Sunday, January 11, 2009

Searching for Literary Agents Online

After several months of researching and querying agents, I’ve compiled a helpful list of the top online places to get information on literary agents. This includes information on what they’re looking for, if they’re open to submissions, how to query them, how to look up books an agent has sold, etc. Plus, I’ve listed a few sites where you can go to check out the good and the bad about agents.

Agent Databases:

Agent Query — Database of Literary Agents (my personal favorite)
Self-Proclaimed “The internets largest and most current database of literary agents”
www.agentquery.com

QueryTracker — Agent Search and Submission Tracking
You must register to track submissions, but it’s free
www.querytracker.net

LitMatch — Agent Search and Submission Tracking
You must register to track submissions, but it’s free.
www.litmatch.net

The Association of Authors’ Representatives
www.aar-online.org

Publishers Marketplace — you don’t have to have a subscription to search an agent, however, it’s well worth the $20/mo to read about the publishing deals agents are making. I’ve added a few agents to my list from the Deal Tracker.
www.publishersmarketplace.com

Preditors & Editors
A great database that lists agents and potential agent problems. It’s always a good thing to check an agent against this list to see if there are reported problems.
www.anotherealm.com/prededitors/pubagent.htm

Writers Forums are always a good source for agent information. Here are a couple popular ones, but by no means the only ones:

Absolute Write Water Cooler – for all genres
Bewares and Background Checks
www.absolutewrite.com/forums/index.php

Verla Kay “The Blueboard” – for Children and Young Adult
www.verlakay.com/boards/index.php

To Search for books an agent has sold and may be mentioned in the book acknowledgements:

Google — Search in “Books” Category
Type in search box: “agent name of agent”

You can do the same at Amazon (www.amazon.com) or Barnes & Noble (www.bn.com)

General Information:

Science Fiction & Fantasy Writers of America — Writer Beware
General, but valuable information about agents, scams, questions to ask, links to more information etc.
www.sfwa.org/beware/

Guide to Literary Agents Blog
http://guidetoliteraryagents.com/blog/