Most of the time, authors have difficult times reaching literary agents, or even finding one that’s presently accepting queries. There are many authors in different genres to date, and still counting. That means it got even harder to get an agent to guide you in publishing your books.
Genres like Science Fiction and Fantasy are two of the most highly regarded genres today; in fact, they belong to the list of genres which earn the most money. As an author of Science Fiction or Fantasy, a literary agent can help you sell your novel to a major publisher, but it’s tough to find an agent that’s actually looking for new authors.
That’s why we put together this list of literary agents representing Science Fiction and Fantasy who are currently accepting open submissions for manuscripts from sci-fi and fantasy authors.
Note: If you’re not sure how to properly contact a literary agent or write a query letter, make sure to read our detailed guide on how to get a literary agent.
1. Jim McCarthy
Jim is particularly interested in several fictions including fantasy. He also wants a book that makes him cry or laugh out loud.
Submission Guidelines: www.dystel.com/submission-guidelines
Manuscript Wish List: www.manuscriptwishlist.com/mswl-post/jim-mccarthy
2. Michael Hoogland
Another agent from Dystel, Goderich & Bourret LLC is Michael Hoogland. Sci-fi/ fantasy is included on his currently looking list.
Submission Guidelines: www.dystel.com/submission-guidelines
Manuscript Wish List: www.manuscriptwishlist.com/mswl-post/mike-hoogland
3. Kelly Peterson
Kelly loves fantasy and is currently accepting new submissions.
Submission Guidelines: www.corvisieroagency.com/submissions.html
Personal link/ website: www.querymanager.com/query/KellyPeterson
Manuscript Wish List: www.manuscriptwishlist.com/mswl-post/kelly-peterson/
4. Lesley Sabga
The next six agents come from Seymour Agency. This agency is currently open to submissions, and they have a handful of sci-fi and fantasy representatives too.
First off is Lesley, an associate agent who loves character-driven plots. She seeks both science fiction and fantasy.
Submission Guidelines: www.theseymouragency.com/Submissions.html
5. Nicole Resciniti
Nicole is the agency’s president. She loves books that she won’t be able to put down.
Submission Guidelines: www.theseymouragency.com/Submissions.html
6. Julie Gwinn
Aside from being a representative for fantasy and other specified genres, she’s also an awardee of several prominent organizations.
Submission Guidelines: www.theseymouragency.com/Submissions.html
7. Jennifer Wills
She joined her agency in 2016. Jennifer would love to see stories that have a great hook, distinct voice and can make her experience different kinds of emotions.
Submission Guidelines: www.theseymouragency.com/Submissions.html
8. Lynnette Novak
Aside from being an associate agent, she’s also an animal lover; which is awesome.
Submission Guidelines: www.theseymouragency.com/Submissions.html
9. Alex Field
Alex launched The Bindery in 2017 and currently represents authors from different genres including science fiction and fantasy.
Submission Guidelines: www.thebinderyagency.com/#submissions-section
10. Maximilian Ximenez
Max is actively looking for both science fiction and fantasy books.
Submission Guidelines: www.lperkinsagency.com/index.html#submissions
Agency website: www.lperkinsagency.com/index.html#theagents
Manuscript Wish List: www.lperkinsagency.com/index.html#submissions
11. Moe Ferrara
Moe is from BookEnds Literary Agency, and she loves easily-accessible sci-fi, imaginative fantasy locales, and pain-in-the-ass heroines.
Submission Guidelines: www.bookendsliterary.com/submissions-2/
Agency website: www.bookendsliterary.com/submissions-2/
Manuscript Wish List: www.manuscriptwishlist.com/mswl-post/moe-ferrara/
12. Naomi Davis
Also from BookEnds Literary Agency, Naomi is looking for dynamic, character-driven middle grade, adult, and young adult for fantasy and science fiction. For sci-fi, she seeks “stories that are light on the sci, heavy on the fi”; and for fantasy, she seeks those with settings with unique magical structures.
