18 Literary Agents Repping Debut Authors

Getting a literary agent is an important step toward finding publishing success of many authors. While several other paths exist (and representation does not guarantee publication), agents are a tried and true way for many debut authors to get published by major and mid-sized traditional publishers.

I know, because we feature these success stories regularly in our Successful Queries series on the site that shares query letters that helped writers land their agents and/or editors. Each of these posts are packed with great information on how to write successful queries, including the things agents and editors are thinking when they read queries.

Here I've compiled a list of literary agents who have represented debut authors in our Successful Queries series that highlights the queries that helped authors land their agents and editors. It's not guaranteed that these agents will always represent unpublished authors (or that they're currently open to submissions), but they've at least got a recent history track record of doing so.

(Michael's Manuscript Wish List.) Represented The Open Era, by Edward Schmidt. Actively seeking adult fiction and nonfiction, including a great literary western, psychological thrillers, commercial and literary fiction with a speculative twist, and romance (especially with queer characters).

Represented A Rather Peculiar Poisoning, by Chrystal Schleyer. She "loves high concept romance, twisty mysteries and thrillers, lightly speculative stories or grounded magical realism, and anything with a crackling atmosphere and lovable characters. In nonfiction, Sophie loves big ideas and an even bigger voice."

Represented False Prophet, by Afsheen Farhadi. Interested in literary, upmarket, and book club fiction, including fiction that "grapples with climate change; ambitious multigenerational novels or family sagas; speculative fiction; literary thrillers; and dark or darkly comic domestic fiction."

Represented Far From the A-List, by Stephanie Burns. She seeks contemporary and general fiction, science fiction, thrillers and suspense, women's fiction, children's, young adult, and general nonfiction.

Represented We Loved to Run, by Stephanie Reents. She represents a wide variety of literary fiction and narrative nonfiction, including prize winners and book club picks, and has a special place in her heart for distinctive writing that jumps off the page.

(Claire's Manuscript Wish List.) Represented The Fast Track, by Angelica Cheng. Actively seeking upmarket and commercial fiction in the adult and YA categories, with a special focus on book club fiction, thrillers and suspense, romance, and anything with a speculative edge.

Represented Press 1 for 1nvasion, by J. A. Dauber. She is interested in many subjects, on the adult side: practical and narrative nonfiction across categories including (but not limited to) cooking and food, psychology, self-help, mental health and wellness, lifestyle, women’s issues, parenting, current events, pop culture, science, biography, and memoir. And on the children’s side: select YA, middle grade, nonfiction, and picture books.

Represented People Watching in the Desert, by Cali Adeline. At the moment, she'd love to find more upmarket psychological suspense or thrillers that subvert the usual tropes, with bonus points for humor, as in Best Offer Wins, a layered family mystery in the vein of Liz Moore, and historical fiction with contemporary themes and a page-turning plot that might sit next to Ariel Lawhon's work.

Represented The Debtor's Game, by Isabelle Mongeau. Represents commercial and literary fiction, along with creative nonfiction, pop culture, and lifestyle.

Represented Vicious Cycle, by Jaime Parker Stickle. She represents a wide range of award winning and bestselling fiction and nonfiction, including literary and genre fiction, graphic novels, narrative nonfiction, memoir, young adult, and children’s literature.

Represented Night Objects, by Eli Raphael. She is looking for literary suspense, sophisticated thrillers, book club fiction, lightly speculative fiction, horror, experimental fiction, and upmarket fiction you can read in one gulp.

Represented The Fountain, by Casey Scieszka. Interested in memoir/narrative nonfiction, pop science, and cookbooks, as well as literary and upmarket fiction, including upmarket crime, thriller, horror, and cozy mystery; plus, rom-com, fantasy, and new adult/campus novels. Also, considers some young adult that fit above adult fiction categories.

Represented Woven From Clay, by Jenny Birch. For fiction, she's looking for literary and upmarket adult fiction that feature stories about love, complex relationships, messy family dynamics, folklore and mythology, ghosts, and/or magic, in whatever forms they may take. In nonfiction, she's interested in stories that offer fresh cultural, political, and/or social critiques along with personal narratives on art, pop culture, tech, and forgotten, unexamined history. Also, open to select poetry, memoirs, and illustrated gift/humor books.

Represented A Gift Before Dying, by Malcolm Kempt. He specializes in representing top-notch thrillers/mysteries/suspense novels, both commercial and literary, upmarket domestic fiction with a dash of suburban dysfunction, book club fiction. Genre mashups are always welcome, especially a thriller with a dose of the supernatural.

Represented Harmless, by Miranda Shulman. She's looking for upmarket fiction and prescriptive nonfiction books, "as well as memoirs with a compelling, unusual voice."

(Brent's Manuscript Wish List.) Represented Violet Thistlethwaite Is Not a Villain Anymore, by Emily Krempholtz. Looking for romance, thrillers, mysteries, horror, beach reads, and LGBTQ in fiction for adults, young adults, and middle grade. Open to taking on clients who have been previously self-published but are looking to sell their rights to a traditional publisher.

Represented A Killer Wedding, by Joan O'Leary. She's "currently on the hunt for thrillers with voice-y prose, sweeping family dramas, historical mysteries with a touch of magic, a great love story, or anything so scary that I must read into the early hours of the morning to see how it ends. I’m looking for high-concept manuscripts with a subversive premise or voice and a thimble full of weird."

Represented It's Hard to Be an Animal, by Robert Isaacs. She's interested in literary fiction and nonfiction that inspect big questions about queer identity, class, community, and art & technology through a personal lens.