Literary Fiction Literary Agents Open to Submissions
Literary agents are gatekeepers of the publishing industry. Find literary fiction literary agents open to submissions in this post. List will be updated regularly.
Literary agents are gatekeepers of the publishing industry. Find literary fiction literary agents open to submissions in this post. List will be updated regularly.
Literary agents are important decision makers in the publishing process for authors who wish to be published by many of the big publishers. However, all literary agents do not represent all genres. In fact, an agent who claims to do this should be approached with caution. Just as authors tend to specialize in one or two genres, agents find niches and specialize in a handful of genres.
In this post, I've collected recently shared agent spotlights with literary agents who are accepting literary fiction submissions. This list will be updated regularly with new agents added to the top.
Peter Rubie of FinePrint Literary Management
Peter Rubie is currently the CEO of FinePrint Literary management, a NYC-based literary agency. He grew up in England and was a Fleet Street journalist, before becoming one of the youngest news editors for BBC Radio News. He came to the U.S. in 1981, and worked as a freelance editor and writer for agents and major publishers before becoming the adult fiction editor at Walker & Co., for 6 years. He left that job to become a literary agent.
He has also been an adjunct professor in the New York University publishing faculty, where for 10 years he taught the only university-level course in the country on how to become a literary agent. For several years, he was also the director of the book publishing section of NYU’s Summer Publishing Institute. Peter thinks of himself as “an editor in recovery” who picks and chooses various ed boards for his clients’ projects. He often works extensively on the editorial content and presentation of a project before submitting it.
Hannah Brattesani of Emma Sweeney Agency
Hannah Brattesani is a literary agent and the foreign rights coordinator at Emma Sweeney Agency. She received her MA (Hons) in English Literature from the University of St. Andrews and graduated with the Douglas Dunn Award for Creative Writing.
Hannah started as the agency assistant at Emma Sweeney Agency, then took over the foreign rights coordinator role and is currently building her own list as an agent. During her first year at the agency, she also worked as the contracts coordinator at Blue Flower Arts, a literary speakers bureau based in Millbrook, New York.
As a Scottish immigrant to the United States, Hannah enjoys books that allow her to explore and make some sense of this American melting pot she now calls home.
Eric Smith of P.S. Literary
Eric Smith is a literary agent with P.S. Literary, working across multiple categories, and has worked with New York Times bestselling and award-winning authors. When he isn’t busy working on other people’s books, sometimes he writes his own. His latest novel, The Girl and the Grove, was published by Flux in 2018, and his next novel, Don’t Read the Comments, will be published by Inkyard Press in January 2020.
He currently lives in Philadelphia with his wife, son, and overly affectionate corgi.
Joseph Perry of Perry Literary, Inc.
Joseph Perry is a new agent at Perry Literary, Inc. Before founding Perry Literary, Joseph began his book publishing career when he attended the New York University Summer Publishing Institute in 2010. After interning at FinePrint Literary Management, Joseph enrolled at St. John’s University School of Law to learn about the legal aspects of publishing and graduated with a juris doctor in 2015.
During law school, Joseph interned in the legal departments at Hachette Book Group; Rodale, Inc.; and William Morris Endeavor, as well as the subsidiary rights department at Columbia University Press. Joseph also holds a B.A. and M.A. in English from St. Bonaventure University.
Cecilia Lyra of The Rights Factory
Cecilia Lyra holds a Master’s Degree in Banking and Financial Law from Boston University and is completing a graduate certificate in publishing. In 2016, she bid adieu to her life as lawyer and professor of law to become a writer and a literary agent. She blames this heretical career move on her nine-year-old-self, who was bitten by the reading bug and began to dream of the day when she would work with books.
When she isn’t devouring novels—or dessert—Cecilia can be found drinking wine, writing her own novels, and snuggling with Babaganoush, her adorable English bulldog.
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Ann Tanenbaum of Tannenbaum International Literary Agency
Ann Tanenbaum is a veteran of the publishing industry with 50 years of experience. Over the course of her career, she has held editorial and marketing positions at The Viking Press and Random House as well as executive positions at Harry N. Abrams Inc., Doubleday International, and Newsweek.
In addition to representing books on seasoned gallery artists and museums, the theatre, and many children’s books, Ann has a commitment to nurturing projects on current affairs, politics, and history.
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Robert Lee Brewer is Senior Editor of Writer's Digest, which includes managing the content on WritersDigest.com and programming virtual conferences. He's the author of 40 Plot Twist Prompts for Writers: Writing Ideas for Bending Stories in New Directions, The Complete Guide of Poetic Forms: 100+ Poetic Form Definitions and Examples for Poets, Poem-a-Day: 365 Poetry Writing Prompts for a Year of Poeming, and more. Also, he's the editor of Writer's Market, Poet's Market, and Guide to Literary Agents. Follow him on Twitter @robertleebrewer.
