Updated 3/5/26
Here are nine new literary agents actively seeking writers. New agents are a boon to writers. They are actively building their lists, and will go the extra mile for their clients.
All of these agents work for established agencies with good track records. They are looking for everything from cookbooks to thrillers.
Always check the agency website and agent bio before submitting. Agents can switch agencies or close their lists, and submission requirements can change.
NOTE: Don't submit to several agents at the same agency simultaneously. If one rejects you, you may then submit to another. (Some small agencies share. Be alert to a notice that "a no from one is a no from all.")
You can find a full list of agents actively seeking new clients here: Agents Seeking Clients.
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Ms. Erika Stevens of Salky Literary Management
Prior to joining DeFiore & Company, Elise Howard was the founding publisher of Algonquin Young Readers, an imprint of Workman Publishing, which she led from 2011 to 2022. Elise was previously SVP and associate publisher at HarperCollins Children's Books, where she oversaw the publication of many award-winning and bestselling books. Some of the authors she has worked with include Masuma Ahuja, Avi, Tracey Baptiste, Kelly Barnhill, Sara Farizan, Neil Gaiman, Kelly Jensen, and Nova Ren Suma. Books she has edited have won the Newbery Medal twice, the Edgar Allen Poe Award for best juvenile novel twice, and many other awards and honors. She began her career as a book packager, conceiving, selling to publishers, and developing juvenile and adult fiction and non-fiction projects.
What she is seeking: As an agent, Elise is looking for new favorites— hers, an editor’s, and ultimately the reader’s: juvenile and adult fiction and eye-opening narrative non-fiction, particularly stories of the natural world, visible or invisible, including the human mind and body, or of people and events previously overlooked. Elise is not looking for adult genre fiction. She is taking on a select group of illustrators.
How to submit: Please email queryelise@defliterary.com with the title of your work and its category (e.g., adult n.f., middle-grade fiction) in the subject line. Please include in the body of your email:
• A brief, compelling description introducing your book.
• A paragraph (not more!) about you, relevant to your submission.
• For non-fiction, a concise synopsis that compels me to read on and the opening chapter.
• For fiction, the opening chapter.
• For graphic novels, the first chapter or the first twenty-five pages.
• For picture books, the full manuscript.
No attachments, please. Submissions that include them won’t be opened.
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Christie Megill joined The CAT Agency in 2022 after interning with Writers House, Triada US, and Cardinal Rule Press. She’s overjoyed to be working with artists and children’s book authors, offering long-term support in their careers and creative journeys. Christie comes from a background in elementary education and before pursuing education, she previously worked as an editorial assistant at an academic press in New York City, as a volunteer at the Housing Works Bookstore in SoHo, and as a bookseller at the bygone Borders Books and Music in Columbus Circle. She holds a BA in English Literature from Fordham University. Born and raised in Connecticut, she now considers New York City her forever home.
What she is seeking: Christie Megill: is eager to work with illustrators, author/illustrators, and picture book authors, offering long-term support in their careers and creative journeys. Please send her: children’s illustration portfolios, picture book dummies, picture book manuscripts, children’s graphic novel pitches, and the select chapter book project. While her taste is broad, she’s especially excited to find fresh stories and artwork from voices that have previously been underrepresented.
How to submit: Illustrators: send 4-6 jpegs of samples, a live link to your website and a short letter of introduction. Please send work that shows character development, style, color and narrative story-telling.
Author/Illustrators: email a brief synopsis of your manuscript, along with several accompanying illustrations or samples of your artwork. If we are interested in reviewing your dummy, we will request that you send it.
Please submit to SUBMISSIONS@CATAGENCYINC.COM & let us know who you are submitting to in the subject line!
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What he is seeking: He’s looking for thrillers in any form, whether they’re commercial or have a healthy literary injection. Strong sense of place is a major plus. Literary novels are always welcome, as long as there’s a plot. Also looking for suburban dysfunction (aka, domestic fiction) in any form, whether it’s suspenseful like Little Fires Everywhere or darkly comedic like The Corrections and The Stepford Wives or even with a dose of supernatural like Lost Man’s Lane, he wants to read it. He is also interested in narrative nonfiction with a compelling point of view, true crime, health and wellness, and long form investigative journalism.
