How a Writer’s Age Impacts Literary Agents – Get a Literary Agent

How a Writer’s Age Affects Literary Agents – FAQ

• The Truth Agents Won’t Always Say Out Loud
• Where Age Can Influence Agents (And What To Do About It)
• Where Age Usually Does Not Matter (And Writers Waste Energy)
• Should You Mention Your Age In Your Query?
• Category-By-Category: Where Age Matters Most
• If You Suspect Age Bias, Do This Instead Of Freaking Out

Do Literary Agents Care How Old An Author Is? – How Important Is a Writer’s Age?

A writer’s age can help or hurt, but it’s almost never as simple as “too young” or “too old.” The first thing you need to know is that writers of all ages get literary agents every year. Teenagers. Twenty-somethings. Mid-career professionals. Retirees. Debut novelists at 60. First-time nonfiction authors at 25.

Writers worry about age for good reason: it’s one thing you can’t revise. Your age is also something that can impact a literary agent’s decision to represent you—though most agents wouldn’t admit it. The articles and blog posts I’ve seen about this topic are often vague (“Age doesn’t matter!”) or fear-based (“You’re too old/too young!”). Neither helps you take real action. This article does.

If you’re young, you might wonder whether an agent will take you seriously or assume you’ll “grow out of it.” If you’re older, you might worry an agent will assume you’re too late to the game or not interested in building a long-term career. And if you’re anywhere in between, you might feel caught in the weird middle where you still hear the same whispers: Do agents prefer someone younger? Is there a sweet spot?

During my time working in publishing, I’ve helped writers from age 10–104 pitch literary agents. The good news is that, unlike being a model or professional athlete, you’re more likely to have success as you age. Like wine, you should become a wiser and more effective communicator as you mature. In the publishing industry, we should all get better as we get older—with more experience and more mastery of our craft.

Age isn’t everything but it’s something, and it can affect perception in specific, predictable ways—usually indirectly—and when you understand those patterns, you can adjust your positioning, your pitch, and your strategy to increase your Odds of Getting a Literary Agent. I know the odds better than anyone, because I’ve helped more writers get literary agents and/or traditional publishers than anyone: 400+.

I’ve also served as a literary agent, helping new writers land major publishers and appear on bestseller lists including The New York Times; and I worked as the Marketing & Licensing Manager for the book division of the publisher Blue Mountain Arts. And I’ve worked with both secular and faith-based writers across genres—fiction, nonfiction, and children’s books. That’s how I know that age is rarely the real reason a project gets passed on. The “real reason” is almost always something you can strengthen.

The Truth Agents Won’t Usually Say Out Loud

Agents don’t sit around thinking, “I only want authors who are ___ years old.” Agents are trying to make a business decision: Can I sell this? Can this author deliver? Can this, in some cases, for the writer, become a career? Age becomes relevant only when it triggers assumptions about one of those questions. So the right framing is not “Does my age hurt me?” The right framing is: What assumptions might my age create—and how do I remove them from the conversation unless those assumptions are going to help me?

Writers have age bias, too, by the way.

Think about how you would react to a literary agent who is 21. Now think about how you’d react to a literary agent who is 86. Most writers have gut-level assumptions about both ends of that spectrum—fair or not—and agents are human in exactly the same way. As an author coach and consultant, I’ve had clients lose their agent because their agent passed away due to old age. That doesn’t mean you should be afraid of working with an older agent. It just shows how age can quietly or not so quietly impact everyone’s thinking.

Let’s be real. As a younger agent, you’re going to get at least a little more excited by a pitch from a younger writer who you can imagine getting a dozen or more books published with over the coming decade(s). And you’re going to get at least a little less excited by a pitch from a writer who says, in their query: “I’m 92 so I don’t know how much time I have left. Get back to me quickly.” With that writer, you might imagine spending months securing a book deal, then contacting them to celebrate, only to discover, well, you know.

At the time of me writing this article, I’m 54—and I’m not naïve. I realize that, at some point, young writers will start wondering if I can keep up with them. If I continue doing author coaching for the next 30 years, should I stop updating my profile photo so those young-uns won’t be as likely to wonder if I’ve lost a step? Maybe. Age is something we all think about, but the key is to simply let it inform your strategy, not define your worth.

Where Age Can Influence Agents (And What To Do About It)

1) Credibility and authority in nonfiction

For prescriptive nonfiction (health, psychology, parenting, business, leadership, spirituality, finance), agents are selling trust as much as content. A young author can absolutely succeed here—but the proposal must make credibility unmistakable.

What age can trigger:

• “Do they have enough expertise to advise readers?”
• “Is this more memoir/opinion than authority?”
• “Will media take them seriously?”

What you can do:

• Lead with credentials, not age: training, results, clients served, speaking, publications, awards, professional roles.
• If you lack traditional credentials, build authority through reporting: interviews with experts, case studies, data, documented outcomes.
• Position wisely: “Here’s what I’ve learned and verified,” not “Here’s the definitive method of life.”
• Use strategic reinforcement: endorsements, foreword possibilities, expert blurbs, partnerships—things that “borrow authority” ethically.

As an author coach and consultant, I think about age—but only as a consideration when pitching publishers. In other words, on the rare occasion it seems a project might raise questions based on the author’s age, I look for ways to shore up credibility and reassure people on the business side. That might mean leaning harder on research, co-authorship, endorsements, or the strength of the book’s underlying concept.

