Hoping to be traditionally published? Being represented by a literary agent can greatly increase your chances. Agents use their extensive contacts to pitch your manuscript to the most suitable publishers, present it in the most appealing light, and negotiate the best possible deal. They can also work with you editorially, manage subsidiary rights (including audiobook, film, TV, and foreign rights), and champion you and your work over the long haul of your literary career.
You’ll likely find that there are many agents out there and that sifting through them for the most suitable matches can be a daunting task. To help you on your search, we’ve prepared a list of 30 top literary agents seeking fantasy and science fiction, in no particular order. The list covers agents based in the UK and USA.
Before we start the list, here are a few crucial tips for submitting to agents:
- Check that the agent is currently open to submissions. Some agents periodically close their submissions to catch up on the queries they’ve already received.
- Research each agent. Some agents post detailed information on what they’re looking for at the moment on their agency website, Twitter, or databases such as Manuscript Wish List. Others are more general about what they’re open to receiving. Checking the agency website (or Googling) to find some of the agents’ clients can help you gauge their tastes, preferences, and whether your own manuscript would look right at home on their list.
- Stick to the submission guidelines. Guidelines vary from agency to agency. Agents receive a huge number of submissions, so follow the guidelines on their website to put your best foot forward. Send the agent no more or less than what they request – for instance, don’t send a 1,000-word synopsis if they asked for 500 words. Otherwise, they may have to delete your submission without reading it first. First impressions count!
For more querying tips, download our guide on how to write a query letter below.
How to write a query letter: an exclusive guide from Fabled Planet
Includes…
An introduction to writing a query letter and why it matters
Top tips for pitching your work to agents and publishers
A checklist for writing your query letter
Agents based in the UK
1. John Jarrold
Agency: John Jarrold Literary Agency
John Jarrold specialises in fantasy, science fiction, and horror for adults and represents over forty authors. His clients include Christopher Evans (Capella’s Golden Eyes), Curtis Jobling (Wereworld), and T.R. Napper (36 Streets). Find out more about John Jarrold on the agency website.
2. Phillipa Milnes-Smith
Agency: The Soho Agency
Phillipa Milnes-Smith works with children’s fiction and is open to a broad range of genres, including fantasy and science fiction. Her clients include Chris Riddell (Ottoline and the Yellow Cat), Philip Reeve (Mortal Engines), Niamh Sharkey (The Ravenous Beast). Learn more about Phillipa Milnes-Smith on the agency website.
3. Jamie Cowen
Agency: The Ampersand Agency
Jamie Cowen is open to a wide range of genre fiction, including science fiction and fantasy. He’s worked publishing for eighteen years. His speculative fiction clients include Tendai Huchu (The Library of the Dead), Adrian Selby (Snakewood), and Nate Crowley (The Death and Life of Schneider Wrack). Find out more about Jamie Cowen on the agency website.
4. David Godwin
Agency: David Godwin Associates
David Godwin represents many genres, including fantasy and science fiction. He has been a literary agent for more than twenty years. His speculative fiction clients include Samantha Shannon (The Bone Season). Find out more about David Godwin on the agency website.
5. Ian Drury
Agency: Sheil Land Associates
Ian Drury is open to fantasy and science fiction manuscripts, among other genres, for a broad audience. He has had a number of bestselling clients. His speculative fiction clients include Mark Lawrence (Prince of Thorns), Anna Smith-Spark (The Court of Broken Knives), James Wilde (Hereward). Find out more about Ian Drury on the agency website.
6. Alexander Cochran
Agency: C&W Agency
Alexander Cochran seeks fantasy and science fiction manuscripts for a broad audience that ‘push boundaries or cross genres, but are rooted in the believable’. His speculative fiction clients include G.V. Anderson (The Light in the Sound), Gareth L. Powell (Descendant Machine), and Tade Thompson (Rosewater). Find out more about Alexander Cochran on the agency website.
7. Julie Crisp
Agency: Julie Crisp Literary Agency
Julie Crisp is looking for fantasy and science fiction. Before becoming an agent, she was the head of the UK arm of Tor, one of the leading fantasy and science fiction publishers. Her speculative fiction clients include John Gwynne (The Hunger of the Gods), Devin Madson (We Ride the Storm), C.T. Rwizi (Scarlett Odyssey), and Sam Hawke (Hollow Empire). Find out more about Julie Crisp on the agency website.
8. Zoë Plant
Agency: The Bent Agency
Zoë Plant is seeking middle-grade, young adult (YA), and adult science fiction and fantasy. Her speculative fiction clients include Hannah Matthewson (Witherward) and Rhiannon Williams (Ottilie Colter and the Narroway Hunt). Find out more about Zoë Plant on the agency website.
