Are you looking for a list of literary agents that accept unsolicited material? The following compilation is especially for you.
1. Daniel Lazar
Daniel Lazar is a senior agent at Writers House, a highly successful literary agency headquartered in New York. He has more than 15 years of experience under his belt and is currently seeking new clients. He represents both fiction and non-fiction for the adult, young adult, and middle grade markets, and he particularly enjoys historical fiction, literary fiction, women’s fiction, thrillers, narrative non-fiction, memoirs, graphic novels, and illustrated books. His clients include Chandler Baker, Jennifer McMahon, Rachel Hartman, Hannah Kent, and Tish Cohen, among others.
Daniel accepts submissions via email or post. Submissions must include the manuscript’s first five pages, as well as a query letter. He responds to every query sent to him. For more information, you can check out Writers House’s submission guidelines here.
2. Rebecca Friedman
Rebecca Friedman is the founder of the Los Angeles-based Rebecca Friedman Literary Agency. Prior to launching RFLA in 2013, she worked at Sterling Lord Literistic, the Hill Nadell Agency, and Greenburger Associates. She is currently open for submissions. At the moment, Rebecca is most interested in commercial and literary fiction, particularly women’s fiction, contemporary romance, suspense, and young adult fiction. She is also interested in memoirs and journalistic non-fiction.
Should you wish to query Rebecca, you can send her a query letter, a short brief, and the first chapter of your manuscript. All submissions must be sent via email.
3. Katherine Boyle
Katherine Boyle is the founder of Veritas Literary Agency, a San Francisco-based literary agency established in 1995. Before starting Veritas, Katherine worked at various agencies and publishers in the Bay Area. She is a member of the Association of Authors’ Representatives and the Authors Guild. Her areas of interest include literary fiction, commercial fiction, historical fiction, fantasy and speculative fiction, women’s fiction, young adult and middle grade fiction, and narrative non-fiction.
If you are interested in being represented by Katherine, you can send her a query via email. Your query must include a cover letter, a one-page summary, and the first five pages of your manuscript. Most queries are responded to within four to six weeks. For more information, check out Veritas Literary Agency’s submission guidelines here.
4. Rebecca Podos
Based in Boston, Rebecca Podos is a literary agent at the Rees Literary Agency. She is also a published author. In the middle grade and young adult categories, Rebecca enjoys horror, romance, fantasy, magical realism, historical fiction, and everything in between—as long as the voice is strong and the story features unforgettable characters. She is also interested in adult science fiction, fantasy, romance, and LGBTQ+ fiction. Her clients include Ashley Herring Blake, Reina Luz Alegre, Rebecca Kim Wells, and Rin Chupeco, among others.
Rebecca currently accepts submissions via email. Queries must include the first three chapters of the manuscript. Due to the volume of submissions she receives, she is only able to respond to queries she is interested in.
5. Jennifer Laughran
Based in Chicago, Jennifer Laughran is a senior agent at the Andrea Brown Literary Agency. She specializes in young adult and middle grade fiction, and she is drawn to books that have vivid settings and memorable characters. She also represents graphic novelists and illustrators. Her clients include Daniel Pinkwater, Calef Brown, Linda Urban, Stephanie Oakes, Erin Lange, Kate Messner, and Gareth Hinds.
If you are interested in querying Jennifer, you can fill out her query form. The form will require you to paste the first 10 pages of your manuscript. Please note that Jennifer only accepts submissions by form, and queries sent to her via email will not be read.
6. Brooks Sherman
Brooks Sherman is a Brooklyn-based agent from Janklow & Nesbit Associates. He represents both fiction and non-fiction authors, and his interests range from the speculative to the literary—particularly horror, psychological thrillers, and fantasy. He is also interested in adult non-fiction in the areas of pop culture, humor, narrative non-fiction, and politics, as well as middle grade fiction of all genres.
