Writer’s Digest Top Agent Websites 2020
Here are the top websites by and about agents as identified in the 22nd Annual 101 Best Websites from the May/June 2020 issue of Writer’s Digest.
Here are the best websites by and about agents as identified in the 22nd Annual 101 Best Websites from the May/June 2020 issue of Writer's Digest.
* Denotes the website's first appearance on our list.
1. Bookends Literary Agency blog
Get insider information on what it’s like to work with an agent, what they look for, and why they reject manuscripts from the blog of this New Jersey-based literary agency. If an agent you want to pitch to contributes to a blog, you need to be reading what they write.
2. Literary Carrie
Carrie Pestritto of the Laura Dail Literary Agency blogs about being a literary agent, her clients, the books she loves, living in The Big Apple, and more. Each month, one lucky author who enters Carrie’s Query Critique Contest will win a free public critique of their query letter on the blog.
3. Lit Rejections
If you’re querying, you’ve got to have thick skin—Lit Rejections shares stories of rejection on the blog to help you cope. The site also publishes interviews with agents and an extensive database of literary agencies and their submission guidelines.
4. Manuscript Wish List
Following Manuscript Wish List religiously is a must to increase your chances of landing an agent. Search the site for agents and editors who represent your genre—most profiles include a bio and submission guidelines as well as spell out exactly what types of books they are looking for. For how-to tips and interviews with agents and authors, listen to “The Manuscript Academy” podcast.
5. Pub Rants
If you want insider information about querying, landing representation, and publishing news from literary agents (sometimes in rant form, but always polite), then visit this blog by literary agents from Nelson Literary Agency.
6. Query Shark
Before you send a query letter, it’s a good idea to read this blog to see if you’re making any of the mistakes literary agent Janet Reid has advised against through her public critiques of 300+ query letters (and counting). After her line-by-line critique, authors may submit their revised queries to the shark. Send in your own query for a chance to have it critiqued on the blog—but remember, this shark is brutally honest.
7. Query Tracker
Query Tracker has been on this list for 11 years now, and with good reason: more than 3,000 authors have found agents here. Search the database of agents to find whom to query. Create a free account to track the agents you’ve researched, whom you want to query or don’t want to query, the date you sent your letters, and the result of your queries.
For more of our best website selections for 2020, check out the following.
About Cassandra Lipp
Cassandra Lipp is managing editor of Writer's Digest. She is the author of Queen City Records, which tells the stories behind the indie record shops of Cincinnati and Northern Kentucky. Her work has appeared in Greener Pastures, The Belladonna, Little Old Lady, Points in Case, and Ohio's Best Emerging Poets 2019. Follow her on Twitter @Cassie000000.