Manuscript Wishlist: bookendsliterary.com/naomi-daviss-mswl-madness/
13. Amanda Rutter
An agent from Azantian Literary Agency, science fiction, and fantasy fall under Amanda’s categories.
Submission Guidelines: azantianlitagency.com/pages/team-ar.html
14. Laura Zats
Also from Red Sofa Literary, she is interested in well-drawn cultures and subverting traditional ‘chosen one’, quest and colonial narratives.
Submission Guidelines: www.redsofaliterary.com/representative-categories/
Agency website: www.redsofaliterary.com/contact/
Manuscript Wish List: www.manuscriptwishlist.com/mswl-post/laura-zats/
15. Alexandra Weiss
Alexandra is an associate agent. She’s most interested in representing science fiction, fantasy, and realism. And loves stories with diverse and risk-taking subjects.
Submission Guidelines: azantianlitagency.com/pages/team-awe.html
16. Colleen Oefelein
She represents picture books, middle grade, young adult and adult books in many genres.
“…I love plot-driven, commercial stories with unforgettable characters and gritty character dynamics…”
Personal link/website: www.querymanager.com/query/colleenoefelein
17. Roseanne Wells
She seeks strong literary fiction that doesn’t sacrifice plot and character for beautiful sentences.
Submission Guidelines: www.jdlit.com/roseanne-wells
Agency website: www.jdlit.com/roseanne-wells
Manuscript Wishlist: www.manuscriptwishlist.com/mswl-post/roseanne-wells/
18. John Cusick
The following 2 agents are from Folio Literary, a division of Folio Literary Management. It is devoted exclusively to the representation of stellar children’s book authors and artists.
John seeks unique voices in young adult and middle-grade. He wants fresh fantasy that is set in our world and others; and books that keep him turning the pages.
Submission Guidelines: www.foliojr.com/john-cusick/
Agency website: www.johnmcusick.com
Manuscript Wishlist: www.manuscriptwishlist.com/mswl-post/john-cusick/
19. Emily Van Beek
“…I’m eager to find novels that are high concept, diverse, fantasy or magical realism, and am open to anything conceptually unique…”
Submission Guidelines: www.foliojr.com/emily-van-beek/
Agency website: www.foliojr.com/emily-van-beek/
Finding the Right Agent for You
Finding the right agent for you may take some time. It’s like looking through your closet to find the right outfit for a special event. You want to choose the perfect match for the occasion.
If everything goes according to plan, you’ll likely be working with your literary agent for many years to come, so choose wisely.
If you’re serious about finding the right literary agent to represent you, we highly recommend you read our detailed guide to finding a literary agent.
Other Publishing Options
TCK Publishing is a mass market book publishing company, and we love publishing great science fiction and fantasy stories.
We are open to submissions from both agented and unagented authors.
You can learn more and submit your science fiction or fantasy novel for consideration on our submission guidelines page.
You can learn more about what TCK Publishing does for our authors on our FAQ page.
Tom Corson-Knowles is the founder of TCK Publishing, and the bestselling author of 27 books including Secrets of the Six-Figure author. He is also the host of the Publishing Profits Podcast show where we interview successful authors and publishing industry experts to share their tips for creating a successful writing career.
Help! I’ve written a hybrid middle grade/commercial fiction hybrid novel that starts with a misunderstanding about a missing alien and ends with a Trump inspired “Stop the Steal of Our Sasquatch” riot. Finding the right agent has been very tough. I’m starting to think I should have written it as a screen play instead.
Any leads will be greatly appreciated.
Hello, My Name is Ethan, I’m currently writing a fantasy adventure epic in the literary style of Eragon and The Lord of the Rings. Which publishers would you recommend for someone whos never wrote professionally before?
Hi Ethan, we have a list of fantasy publishers here. For those that don’t require agented submissions you can send your manuscript to them directly :) I think any of them would be great even if you’ve never written professionally (the author of Eragon had never written professionally either!) :)
I’m writing an unusual heroine, human/alien hybrid novel about her life and death. Who would you recommend for me?
