Ask a literary agent your question about how to get a publishing agent here. You’ll also find answers to questions other authors have posted. This article is part of our free 15-Part Guide About How to Get a Book Agent. It was created by, and is curated by, a former literary agent who’s now helped hundreds of authors get book agents as an author coach and consultant. See successful authors at How I Got My Literary Agent.
ASK A Literary Agent – FAQ
This Ask a Literary Agent FAQ answers questions about: the definition and role of a book agent, who publishing agents are, when you should query literary agents, how much representation costs, the best way to find book agents looking for authors, submissions to literary agents, how to handle an offer for representation, what happens after you get a book agent, and more.
Author Representative definition and role
When you Should Get An Author Representative
How Much An Author Representative Costs
Finding An Author Representative
- How to find a literary agent?
- How to research book agents?
- Who are the best publishing agents?
- Who are the top 10 book agents?
- How to find publishing agents near me?
- Licensed book agents?
- Established publishing agents?
- New book agents?
- Publishing agents to avoid?
- Book agents seeking submissions?
- How to do a publishing agent search?
- Find a list of book agents?
- Publishing agent database?
- Book of literary agents?
- Where to meet publishing agents?
- Book agent events?
- How to Pitch a Literary Agent at a Conference?
Submitting To An Author Representative
- Literary agent submissions?
- How to contact a publishing agent?
- What to submit to a book agent?
- How to write a publishing agent query letter?
- How to write a synopsis for a book agent?
- How to write a publishing agent proposal?
- How to submit a book to a literary agent?
- How many publishing agents should you query?
- Best time to submit to book agents?
- How long to hear back from publishing agents?
- Book agent response time full manuscript?
- What happens when a publishing agent requests your full manuscript?
- Book agent not responding?
- How to follow up with a publishing agent?
- Book agent rejection letters?
- Revise and resubmit to a publishing agent?
Representation Offer From a Book Agent
- Getting an offer of representation from a literary agent?
- First meeting with a book agent?
- Questions a book agent will ask?
- Questions to ask a publishing agent?
- Multiple offers from publishing agents?
- Choosing a book agent?
- Literary agent contract?
- Standard book agent contract?
- Publishing agent contract terms?
- Book agent contract red flags?
- Publishing agent lawyer?
What Happens After You Get An Author Representative
Mark has helped hundreds of authors get offers from literary agents and/or traditional publishers. Writers of all Book Genres have used our Literary Agent Advice coaching/consulting to get Top Literary Agents at the Best Literary Agencies on our List of Book Agents.
Ask a Literary Agent
Due to time constraints, we can’t answer questions that have already been answered. Please make your question clear, and concise, since the submission form below is limited to 500 characters.
If you want to remain anonymous, type “Anonymous” in the name field. You’ll receive an email when a reply has been posted (usually within 48 hours). We look forward to helping you get a book agent.
MARK MALATESTA is a former literary agent turned author coach. Mark now helps authors of all genres (fiction, nonfiction, and children's books) get top literary agents, publishers, and book deals through his company 
I have self published 2 volumes in a collection called Sketches of Lee. “A Colored Man in Exeter” and “The Colored Folks Ain’t Gonna Make It.” They are about a Black family, mine, that relocated from Brooklyn to a small NH town in 1957 to escape gang violence and for better educational opportunities. These books are in the DAR’s National Archive as historically significant documents. I am looking for editorial and promotional assistance to deliver the 3rd volume, “Titanium Rose & Butch” And I have another 3 volume collection which is in prepublication called “A Faceoff in Granite” It captures the Elementary, Junior High and High School experience of integrating a NH school district the same day in 1957 as Little Rock Arkansas. More information can be found at Sketchesoflee.com I was recently approached by a producer who would like to take my first 2 books to the screen. I do not have a good feeling about the proposal so I need assistance. I am a quite prolific writer… 🙂
Hi Michael,
Sorry for the delay, and I’m happy to help somehow if possible.
To that end…
Here are my resources to help you get a legitimate literary agent and publisher:
How to Get a Literary Agent (NEW 15-Part Guide)
https://getaliteraryagent.com/how-to-get-a-literary-agent/
Literary Agent Database (Directory of Literary Agents)
https://getaliteraryagent.com/literary-agent-database/
Literary Agent Advice (1-on-1 Coaching/Consulting)
https://getaliteraryagent.com/literary-agent-advice/
If you want/need help with anything else, you can post here at https://getaliteraryagent.com/ask-a-literary-agent/.
