the time, the articles you’ll find might be outdated, and the agents listed on them may no longer be open to queries
That’s all there really is to say about Google. I don’t think anyone reading this needs me to explain anything else about it. Just think about the kind of agents you want to find, type your question into the search bar, and then sift through until you find some good ones and check them using the other sites I’ve listed.
Conclusion
No matter what order you use these resources to find an agent, as long as you’re thorough and smart about your research, you can’t lose. There are, of course, other resources I may not have mentioned here, but again, these are the sites I’ve found to be the best tools for me. If you use them, too, I guarantee you’ll find them to be helpful in your own hunt for the literary agent of your dreams.
If you enjoyed this blog and found the information helpful, consider signing up for my newsletter. Not only does it help me out a ton to stay in touch with all of you (and a great way to show your support for me writing informational blogs like this one), you’ll get to participate in future contests and giveaways, and even get a free ebook of Book I in my upcoming fantasy trilogy on release.
As always, above all, take care of yourselves and never give up. Stay strong in the query trenches, I’ll see you there!
Cheers!
-M.F. Senden
