For Authors · Sep 2026 · 4 min read

How to Find a Literary Agent

Here is the part nobody tells you clearly: most big publishers will not read your book if you send it yourself. They only read books sent by literary agents. So if you want the traditional path, finding an agent is your real first step.

What an agent actually does

An agent reads your book, decides to represent you, then sends it to the editors they know at the big houses. When a publisher wants it, your agent negotiates the deal and takes about fifteen percent. A good agent earns that fee many times over.

Where agents really are

Look for agents who already represent books like yours. Their names are in the acknowledgments of books similar to yours, in agent directories, and in publishing market guides. Make a list of twenty. Then — and this is the part people skip — check each agent's own rules for what to send.

The one page that decides everything

Almost every agent asks for the same thing first: a query letter. One page. What your book is, who you are, why them. It takes an afternoon to write badly and weeks to write well — and it is the single page that decides whether your book gets read at all.

The honest part

Agents say no a lot, and mostly they do not reply at all. It is not about your book being bad — it is about how many books they see. The authors who get agents are the ones who keep going, and who get help making the book and the letter impossible to ignore.

If the agent hunt sounds exhausting, that is the part we carry. Say hello and we will tell you where your book stands.