Interested in querying Brooks? You can send your cover letter, synopsis, and the first 10 pages of your manuscript to Janklow & Nesbit via email or post. Make sure you indicate that Brooks is the agent you are interested in querying. For more information, check out these submission guidelines.
7. Marisa Corvisiero
Marisa Corvisiero is the founder of the Corvisiero Literary Agency, a full-service literary agency based in New York. She specializes in adult fiction and non-fiction, middle grade and young adult fiction, and picture books. She has a diverse range of interests, but she particularly enjoys stories that feature unexpected twists, conspiracies, time travel, superpowers, and marginalized voices.
Should you wish to submit your work for Marisa’s consideration, you can fill out her query form and paste the first five pages of your book. Both new and established authors are welcome to submit. For more details, you can check out the Corvisiero Literary Agency’s submission guidelines here.
8. Kimberly Witherspoon
Kimberly Witherspoon is one of the founding partners of Inkwell Management, a Manhattan-based literary agency. She has been in the industry for more than 15 years, and in those years, she has represented many bestselling and critically acclaimed authors. Kimberly is interested in chick lit, commercial fiction, women’s fiction, and literary fiction.
Interested authors may query Kimberly via email, specifying her name in the subject line. The email must include a query letter and the first two chapters of the manuscript. If she is interested in reading more, she will respond to the query within two months. For more information, take a look at Inkwell Management’s submission guidelines here.
9. Irene Goodman
Irene Goodman is the founder of the Irene Goodman Literary Agency. Throughout her career, she has sold more than 1500 books, and her clients regularly get featured on the bestseller lists of the New York Times, USA Today, and Publishers Weekly. Her areas of interest include upmarket fiction, thrillers, young adult and middle grade fiction, historical fiction, mysteries, and more. She is also interested in non-fiction in the areas of music, lifestyle, science, and pop culture.
Irene accepts submissions via email. She prefers that the first 10 pages of the manuscript be at the top of the email’s body, followed by the synopsis and the query letter.
10. Annelise Robey
Annelise Robey is a literary agent working at the Jane Rotrosen Agency. She has been with JRA since 1995, and she proudly represents bestselling authors of historical fiction, women’s fiction, romance, fantasy, mystery, suspense, and young adult fiction. She takes pride in working closely with her clients and helping them achieve their dreams.
Annelise accepts submissions by form only. Make sure you include a brief synopsis and the first three chapters of your manuscript. Find more information on submitting a query by checking out JRA’s submission guidelines here.
11. Stephanie Delman
Stephanie Delman of Greenburger Associates is a literary agent specializing in adult fiction. She is currently looking for literary fiction, upmarket women’s fiction, book club fiction, psychological thrillers, literary mysteries, near-historical fiction. She particularly loves stories that weave the past with the present, multi-generational family sagas, and genre-bending novels.
To query Stephanie, send her a brief letter and the first few chapters of your manuscript via email. She usually responds to queries within four to six weeks, but due to the volume of submissions she receives, she is unable to respond to every single one.
12. Mitch Hoffman
Mitch Hoffman is a senior agent at the Aaron M. Priest Literary Agency. He represents authors of fiction and non-fiction, and his clients include Elvis Duran, Hilary Davidson, John Fried, David Pepper, and David Ewing Duncan, among others. He is interested in crime fiction, thrillers, suspense, and literary fiction, as well as memoirs, narrative non-fiction, pop culture, current events, history, and politics.
Should you wish to query Mitch, you can email him a one-page query letter, along with the first chapter of your manuscript. Check out the Aaron M. Priest Literary Agency’s submission guidelines for additional information.
13. Victoria Sanders
Victoria Sanders, founder of the Victoria Sanders Literary Agency, is a successful literary agent with more than 25 years of experience in the industry. Her clients include Karin Slaughter, Jeff Chang, Nick Chiles, Denene Millner, Sarah Pekkanen, and Cecelie Berry, among others. Victoria is interested in commercial fiction, literary fiction, thrillers, suspense, memoirs, historical fiction, and women’s fiction, as well as non-fiction on parenting, relationships, history, art, spirituality, and more.
