Hey friends! This is a list of agents looking for ue

cience fiction, along with recent comments from some of them about what they’re looking for. This isn’t my genre, but I’ve met a lot of people working in it lately 🙂 I pulled some of the comments from the agency websites and some from Manuscript Wish List. All the Manuscript Wish List / Twitter comments are from fall 2015.

As an aside, some of the wishes that agents share on Twitter are so specific, they make me think, “Friend, why don’t you just go write that?” But I guess that’s a natural thing for a writer to think! In any case, I don’t think it’s a great idea to go off and write something from scratch that they requested, unless you genuinely think it’s the best idea ever. By the time you’re done, they’ll be hankering for something else.

Clicking the agent’s name will lead to more info about them (you may need to scroll down the page). Clicking the name of the agency leads to their submission guidelines.

By including agents on this list, I am not making any personal recommendations. I’ve omitted a couple of people based on negative reports in forums, but that’s it. I haven’t thoroughly vetted these.

The Science Fiction and Fantasy Writers of America has a ton of information here about choosing an agent, and it’s well worth the read. Any agent who charges a reading fee should be avoided like lice. Please research and ask around before signing with anyone.

If you feel there is someone I should remove from the list because they have bad business practices, stopped accepting submissions for a while, gave up the agent life to run a yoga retreat, or whatever, please let me know privately at bryndonovan1@gmail.com . I will delete blog comments about bad business practices because I can’t verify them.

If you are an agent listed here and would like to update your information, or you are an agent who would like to be added to the list, please let me know that as well!

 

Kurestin Armada, P.S. Literary

“…especially books that recognize and subvert typical tropes of genre fiction.”

 

Hannah Bowman, Liza Dawson Associates Literary Agency

Caitlen Rubino Bradway, LKG Agency

Looking for “middle grade and young adult fiction. In teen novels, Sci-fi/fantasy is my sweet spot, but I’m open to anything as long as it doesn’t have zombies.”

Beth Campbell, BookEnds

“She loves seeing diverse characters (sexuality, gender, race, you name it!) and strong friendships across all genres.”

Ginger Clark, Curtis Brown Ltd.

Gemma Cooper, The Bent Agency

Interested in middle grade science fiction “with a strong voice.”

Marisa A. Corvisiero, Corvisiero Literary Agency

Arielle Datz, Dunow, Carlson, & Lerner Literary

Seeking adult and young adult science fiction, and especially “speculative fiction and literary scifi.”

Lucienne Diver, The Knight Agency

Moe Ferrara, BookEnds, LLC

Interested in science fiction for all age groups, except picture books. LGBTQ friendly.

Heather Flaherty, The Bent Agency

Seeking YA science fiction. “…the one thing I love above all else in a YA novel, regardless of sub-genre, is a strong and specific character voice. A real person, not another “every girl.” ”

Barry Goldblatt, Barry Goldblatt Literary LLC

Represents YA and children’s books only.

Connor Goldsmith, Fuse Literary

“He is especially interested in books by and about people from marginalized perspectives, such as LGBT people and/or racial minorities. Connor does not represent Young Adult, Middle Grade, or Children’s manuscripts at this time.”

Note that Fuse is closed to unsolicited submissions through Jan. 15, 2016.

Jennie Goloboy, Red Sofa Literary

Adult, YA, and MG science fiction. “Would love to see more non-traditional settings and characters.”

Mark Gottlieb, Trident Media Group

You probably already know that you only submit to one agent at an agency at a time. At Trident Media, if it’s been 30 days and the agent you submitted to didn’t get back to you, it’s okay to submit to another one.

Susan Graham, Einstein Literary

Evan Gregory, Ethan Ellenberg Literary Agency

Sally Harding, The Cooke Agency

“The more literary end of science fiction…”

Michael Harriot, Folio Literary Management

“…science fiction that grabs me is superbly crafted and avoids the usual tropes or turns them upside-down. I look for strong, memorable characters that are psychologically realistic and emotionally relatable at their core, no matter how fantastic the worlds and events around them may be.”

Richard Henshaw, Richard Henshaw Group

Lane Heymont, The Seymour Agency

YA scifi.

Leon Husock, L. Perkins Agency

Andy Kifer, The Gernert Company

“Smart genre fiction.” <– When I read things like this it always makes me laugh. “Oh, well I have stupid genre fiction, so I guess I’ll send it elsewhere.” 🙂

Jennifer Jackson, Donald Maass Literary Agenc

“science fiction… of all sorts — for both the adult and YA markets.”

Pete Knapp, New Leaf Literary

Sarah LaPolla, Bradford Literary Agency

“Sarah’s authors tend to reflect larger themes within a character-focused story, such as feminism, tolerance, religion, and challenging the status quo.”