This is really helpful! thanks. I had a couple of questions. 1. as a novice writer should you still have a website or Instagram page? 2. the book I am writing is set in South Africa and has elements of romance and adventure. Do you have any recommendations of agencies that would go for such a nitch topic?
Hi Nono, thanks for your questions! We also advise authors to set up an author website and try to be active on social media. These are essential marketing strategies that can help you build your platform so you can sell more books when the time comes. Is your book a romance? If so, you can check out these romance literary agents :)
Hello my name is Andrew Ryburn and I’m an inspiring author of Sci Fi and Fantasy. I’ve been writing since 2013 or so. My books are called the Power Users and the follow up series is the Infinite Slackers. I’m looking for help to edit and help me publish my books. My character based on me is named Dean Andrews and he finds out about things other than just shapeshifters and power users being real. And he opens a paranormal detective agency with his nephews Dylan and David Andrews. And they have powers and help people with any strange case of creatures known as shadows. Most of the world doesn’t know about shadows are power users and like 1 out of 100 people are so have super powers. My city and some of my characters are highly Japanese inspired. And my city is called Blue Earth Salvation City, Illinois. If any famous sci fi and fantasy authors see this. And want to know more or want to read my books just let me know please and thanks.
Hi Andrew, thanks for sharing about your book! You might also want to take a look at these sci-fi publishers
Hi, Ms Barron. My question is one I imagine you’ve heard many times: What genre category does my book belong in? Readers have had trouble categorizing my novel , so it’s not just me. My novel is a fantasy that involves a video game, loosely along the lines of Ready Player One. Agents want a clear genre and mine feels more like cross genre. Any idea how to approach this genre issue? Thank you for your time.
Hi Marc, thanks for your question! I would recommend settling on a primary genre first (sounds like fantasy in your case) and then choosing a more descriptive subgenre (for example, dystopian fantasy). Ready Player One is also categorized as LitRPG (literary role playing game). Would that apply to your book as well?
I’ve gone through 19 agents so far. Only half of them have bothered replying to at least say no. I’ve self-published the 1st book in the series, but am looking for an agent to help me with the rest of it, since self-publishing is expensive especially the marketing side. Is this list of agents relatively current?
Hi Neil, I’ve updated the list so inactive ones have been removed, but I’ll work on expanding the list as well!
Hi. I’m having trouble finding literary agencies that represent adult science-fiction stories. It’s all just fantasy or YA. I have a manuscript completed at roughly 92,000 words.
Hi Jesse, I’m sorry you didn’t find what you were looking for, I’ll work on expanding the list.
Hi Kaelyn,
Similar issue as Jesse, except my manuscript comes under the genre of fantasy (epic). Thank you.
hello I am looking to publish my light novel and I don’t know where to start.
Hi Olivia, thanks for your comment! Are you looking for an agent? Or are you interested in self-publishing?
hey looking to get my book published
Hi Kurt, that’s great! What type of book are you writing? Are you interested in traditional or self-publishing?
Wonderful, helpful list. Thank you so much, it makes my search for an agent seem possible.
you’re very welcome, annabel! we’re glad you found it helpful :)
I look forward to doing business with you in the future.
Thanks Russell, if you’re an author and are interested in publishing with us, you can learn more here.
Great list, thanks!
Glad you found it helpful, David!
I am a first time writer, and wrote a fantasy book. About 300 pages and 73000 words.
Can you assist me in finding the right people to read it and tell me if it is good enough to be published?
I’ve send it to a few people and all of them loves it.
Can you assist in finding the best agents and/or publishers.
Thank you.
Sounds like you need beta readers or a developmental editor Corne. I can’t recommend anyone specific, but here’s an article about beta readers and dev editing. It might help you out.
If you’re looking to publish it though, we’re currently accepting submissions. You can check our guidelines here.
Great site with lots of info.
Thanks Robert, hope you find it helpful! :)