I’ll do what I can to point you in the right direction.
All my best,
– Mark
Mark Malatesta
https://markmalatesta.com
The Bestselling Author
https://thebestsellingauthor.com
Literary Agent Undercover
https://literary-agents.com
I’ve written a book that is a novel-of-ideas in the tradition of Knut Hamsun, Shusako Endo, Dostoyevsky, and Joseph Conrad.
I have searched and searched but have not found an agent asking for anything like this.
Hi Courtney,
You can find agents representing authors of all genres in my online agent directory, including literary fiction, which is searchable by genre.
Here are my resources to help you get a legitimate literary agent and publisher, including the directory:
How to Get a Literary Agent (NEW 15-Part Guide)
https://getaliteraryagent.com/how-to-get-a-literary-agent/
Literary Agent Database (Directory of Literary Agents)
https://getaliteraryagent.com/literary-agent-database/
Literary Agent Advice (1-on-1 Coaching/Consulting)
https://getaliteraryagent.com/literary-agent-advice/
If you want/need help with anything else, you can post here at https://getaliteraryagent.com/ask-a-literary-agent/.
I’ll do what I can to point you in the right direction.
All my best,
– Mark
Mark Malatesta
https://markmalatesta.com
The Bestselling Author
https://thebestsellingauthor.com
Literary Agent Undercover
https://literary-agents.com
Hi, I wrote my understanding about the book of Daniel chapter 7: 1-28 concerning the four beast that should rule the world. The book is titled Daniel Seven The Beginning And The Ending Of All Time As We Know It. I’ve been scammed so much by these self publishing companies to appoint of never writing again. Is The Eagle Literary LLC or Agency in Sacramento California legit? The agent is Kelly Jackson. It’s some type of bookstore. Thanks
Hi Shedrick,
Sorry to hear about the bad experiences you’ve had.
Read this, if you haven’t seen it yet, should help: https://getaliteraryagent.com/how-much-does-a-literary-agent-cost/#alert
After that…
Here are my (no cost) resources to help you get a legitimate literary agent and publisher:
How to Get a Literary Agent (NEW 15-Part Guide)
https://getaliteraryagent.com/how-to-get-a-literary-agent/
Literary Agent Database (Directory of Literary Agents)
https://getaliteraryagent.com/literary-agent-database/
If you want/need help with anything else, you can post here at https://getaliteraryagent.com/ask-a-literary-agent/.
I’ll do what I can to point you in the right direction.
All my best,
– Mark
Mark Malatesta
https://markmalatesta.com
The Bestselling Author
https://thebestsellingauthor.com
Literary Agent Undercover
https://literary-agents.com
Mark,
Thank you kindly for your response and shedding some light on that matter. I’m not sure how I should post it, but here are three samples (as you requested) of the agencies. However, the agencies listed here are of no interest to me, nor would I ever send them a proposal. These are only examples. Now, before I proceed, I just want to make sure you know the genre of my novel.
Genre: (Commercial Fiction) Action/ Adventure. Sub-Genre: Crime, Thriller, Mystery.
*Some of the genre(s) these agencies accept are listed in my sub-genre, but an agent representing Action/Adventure is what I’m looking for.
Here are the agencies:
Arthouse Literary Agency
arthouselit.com
Margaret McBride Literary Agency
mcbrideliterary.com
Triada U.S. Literary Agency
triadaus.com
Thank you, Mark, for taking time to look into this. I appreciate the work you do and the help that you give. If there’s any information that I failed to list in order to help with your investigation, please let me know.
Best Regards
Hi Anonymous,
Thank you for your patience. After reviewing all three sites, I have a couple things that might help you. First, just because you don’t see an exact genre listed on a site doesn’t mean the agent or agency isn’t interested in it. Agents who say they do commercial fiction, speculative fiction, etc. might be interested in your work. Also, if you read the bio for the first agent that appears on the Triada site, for example, you’ll see a mention of the Reacher novels. The other two agencies look less likely, but there is language in one or more bios on each of those sites that suggests someone there might be interested as well. If in doubt, there’s no harm in querying the agent. You can also cross reference more than one agent directory, but, as you know or might imagine, it can start to get very time intensive.
If you want/need help with anything else, you can post here at https://getaliteraryagent.com/ask-a-literary-agent/.
I’ll do what I can to point you in the right direction.
All my best,
– Mark
Mark Malatesta
https://markmalatesta.com
The Bestselling Author
https://thebestsellingauthor.com
Literary Agent Undercover
https://literary-agents.com