Catherine Luttinger, Darhansoff & Verrill

Her interests include “hard science fiction, space operas, first contact (and beyond), near future, high-tech, and speculative (both historical and futuristic). Anything that examines the future repercussions of contemporary issues– for example: peak oil, high tech, extreme weather, climate change, genetics, gaming, the internet and cyberspace, politics, and religion.”

Jonathan Lyons, Curtis Brown Ltd.

Caitlin McDonald, Donald Maass Literary Agency

“Looking for:
– All SF/F fiction for adult, YA, and MG, especially secondary world fantasy and alternate history
– Genre-bending or cross-genre fiction, and stories that examine tropes from a new angle
– Diversity of all kinds, including (but not limited to) race, gender, sexuality, and ability, in both characters and world building”

 

Lydia Moëd, The Rights Factory

Get the umlaut right. 🙂 I almost put it over the “o.”

Penny Moore, FinePrint Literary Management

Interested in speculative fiction and scifi as well as MG and YA of all genres (which must include scifi.)

Rebecca Podos, Rees Literary Agency

(Wow, and I thought my blog had readability issues… ) Looks like mostly YA and MG scifi.

Laura Rennert, Andrea Brown Literary Agency

“Right now she’s particularly seeking upper middle-grade and YA…”

Fleetwood Robbins, Waxman Leavell Agency

“While I consider fantasy to be my specialty, I have a passion for all speculative fiction. Whether it’s alternate history, military SF, space opera, steampunk, or any of the other myriad subgenres, I’m looking for a distinct voice, a good sense of story, and strong characterization. With any one of these, you’ll have my interest; with all three you’ll be on your way to bestsellerdom.”

Rena Rossner, The Deborah Harris Agency

Jerusalem-based literary agency. “I am most interested in representing Fantasy and Science Fiction in all its permutations – Adult, Middle Grade, Young Adult etc. …You will steal my heart for sure if it’s set in the Middle East, in Israel or if it has Jewish or Israeli themes and characters, but I’m open to all themes, settings and characters.”

Amanda Rutter, Red Sofa Literary

She’s a former editor for Angry Robot and blogs for Tor.

Brooks Sherman, The Bent Agency

More speculative than scifi, not that I’m 100% clear on the difference: “I’m seeking projects that balance strong voice with gripping plot lines. Stories that make me laugh earn extra points! My interest in adult fiction runs the gamut from literary to speculative (particularly contemporary fantasy rooted in realistic settings, horror, and magical realism), as well as historical and crime fiction.”

John Silbersack, Trident Literary Agency

Tricia Skinner, Fuse Literary

Wants “science fiction romance of all heat levels (especially genetically altered humans, space opera, non-Earth or ship-based with series potential, “band of alien brothers” types.)” “Everything except hard SF.”

Note that Fuse is closed to unsolicited submissions through Jan. 15, 2016.

Bridget Smith, Dunham Literary, Inc.

“A lifelong fan of children’s books, she’s looking for middle grade and young adult novels in a range of genres, including fantasy and science fiction… She is actively seeking books with underrepresented or minority characters.”

Eric Smith, P.S. Literary

He’s “actively seeking out new, diverse voices in Young Adult” as well as adult science fiction.

Andrea Somberg, Harvey Klinger, Inc.

DongWon Song, Howard Morhaim Literary

Formerly an editor at Orbit.

Nephele Tempest, The Knight Agency

Suzie Townsend, New Leaf Literary

Maria Vicente, P.S Literary Agency

“She has affinities for literary prose, strong character development, original storytelling formats, and anything geeky.”

Carly Watters, P.S. Literary Agency

Laura Wood, FinePrint Literary Management

She “specializes in serious nonfiction, especially in the areas of science and nature,” but “is also developing a select list in genre fiction only.” Preference given to SFWA members.

Laura Zats, Red Sofa Literary

“Even though she loved YA books first, titles that are Middle Grade, romance, and Sci-fi/Fantasy have been slowly taking hold. Picking a favorite genre now would be like choosing between puppies and kittens.”

~

This isn’t a complete list! If you know of additional agents, or additional specifics about what someone is looking for, let me know and I’ll add it.

Do you need an agent to get published? No. Next week I’m going to share a companion piece — a list of science fiction publishers that don’t require an agent to submit. If you have a knack for marketing and building a fan base, and you don’t mind investing some money up front in professional editorial and design services, self-publishing may be another avenue to explore.

In the next month or so, I’m going to do similar roundups for fantasy agents and publishers. (There will be a lot of overlap with science fiction, but not everyone represents or publishes both, so from a writer’s perspective, I think it’s helpful to have them listed separately.) I might also look at some other genres.

If this post was helpful to you and you’d like to know about future ones, sign up below to follow my blog. Happy writing!