Agents for Gay Novels

JB, what do you mean by "gay novels"? There are certainly agents who handle books with gay content and/or written by gay authors in every genre--if you have a fantasy novel involving gay characters, for example, you can query agents who handle fantasy in general. The best way to start searching for an agent is to go to bookstores and find books that are similar to yours, find out who agented them, and research those agents. If they're getting their clients' books to publishers who get them into bookstores, they're doing something right.

Handy links:
Teresa Nielsen Hayden's advice on searching for agents: http://www.neilgaiman.com/journal/2005/01/everything-you-wanted-to-know-about.asp

Writer Beware: http://www.sfwa.org/Beware/; see also Victoria Strauss' website: http://www.sff.net/people/victoriastrauss/ -- especially "The Safest Way to Search for an Agent"

Preditors and Editors: http://www.anotherealm.com/prededitors/

AW BABC Index to Agents, Publishers, and Others:http://absolutewrite.com/forums/showthread.php?t=792

Miss Snark, the Literary Agent: http://misssnark.blogspot.com/

Hope this helps. Good luck!

Kensington

Kensington (major NYC publisher) has a full line of gay/lesbian fiction.

I found several agents who represent gay authors when I read Poets & Writers. I even made a list which I currently can't find. My point is that they are out there. Try posting your question in forums for gay writers. In NYC there is the Publishing Triangle for GLBT in the publishing industry. The non-profit has a Web site. You could start there.

another place to start might be by looking at the novels out there so far - most authors like to include some sort of thanks to their agent in the dedication or the foreword - no guarantee there, but at least you might also find publishers that may be "friendlier" than others and go from there...

good luck!

The Writer's Market guide also has a directory of both publishers and agents, along with their specialties. Many of them state that they are looking for gay or lesbian fiction.

Also publishers specialising in gay fiction very rarely require agents, although it will certainly help get out of the slush.

Re: Kensington

I believe Kensington requires agented submissions for all its imprints now. If you take a look at some of their gay/lesbian titles (mostly gay/lesbian romance) and think your book fits into that subgenre, you could probably query any agent who has sold books to Kensington in the past (most good romance agents have) and say that you think your book would fit into that line. Go to www.kensingtonbooks.com for info on that line. Agents are generally interested in making an easy sale, and care little for content as long as its sellable. (i.e., very few agents are going to be "anti-gay".) Hope that helps.