Finding Agents

https://querytracker.net/

By the way, you aren't restricted to querying UK agents. I live in London and write books set in London but have a US agent.

Also check http://manuscriptwishlist.com

Agent hunting takes a lot of research--once you've compiled a list that represents your category/genre, start searching the heck out of them online. Look for recent interviews, follow them on Twitter, look at their pages on Publishers Marketplace to see what they've sold and who their clients are. Interviews and reading their Twitter feeds in particular can give you a good idea of their personal styles and whether you think they would be a good fit for you and your work.

When I was querying agents in the UK over ten years ago I bought The Writers and Artists Yearbook. It's still available and the 2017 edition is out. This seems to be the website affiliated with it, I don't know it well but it might be a good place to start: https://www.writersandartists.co.uk

Yeah...don't get me wrong, writing a book is a massive accomplishment and you should be very proud of yourself. But...yeah. The agent hunting part? The publisher finding part after that? Let's just say this is only the beginning. Remember this is a marathon not a sprint .

Totally a marathon. Definitely don't skimp on the research. Your relationship with your agent can almost be like a marriage--make sure you choose a good co-parent for your book-babies, because they tie you together practically forever.

Queen Yinin said:

This is very helpful thanks guys

Looks like this will take me longer than I thought... I figured writing the book was the hard part >.<

Click to expand...

What is it they say about war--95% waiting, 5% terror? Publishing is kinda like that--95% waiting, 5% terrified excitement.

It can easily take six months to hear back from all the agents you query. Sometimes over a year. And then you have the same time period for your agent to sell the book. And then you have maybe 12-24 months before the book is actually published.

So... get comfy.

Go to a real bookshop and look at the books there. Find ones like yours. Have a quick look in the acknowledgements sections and see if the authors mention their agents. If they don't, do a bit of searching to find out who represents them. It's very helpful.

I'll move this to Ask the Agent, where it's probably a better fit than General Publishing Discussions.

Congratulations on your book!

For my agent search, I started a spreadsheet, because of course there is no ONE source for agents. I use querytracker.net, the Guide to Literary Agents, google, etc. On my spreadsheet, I track the agent and agency, date queried, date of response, notes, etc. I also rank them on a scale of 0-5 for desirability based on a ton of factors that probably only make sense to me. LOL Before querying, I visit the agent's site, take a glance through their blog and/or twitter feed, and possibly adjust my ranking.

It's definitely work, and in some ways this business end can be harder than the writing end.

But you'll manage!

My current agent I actually queried because Query Tracker suggested her - I'd recieved a full request, and the site suggests similar agents,

For writers of sci-fi and fantasy the magazine Locus is also a good place to look. They have a section called Data File. Included in it is a list of recently sold books. The format is something like AUTHOR sold YA sci-fi TITLE to PUBLISHER via AGENT at AGENCY. The cost is $5.50 per magazine, which you can download or get a printed copy.

http://www.locusmag.com/Magazine/