Submission Sunday REDUX: How to Find Literary Agents to Query

Tip: Look for the literary agents who have moved to Threads and Bluesky

Happy Sunday, writers! Thank you for support this year!

Before we get going with this week’s redux post on how to find literary agents, I wanted to remind you that I help writers get their work out into the world—mostly through author websites, but also through coaching and editing. If you’re a subscriber to this newsletter (paid or not), I’m offering 10% off all services through December 31. Send me an email!

(Side note: If you don’t feel like the perfect query letter is coming easy to you, just a reminder that I work with writers all the time to make that process more palatable. Scroll to Writers Ready to Query Agents here.)

Ok, here we go. Since our December 15 redux post on writing your best query letter, I’m sure you’ve all got the perfect query letter ready to go. Now all you need is the perfect agent!

Unfortunately, very few publishers will consider unagented submissions (although this state of affairs is shifting a bit—more about this trend in a future post for paid subscribers). Let’s start with a reminder that different agents will want different submissions for different genres. In general (although the final say will be found at the agent’s website):

• Fiction: Query letter (followed by full manuscript)

• Nonfiction (narrative/journalism): Start with query letter and/or book proposal

• Memoir: Start with query letter (followed by book proposal and/or full manuscript)

Once you have these materials prepared, it’s time to find your perfect(-ish) match. So where do you find agents and how do you decide which agents to query? In this post originally sent out on Sunday, April 16, 2023, I’ll break down some search methods, but if you have any other suggestions, please add them in the comments. I’ve updated the upcoming deadlines at the end to be current.