Querying & Literary Agents

Association of American Literary Agents

https://aalitagents.org/

Resource to identify literary agents who adhere to a code of ethics. Includes a search by agent name or agent category feature.

Jane Friedman

https://janefriedman.com/

Jane Friedman is a trusted industry resource for all things publishing. Includes recommended resources.

Manuscript Wishlist

http://www.manuscriptwishlist.com/

Find agents and what they're looking for. You can also research via social media, by using the hashtag #mswl

There is also a secondary site https://mswishlist.com/ where agent/editor/publisher #mswl posts are compiled (i.e. you don't need a social media account and it filters to just the #mswl posts by agents/publishers).

Publisher's Marketplace

https://www.publishersmarketplace.com/

This is a fee-based site to research agent sales, what's happening in the publishing world, and other author/agent/publisher affiliations. It's easy to cancel or put on hold at any time. See who is selling what, well, to who, and where.

Query Shark

https://queryshark.blogspot.com/

How does one write a query letter? Often touted as more difficult than writing the novel itself, it takes time and creativity to whittle down your novel into a blurb to entice a word weary agent into reading more. The lovely Janet Reid aka Query Shark website provides more examples than one can shake a fish at. Janet also kept a blog for ongoing writerly topics: https://jetreidliterary.blogspot.com/ . Note: the writing community lost a publishing world legend when literary agent Janet Reid passed away early 2024. It's unclear if these sites will remain available, but while they are still up, they're worth their weight in gold.

Query Tracker

https://querytracker.net/

If you're ready to launch your novel out into the world (Congrats!), you may want to consider finding a literary agent. Query Tracker has free and paid options when you can create an account, and may assist the spreadsheet adverse writers out there research and track agents for your book.

Writer Beware

https://www.sfwa.org/other-resources/for-authors/writer-beware/

There are some shady actors out there, from schm-agents to vanity presses to serial publishing websites. Be aware of the many pitfalls writers may encounter out in the writerly world.