How to get a literary agent, from finished draft to offer

To get a literary agent, finish and revise your book first (for a novel, the complete manuscript). Then build a list of agents who represent your genre and have recently sold books like yours, and send each one the query package their guidelines ask for, five to ten at a time. Cold queries work: agents find many debut clients in their slush pile. A legitimate agent is paid only a commission on what your book earns, so you never pay one to read your work or sign you.

What a literary agent does

An agent sells your book to publishers and runs the business around it. Many give editorial notes before submission. Then they pitch editors they know, run the submission (and an auction if several houses want the book), negotiate the contract, and sell the rights the publisher does not buy, such as translation, audio and film. Afterward they collect your payments and advise on the next book.

Agents work on commission. The publisher pays the agency, which deducts its share and forwards the rest to you, so the agent earns nothing until you do. The rates below are common practice, not law. The agency agreement you are offered sets the real numbers.

Do you need a literary agent?

You need one to sell to the largest publishers. The Big Five (Penguin Random House, HarperCollins, Simon & Schuster, Hachette and Macmillan) and most of their imprints rarely accept unagented submissions, apart from occasional open windows and invitations from editors met at conferences. Many small, independent and university presses accept submissions directly from authors, and self-publishing needs no agent at all. Without an agent you negotiate the contract yourself, so have someone who knows publishing contracts read it.

How to get a literary agent, step by step

1. Finish and revise the book

   For fiction, query only a complete, revised manuscript: an agent who likes your opening will ask for the whole book. Revise with notes from a few beta readers first.

   Nonfiction usually sells on a book proposal with sample chapters. Debut memoirists are often asked for the full manuscript.

2. Write the submission materials

   Draft the query letter, a synopsis, a one-line logline and two or three comparable titles, and polish your first pages until they are the best in the book. Set the manuscript in standard manuscript format so it is ready the day someone asks for it.

3. Research agents who fit

   Find agents who represent your category and have sold comparable books recently. Record their guidelines as you go.

4. Build a tiered list

   Sort the list into strong fits, good fits and possible fits. Many agencies ask you to query one of their agents at a time, and some treat a pass from one as a pass from all, so note each agency's policy.

5. Query the first batch

   Send five to ten queries, mixing a few top choices with strong fits, so a letter that is not working yet does not use up every favorite. Follow each agent's guidelines exactly.

6. Track, wait and adjust

   Log every query. If a batch brings no requests, rewrite the query letter. If agents request pages and then pass, look at the opening or the book itself before the next batch.

7. Take the call and manage the offer

   When an agent offers, ask your questions, ask for time, and tell every agent still reading your work before you decide.

Where to find literary agents

You want agents with evidence that they want books like yours: recent sales in your category, a stated wish that matches, or both.

• Acknowledgments pages. Pick ten recent books your ideal reader also loved (the best of them become your comp titles). Authors usually thank their agent by name in the acknowledgments.
• QueryTracker. A free database of agents with genres, guideline links, open or closed status, typical response times and a log for your queries. A paid Premium tier adds more detailed query data and timelines. Many agents take queries through QueryManager, a form run by the same team.
• Publishers Marketplace. A paid subscription whose deals database shows which agent sold which book to which editor, and when.
• Manuscript Wish List. The website and the #MSWL hashtag, where agents and editors describe the books they are looking for. Writers search it but do not post to it.
• Conferences and referrals. Many writers' conferences sell short pitch sessions with agents, and a writer friend who has read your book can mention it to their own agent. Either way, the agent will usually ask you to send a query and pages, so have the package ready.
• Agency websites. The final word on who is open to queries, what each agent represents and how to submit. Interviews and podcast appearances fill in taste.
• Verification. The member directory of the Association of American Literary Agents (AALA, formerly the Association of Authors' Representatives, or AAR) and Writer Beware, which tracks scams aimed at writers. AALA membership is voluntary, so a missing name is not a warning on its own.

What to record for each agent

Write a short note for each agent before you query. It forces you to check the fit, and it gives you the one honest line of personalization a query can carry.

What goes in the submission package

Every agent sets their own requirements, so send exactly what each one asks for. These are the usual pieces:

• When the guidelines say to paste pages into the email, paste them below the query. Many agents do not open attachments.
• Sample pages always start at page one, never at your favorite chapter.
• Use the subject line the agent asks for. If none is given, something like “Query: [TITLE], [genre]” is clear.

For the letter itself, see how to write a query letter or start from the query letter template. For the plot summary, see how to write a synopsis.

Tracking, response times and nudges

Querying runs on long silences, so keep a log from the first day: who, when, what you sent, their response window and the outcome.

Many agents answer queries within four to eight weeks, and others take three months or more. Many follow a “no response means no” policy, so silence after their stated window is a pass. Full manuscripts take longer, often two to three months.

Do not nudge on a query unless the guidelines invite it. Do nudge on a full manuscript once the agent's stated window has passed (about three months if none is given): a few lines, in the original email thread. One more check a month later is plenty.

Keep the querying files together

Querying produces paperwork: the manuscript, several versions of the query, a synopsis, research notes and the log. Keep it in one project folder per book. In Strokes, a project holds the chapters as documents beside the query materials, and saving a version of the letter before each batch shows exactly what each agent received. Export to Word or PDF covers agents who want an attachment. You can also add an agent's guidelines and your query to an AI Assistant chat and ask what is missing, then check its answer against the guidelines yourself.

The call and the offer

An offer usually starts with an email asking to set up a call. The call runs both ways: the agent wants to know you can revise and keep writing, and you want to know how they would sell this book and look after your career. Write your questions down.

Do not accept on the call. Agree a date for your answer, then email every agent who still has your query or manuscript, including anyone who asked for a revise and resubmit. One to two weeks is a common window. Never invent an offer to hurry agents along.

When you decide, send a warm yes to your choice and a short, gracious note to the rest. Read the agency agreement before you sign: many let either side end it with written notice (30 days is common), and the agent keeps earning commission on deals they made.

Red flags: fees and fake agents

Money flows from the publisher to the agent to you, never from you to the agent upfront. The AALA's Canon of Ethics bars members from charging reading fees and from making representation depend on the author paying them for editorial or other services.

Querying mistakes that cost requests

• Querying a draft. A pass is usually final for that project, so do not spend agents on an unrevised book.
• One package for everyone. Ignoring an agent's page count or attachment rule reads as not having looked.
• Sending the whole list at once. You lose the chance to fix a letter that is not working.
• Stale or giant comps. Agents generally prefer books from the last few years over classics and mega-bestsellers.
• Arguing with a rejection. Thank the agent or say nothing.