To query Victoria, submit a brief description of the project and the first three chapters of the manuscript via email. Check out her agency’s submission guidelines for more information.
14. Lisa Grubka
Lisa Grubka is one of the literary managers at Fletcher & Company. She graduated from the University of Michigan and joined Fletcher & Co. in 2012. She now represents a diverse list of authors, including several New York Times bestsellers and a National Book Award winner. In fiction, she is seeking literary suspense, upmarket, literary, historical, and young adult fiction. In non-fiction, she is interested in current events, cookbooks, lifestyle, science, and narrative non-fiction. She is not interested in science fiction, horror, romance, or picture books.
Query Lisa by sending a brief synopsis and the first 10 pages of your manuscript via email. Make sure you mention Lisa’s name in the subject line, and do not query other agents from Fletcher & Co. at the same time. Learn more by checking out the agency’s submission guidelines here.
15. Laney Katz Becker
Laney Katz Becker has been an agent at Massie & McQuilkin since 2013. Prior to joining MMQ, she worked as an agent at Folio Literary Management and Markson Thoma Literary Agency. She is also an award-winning author. Laney specializes in book club fiction, upmarket women’s fiction, historical fiction, thrillers, suspense, memoirs, and narrative non-fiction. She doesn’t represent science fiction, romance, fantasy, young adult fiction, or children’s books.
You may query Laney by sending her an email including a bit of information about yourself and your project, as well as the first chapter of your manuscript. Check out the submission guidelines on MMQ’s website for more information.
16. Sally Wofford-Girand
Sally Wofford-Girand of Union Literary is a hands-on literary agent who loves discovering new talent. Her areas of interest include women’s issues, cultural studies, literary fiction, history, and memoirs. Some of the authors on her list are Jenny Offill, Laura McHugh, Kim Barnes, Ellen Sussman, and Isabel Rose.
Sally accepts submissions via email. All submissions must include a query letter, a proposal, and a few sample pages. Check out Union Literary’s submission guidelines to learn more.
17. Deidre Knight
Deidre Knight founded The Knight Agency in 1996, and since then, she has built a robust list of bestselling clients, including Gena Showalter, Don Piper, Beth M. Howard, and Bryan Anderson. At the moment, Deidre is seeking LGBTQ+ fiction and non-fiction, as well as finance-focused non-fiction geared towards millennials. She is also interested in voice-driven and emotionally compelling novels. You can find more information on the kinds of books Deidre is looking for here.
To query Deidre, fill out her query form and paste the first 10 pages of your book in the space provided.
18. Dan Conaway
Dan Conaway of Writers House represents a number of bestselling and award-winning authors. He specializes in thrillers, suspense, true crime, and investigative journalism. His clients include Greg Iles, Megan Abbott, Darcy Lockman, Peter Carlin, and Joseph Finder. Dan is currently looking for upmarket horror, suspense, and thrillers, as well as contemporary literary fiction. In non-fiction, he is drawn to big themes and thought-provoking subjects, particularly true crime, pop psychology, popular history, pop culture, and narrative non-fiction.
If you are interested in working with Dan, you can query him via email. Fiction submissions must include a query letter, a brief synopsis, and a sample chapter. Non-fiction submissions must include a query letter, information about the author, and a proposal.
19. Joanna Volpe
Joanna Volpe, president of New Leaf Literary & Media, represents all kinds of fiction but has a soft spot for stories that feature fantastical and speculative elements. In non-fiction, she is most interested in pop culture, travel, food, and narrative non-fiction about powerful women. Her clients include Veronica Roth, Danielle Paige, David J. Peterson, and Leigh Bardugo, among others.
Joanna accepts queries via email. Make sure you include Joanna’s name and the category your manuscript falls under in the subject line. In the body of your email, paste up to five sample pages. For more information, check out New Leaf Literary’s submission guidelines here.
Hiten Vyas is the Founder and Managing Editor of Writing Tips Oasis.