2) Voice authenticity in fiction

Agents don’t need you to be the same age as your protagonist. They need you to sound true.

What age can trigger:

• Younger author writing adult literary fiction: “Do they have the depth for this?”
• Older author writing teen voice: “Will this feel authentic?”

What you can do:

• Let the pages prove it. A sharp, believable voice beats demographics.
• Use beta readers who match the audience, and revise based on patterns (not one person’s opinion).
• Avoid performing “youth” in your query. Don’t try to sound like TikTok; sound like an author with control.

3) Platform assumptions (both young and older writers can get hit here)

Platform is not “being young.” Platform is access to attention—email list, social reach, speaking, community, credibility.

What age can trigger:

• For younger writers: “Do they have stability and follow-through?”
• For older writers: “Do they know how to reach modern audiences?”

What you can do:

• Show realistic reach: newsletter, events, workshops, podcasts, local organizations, churches, professional groups, Substack, etc.
• Present a simple plan: “Here’s what I already do consistently; here’s what I can scale.”
• Don’t apologize for not being an influencer. Many successful authors aren’t.

4) Career runway assumptions

This one is touchy—some agents look for long-term potential.

What age can trigger:

• Younger: “Will they deliver book two? Are they disciplined?”
• Older: “Is this a one-off bucket list book, or a serious author platform?”

What you can do:

• Signal professionalism: clear timeline, ability to revise, responsiveness, long-term vision (“Next project” paragraph).
• If you want a career, say so—briefly, confidently.
• If you only want one book, that’s okay too. You just want an agent whose business model fits that.

Where Age Usually Does Not Matter (And Writers Waste Energy)

This is the part most people don’t want to hear because it puts the focus back on the work:

• The concept (is it fresh and market-aware?)
• The execution (do the pages deliver?)
• The positioning (does the pitch make the right promises?)
• The professionalism (does the submission read like someone an agent can work with?)

Again, writers of all ages sign with agents—often because they nailed these fundamentals.

Should You Mention Your Age In Your Query?

In most cases: no.

You’re not hiding anything. You’re simply not volunteering a detail that can create bias without helping your pitch. Agents don’t need your age to evaluate your writing.

When mentioning age can help:

• It’s integral to the premise (e.g., “I’m 19 and this is a lived experience memoir about…”)
• It’s a genuine hook (“youngest person to…”) and supports authority
• It’s part of your platform (you’re already known for something where age matters to the story)

If you’re pitching a book about how to be sexy in your 70s—and you’re in your 70s and look great—you’d be wise to mention your age and include a photo. In that scenario, age is part of the promise: “Here’s proof that what I’m teaching is real in my own life.”

When mentioning age can hurt:

• It invites a “too young/too old” mental shortcut
• It doesn’t add marketing value
• It’s being used as an apology (“I know I’m older but…”)

A useful rule: If your age isn’t an asset to the pitch, leave it out.

Category-By-Category: Where Age Matters Most

Most likely to matter:

• Prescriptive nonfiction requiring authority (health, money, parenting, leadership)
• Memoir where identity is central to the “why this author” hook
• Projects that rely heavily on platform for sales

Least likely to matter:

• Most commercial fiction (romance, thriller, mystery, fantasy, etc.)
• Narrative nonfiction with reporting
• Children’s books (where craft + concept + market fit dominate)

If You Suspect Age Bias, Do This Instead Of Freaking Out

Rejections are rarely diagnostic. A pass can mean many anything: timing, list overlap, personal taste, market conditions, or something else.

If you suspect age bias, treat it like any other potential problem: test, adjust, retest.

• Remove “age markers” in bio (graduation year, “retired,” etc.) and compare results.
• Improve the query hook and comps (this solves more “bias” than people want to admit).
• Target more precisely: agents who represent your category now, not just “big names.”
• Get an objective query + first pages critique and make a clean revision pass.

The Bottom Line

As someone who’s worked on both sides of the desk in publishing—pitching and being pitched—my experience is that the strongest projects almost always benefit most from this kind of adjustment, not from arguing about age.

Age can influence perception—but it’s rarely the deciding factor, and it’s almost never the real reason a strong project gets rejected.

Agents sign books they believe they can sell. Full stop. And writers of all ages keep getting agents because the work, the pitch, and the positioning give agents what they need: confidence.

If you want to remove age from the equation, don’t argue with it. Outmaneuver it—by making your market fit, credibility, and professionalism so clear that age becomes irrelevant.

Next Steps

If you want to talk about the best way to handle your age—or anything else—when it comes to getting a literary agent, consider setting up a call with me on my Literary Agent Advice page. I never met an author, book, or pitch materials I couldn’t help make better—and I’d be honored to help you.

This article about “How a Writer’s Age Affects Literary Agents” was written by a former literary agent turned author coach. Mark Malatesta is the creator of The Directory of Book Agents, host of Ask a Publishing Agent, and founder of Literary Agent Undercover and The Bestselling Author.

Mark has helped hundreds of authors get offers from literary agents and/or traditional publishers. Writers of all Book Genres have used our Book Agent Advice coaching/consulting to get Top Literary Agents at the Best Literary Agencies on our List of Literary Agents.