A few resources to help you find a literary agent or traditional publisher for your novel

Three cups of coffee lined up on table. Image courtesy of Pixabay.

If you're hoping to get your novel traditionally published, you'll likely need a literary agent to represent your work. Of course, not all publishers require writers to go through a literary agent. Some smaller publishing houses allow writers to submit to them directly.

One place you might look for information about literary agents and publishing companies is the Writers' and Artists' Yearbook (which is based in the UK). They publish a new directory every year, but you can also access the directory online (with a paid account). You can find that here: https://www.writersandartists.co.uk/advice/look-inside-our-2024-yearbooks .
 
If you're in the U.S., or looking for a U.S.-based publisher or agent, you might try to get a copy of Writer's Market, which is published by Penguin. This is the link I found for Writer’s Market: https://www.penguinrandomhouse.com/books/677597/writers-market-100th-edition-by-edited-by-robert-lee-brewer/ .

When I posted about this recently on LinkedIn, fellow developmental editor Kristin Noland (who specialises in guiding women authors of crime and speculative fiction) commented to recommend QueryTracker, which is both free and online. I checked that out and it looks really helpful (it’s also been named one of the 101 Best Websites for Writers by Writer’s Digest for the last 15 years). You can find that here: https://querytracker.net/

Another service Kristin mentioned is Manuscript Wish List (available here: https://www.manuscriptwishlist.com/). Manuscript Wish List is an online database writers can use to find out what agents and editors who work at publishing houses are looking for, so they can pitch directly to them. (Thank you, Kristin, for these great resources!)

You can also try keeping an eye out for publishers or agents on social media, or at writers' events and conferences, where they may hold pitch sessions or talk about the kinds of stories they’re looking for. (A pitch session is a short meeting with a literary agent or editor where a writer pitches their book to them. These are often held at writing conferences and, sometimes, online.)

I hope this has been helpful. Best of luck with your search!

If you’ve already found an agent or publisher you’d like to submit to, and you need some help preparing your submission package, you might be interested in my “Query letters, synopses, and submission packages” service. You can find that here.