9. Ciara Finan
Agency: Curtis Brown Group
Ciara Finan is looking for select commercial fantasy and science fiction. She particularly wants fantasy romance, dark academia, epic fantasy, gothic fantasy and science fiction, and anything with political intrigue. Find out more about Ciara Finan on the agency website.
10. Ed Wilson
Agency: Johnson & Alcock Literary Agency
Ed Wilson is seeking adult fantasy and science fiction with ‘an imaginative setting, strong narrative voice, and compelling premise’. His speculative client list includes R.J. Barker (The Bone Ships) and Cameron Johnston (The Magnificent Seven). Find out more about Ed Wilson on the agency website.
11. Juliet Mushens
Agency: Mushens Entertainment
Juliet Mushens is looking for adult and young adult (YA) fantasy and science fiction. She currently serves as the president of the British Fantasy Society. Her clients in speculative fiction include Jen Williams (The Poison Song), Taran Matharu (Dragon Rider), and Stephen Aryan (Battlemage). Find out more about Juliet Mushens on the agency website.
How to write a query letter: an exclusive guide from Fabled Planet
Includes…
An introduction to writing a query letter and why it matters
Top tips for pitching your work to agents and publishers
A checklist for writing your query letter
Agents based in the USA
12. Robin Rue
Agency: Writers House
Robin Rue worked as an editor before becoming an agent and has a special love for young adult (YA) literature. She’s seeking submissions in both fantasy and science fiction, adult and YA. Her speculative fiction clients include Sarah J. Maass (Throne of Glass), Kresley Cole (Immortals After Dark series), Holly Lisle (Cadence Drake series), and Patricia Rice (Psychic Solutions Mysteries). Find out more about Robin Rue on the agency website.
13. Ali Herring
Agency: Spencerhill Associates
Ali Herring is open to a range of fantasy and science fiction in the middle grade, young adult (YA), and adult categories, with a preference for high-concept commercial fiction with a literary flair. Speculative fiction clients include Kristy Acevedo (The Warning) and Mary Baader Kaley (Burrowed). Find out more about Ali Herring on the agency website.
14. Allegra Martschenko
Agency: Ladderbird Literary Agency
Allegra Martschenko is seeking beautifully written science fiction and fantasy adult and young adult (YA) books and wants to represent ‘ambitious authors, ones who write because they love slotting together new stories into intricate puzzles’. Find out more about Allegra Martschenko on the agency website.
15. Hannah Bowman
Agency: Liza Dawson Associates
Hannah Bowman is looking for adult fantasy novels in a variety of subgenres, hard science fiction, crossover fantasy, and much more. She’s open to young adult (YA) novels, too. Her speculative fiction clients include R.F. Kuang (The Poppy War), K.S. Villoso (The Wolf of Oren Yaro), H.G. Parry (The Magician’s Daughter), Rosamund Hodge (Cruel Beauty), Kameron Hurley (The Stars Are Legion), and Brian Staveley (The Chronicle of the Unhewn Throne). Find out more about Hannah Bowman on the agency website.
16. Rick Lewis
Agency: Martin Literary Management
Rick Lewis represents young adult (YA) and adult fantasy, science fiction, horror, and magical realism novels. He’s seeking novels about ‘complex, realistic characters in highly imaginative worlds’ with ‘at least a touch of science, magic, or the supernatural that captures the imagination while illuminating the real world’. Find out more about Rick Lewis on the agency website.
17. Eric Smith
Agency: P.S. Literary Agency
Eric Smith is seeking ‘new, diverse’ voices in middle grade, young adult (YA), and adult fantasy and science fiction, among other genres. His speculative fiction clients include K. Ancrum (The Weight of the Stars), Olivia Chadha (Fall of the Iron Gods), Mike Chen (Here and Now and Then), and Helen Corcoran (Queen of Coin and Whispers). Find out more about Eric Smith on the agency website.
18. Stacia Decker
Agency: Dunow, Carlson, & Lerner Literary Agency
Stacia Decker is looking for speculative fiction and is ‘partial to strong voices, fast-paced plotting, and near-future or cross-genre elements’. Her speculative clients include Joelle Charbonneau (The Testing) and John Horner Jacobs (Southern Gods). Find out more aboout Stacia Decker on the agency website.
19. Joanna Volpe
Agency: New Leaf Literary and Media
Joanna Volpe is open to a wide range of genres but ‘has a soft spot for speculative and/or fantastical elements’. She has represented a number of well-known bestselling speculative authors, including Leigh Bardugo (Six of Crows), Veronica Roth (Carve the Mark), and Danielle Page (Dorothy Must Die). Find out more about Joanna Volpe on the agency website.
