Fantasy books are a big market in the book publishing industry. If you are writing one you know that getting the right literary agent, one that has a specialty in the Fantasy fiction division, is crucial to your book’s success or failure. The stability and the marketability of the agent are vital to each manuscript that hits the market today. Book publishers don’t take much time to decide on what they want to buy, typically only minutes. An agent is designed to throw your book to them in the best light, and knows which book publisher is more apt to buy your work. Below are literary agents that all deal with Fantasy fiction and are all, at the time of this article’s writing, taking submissions and queries. Each literary agent is profiled with contact information and the other genres they represent. Polish off that query, make that hook the best it can be, and good luck in your quest for representation.
Fantasy markets play to those who write of unbelievable places, people, or events. They are usually in another time, in space, or in medieval times. Fantasy markets have supernatural beings and fairytale like locales. Writers like JRR Tolkien and JK Rowling fall in the fantasy category. If your writing tends to deal with runes, magical stones, or that one lone orphan that grows up to save the world, the fantasy market is where you want to guide your submissions to.
The market for science fiction and fantasy is still very hot and reliable. According to sources the science fiction/fantasy book market sales in 2005 increased to $510 million. This makes it a 7.5% piece of the entire consumer market for books. Keeping in mind that there were 172,000 new titles in 2005, that accounts for 12,900 new fantasy or sci fi books on the market today.
Agents prefer a hot market, with plenty of defined readership. They don’t like experimental work that may be difficult to place or sell in the market today. The book industry market likes sure things, and not a gamble. The sci fi and fantasy markets do not disappoint on that front. If you are a sci fi or fantasy author and would like to market your work to agents that prefer manuscripts like yours, who have their finger on the pulse of today’s sci fi and fantasy book publishers, then these are definitely the agents you need to query for that big break.
Robin Rue
Writers House
21 West 26th Street
New York, NY 10010
rrue@writershouse.com
(No Email Queries, please)
Represents Sci Fi, Mystery, Commercial Fiction, Fantasy, Romance, YA, Thrillers, and Suspense.
They are currently accepting queries at this agency.
Ginger Clark
Curtis Brown, Ltd.
Ten Astor Place, 3rd floor
New York, NY 10003
gc@cbltd.com
Represents Sci Fi, Chick Lit, Mystery, Horror, Fantasy, Romance, YA, Children’s, Middle Grade, and Pop Culture.
They are currently accepting queries at this agency.
Jane Chelius
Jane Chelius Literary Agency
548 Second Street
Brooklyn, NY 11215
jane@janechelius.com
Represents Literary Fiction, Sci Fi, Commercial Fiction, Mystery, Fantasy, Women’s Fiction, Romance, Thrillers, Suspense, Humor and Satire, Science, How to, Narrative Nonfiction, and Nature and Ecology.
They are currently accepting queries at this agency.
Shana Cohen
Stuart Krichevsky Literary Agency, Inc.
381 Park Avenue South, Suite 914
New York, NY 10016
sc@skagency.com
Represents Sci Fi, Mystery, Fantasy, and YA.
They are currently accepting queries at this agency.
Michael Congdon
Don Congdon Associates, Inc.
156 Fifth Avenue, Suite 625
New York, NY 10010
dca@doncongdon.com
Represents Sci Fi, Mystery, Commercial Fiction, Biography, and Fantasy.
They are currently accepting queries at this agency.
Jean Naggar
Jean V. Naggar Literary Agency, Inc.
216 East 75th Street
New York, NY 10021
jnaggar@jvnla.com
(No Email Queries, please)
Represents Literary Fiction, Sci Fi, True Crime, Commercial Fiction, Fantasy, Family Saga, Historical Fiction, Thrillers, Suspense, Adventure, and Multi Cultural.
They are currently accepting queries at this agency.
Michael Psaltis
Psaltis Literary
New York, NY 10040
michael@mpsaltis.com
Represents Literary Fiction, Sci Fi, Mystery, Commercial Fiction, Fantasy, Romance, Thrillers, Suspense, Short Stories, Food and Lifestyle, Science, Cookbooks, Narrative Nonfiction, Health and Fitness.
They are currently accepting queries at this agency.
Andrea Somberg
Harvey Klinger, Inc.
300 West 55th Street, Suite 11V
New York, NY 10019
andrea@harveyklinger.com
Represents Literary Fiction, Chick Lit, Mystery, Commercial Fiction, Fantasy, Women’s Fiction, Romance, YA, Multi-Cultural, Erotica, Middle Grade, Home and Design, Humor, Fitness and Health, Narrative Nonfiction, Pop Cultural, Business, Dating and Relationship, Travel, Memoirs, Cookbooks, Self Help, How to, Science, Biography, Sports, and History.
They are currently accepting queries at this agency.
Ethan Ellenberg
Ethan Ellenberg Literary Agency
548 Broadway, #5E
New York, NY 10012
agent@ethanellenberg.com
Represents Literary Fiction, Sci Fi, True Crime, Mystery, Commercial Fiction, Fantasy, Women’s Fiction, Romance, Family Saga, Historical Fiction, YA, Thrillers, Suspense, Children’s, Multi-Cultural, Biography, Science, Memoirs, Adventure, and True Story.
They are currently accepting queries at this agency.
Evan Marshall
Evan Marshall Agency
Six Tristam Place
Pine Brook, NJ 07058
evanmarshall@TheNovelist.com
(No Email Queries, please)
Represents Literary Fiction, Sci Fi, Chick Lit, True Crime, Mystery, Commercial Fiction, Fantasy, Women’s Fiction, Romance, Family Saga, YA, Thrillers, and Suspense.
They are currently accepting queries at this agency.
Jennifer Jackson
Donald Maass Literary Agency
121 West 27th Street, Suite 801
New York, NY 10001
jjackson@maassagency.com
Represents Sci Fi, Chick Lit, True Crime, Mystery, Christian, Commercial Fiction, Fantasy, Women’s Fiction, Romance, Historical Fiction, YA, Thrillers, Suspense, Multi-Cultural, Military or Espionage, and Offbeat or Quirky.
They are currently accepting queries at this agency.
Rachel Vater
Lowenstein-Yost Associates
121 West 27th Street, Suite 601
New York, NY 10001
Represents Literary Fiction, Sci Fi, Chick Lit, Mystery, Commercial Fiction, Fantasy, YA, Thrillers, Suspense, Spirituality, Business, Women’s Issues, Narrative Nonfiction, Finance, Psychology, Health and Fitness, and Cultural Social Issues.
They are currently accepting queries at this agency