How to submit: Queries should be emailed to: submissions [at] inkwellmanagement [dot] com
You may specify the name of the agent to whom you are submitting in the subject line of your query or address your query to the agency at large. In the body of your email, please include a query letter and a short writing sample (1-2 chapters).
Aliza began her Publishing career at Candlewick Press, where she spearheaded & coordinated illustrator searches and negotiated illustrator contracts. With a degree in Classics and a background in visual art, she is passionate about storytelling and the magical place where words and images collide. She is incredibly grateful to have joined the CAT Agency family, and excited to support artists & creators in bringing stories into the world.
What she is seeking: Aliza represents illustrators and author-illustrators. She is looking for visual storytellers with distinctive, unique portfolios that will stand out in a crowded market. She is drawn to work that showcases expressive characters, timeless palettes, and atmospheric scenes. She will happily review your comics, book cover designs, and picture book dummies.
Aliza believes in a world where all young people can see themselves reflected in children’s books. She is particularly interested in illustrators from diverse backgrounds and portfolios that depict diverse characters and experiences.
How to submit: Illustrators: send 4-6 jpegs of samples, a live link to your website and a short letter of introduction. Please send work that shows character development, style, color and narrative story-telling.
Author/Illustrators: email a brief synopsis of your manuscript, along with several accompanying illustrations or samples of your artwork. If we are interested in reviewing your dummy, we will request that you send it.
Please submit to SUBMISSIONS@CATAGENCYINC.COM & let us know who you are submitting to in the subject line!
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Maria handles translation rights on behalf of Greyhound Literary's clients and is building her own list of authors. She previously spent over five years working as a literary scout at Maria B. Campbell Associates in London, where she advised international publishers in over 12 countries on the adult and children's publishing market, and scouted multiple books for their film/tv client, Netflix.
She loves character-driven novels with a commercial bent that spark imagination or discussion. In particular she has a passion for genre fiction - especially fantasy with memorable characters and great world-building (Six of Crows, The First Law trilogy, Emily Wilde's Encyclopaedia of Faeries); horror with a unique concept or perspective (Into the Drowning Deep, The Only Good Indians); and softer, genre-crossing science fiction (The After Wife, Station Eleven). She is also keen on voice-led and emotive reading group fiction (Boy Swallows Universe, The One Hundred Years of Lenni and Margot); love stories and rom-coms that make you fall for both of leads (Frederica, The Love Hypothesis); unnerving, twisty crime writing (The Whisper Man, She Lies in Wait); thrillers with a great hook (The Last House on Needless Street, The Silent Patient) and anything with a high concept or speculative edge (The Seven Deaths of Evelyn Hardcastle, Tell Me an Ending).
Some of her old and new favourite authors include: Olivie Blake, Chloe Gong, Sabaa Tahir, Patrick Ness, Garth Nix, Erin Morganstern, Tamora Pierce, Joe Abercrombie, Scott Lynch, Alex North, S J Bolton, Alex Pavesi, Stuart Turton, Trent Dalton, Jo Harkin, Taylor Jenkins Reid, Sara Jafari, Kiley Reid, Bonnie Garmus, Jodi Picoult, Jenny Han, Ali Hazelwood, Beth O'Leary, Georgette Heyer, Thomas Olde Heuvelt, Stephen Graham Jones, and Mira Grant.
On the nonfiction side, she is drawn to anything that draws the reader into the immediacy and tangibility of an author’s personal experiences, whether that’s a professional memoir like Unnatural Causes or a personal one such as Notes on Heartbreak); histories that explores overlooked or underrepresented people and events as Hallie Rubenhold does so brilliantly in The Five; and nature and science writing that evokes fascination and wonder in the reader like How to Catch a Mole or Endless Forms, both books that intrigue and act as a door into underexplored or unfamiliar worlds.
How to submit: Read submission guidelines here. Note: "If you are based in an English-speaking country outside the UK or the Republic of Ireland in which there are well-established literary agencies, we would expect you to have a convincing reason for wanting to be represented by an agency in the UK."
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What she is seeking: I’m looking for (in order of priority) young adult, middle grade, and picture books.
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