20. Melanie Figueroa
Agency: Root Literary
Melanie Figueroa is looking for fantasy and science fiction for adults and children, with an emphasis on middle grade. Her speculative clients include Caris Avendaño Cruz (Marikit and the Ocean of Stars) and M.T. Khan (Nura and the Immortal Place). Find out more about Melanie Figueroa on the agency website.
21. Rose Ferrao
Agency: P.S. Literary Agency
Rose Ferrao is looking for adult and crossover fantasy, adult science fiction, and select young adult (YA) fiction. Though a new agent, she’s no stranger to fantasy and science fiction: before joining P.S. Literary Agency, she was an editorial assistant at Orbit Books, a publisher specialising in speculative genres. She particularly welcomes submissions from neurodivergent writers. Find out more about Rose Ferrao on agency website.
22. Paul Lucas
Agency: Janklow & Nesbit Associates
Paul Lucas is open to, among other genres, fantasy and science fiction. He represents a number of successful speculative writers, including Katherine Arden (The Bear and the Nightingale), R.A. Salvatore (The Legend of Drizzt), and Anthony Ryan (Blood Song). Find out more about Paula Lucas at the agency website.
23. Patrice Caldwell
Agency: New Leaf Literary and Media
Patrice Caldwell is looking for fantasy and science fiction for adults and children, especially ‘middle grade science fiction & fantasy, mythology retellings and reimaginings, romance novels, and anything that can be categorized as horror and/or gothic literature’. Her speculative fiction clients include Terry J. Benton-Walker (Blood Debts), Kwame Mbalia (Tristan Strong Punches a Hole in the Sky), and Alexandra Overy (These Feathered Flames). Find out more about Patrice Caldwell on the agency website.
24. Holly Root
Agency: Root Literary
Holly Root is looking for fantasy and science fiction for middle grade, young adult (YA), and adult audiences. She wants to work with writers ‘who are creatively ambitious’. Her clients in speculative fiction include Victoria Schwab (The Invisible Life of Addie LaRue), Rae Carson (Fire and Thorns), Meredith Duran (Fool Me Twice), and C.J. Redwine (The Shadow Queen). Find out more about Holly Root on the agency website.
25. Eddie Schneider
Agency: JABberwocky Literary Agency
Eddie Schneider is on the lookout for fantasy and science fiction for adults and children. He enjoys ‘stories with intricate, imaginative settings that are internally consistent, address political and social concerns, and have often found myself preferring tight writing to florid’. His speculative clients include Brandon Sanderson (Steelheart), Nancy Farmer (The House of the Scorpion), and Daniel José Older (Ballad & Dagger). Find out more about Eddie Scheider on the agency website.
26. Ben Grange
Agency: L. Perkins Agency
Ben Grange generally prefers middle grade and young adult (YA) fantasy and science fiction but is also open to adult manuscripts. His speculative clients include Chad Morris and Shelly Brown (Virtually Me). Find out more about Ben Grange on the agency website.
27. Bridget Smith
Agency: JABberwocky Literary Agency
Bridget Smith is seeking fantasy and science fiction for adults and young adults (YA). She is open to queries on the first ten days of every month. Her speculative fiction clients include Ellen Goodlett (Rule) and Tracy Townsend (The Nine). Find out more about Bridget Smith on the agency website.
28. Dorian Maffei
Agency: Kimberley Cameron & Associates
Dorian Maffei is looking for adult and young adult (YA) fantasy and science fiction and likes stories that blend genre lines. Her speculative fiction clients include Karen Osborne (Architects of Memory) and Maria Z. Medina (Mistress of Bones). Find out more about Dorian Maffei on the agency website.
29. Matt Bialer
Agency: Sanford J. Greenburger Associates
Matt Bialer seeks fantasy and science fiction and is open to manuscripts for a broad audience. He has been in the publishing industry since 1985. His speculative fiction clients include Patrick Rothfuss (The Name of the Wind), Jay Kristoff (Nevernight), Tad Williams (Empire of Grass), and C.J. Cherryh (Foreigner). Find out more about Matt Bialer on the agency website.
30. Andrea Somberg
Agency: Harvey Klinger Literary Agency
Andrea Somberg is looking for fantasy and science fiction for middle grade, young adult (YA), and adult audiences. She has worked as an agent for more than two decades. Her clients include Fran Wilde (The Ship of Stolen Words) and Sarah Beth Durst (The Bone Maker). Find out more about Andrea Somberg on the agency website.
How to write a query letter: an exclusive guide from Fabled Planet