Literary Agent Red Flags

I've seen an alarming amount of new literary agencies pop up that have many red flags. Here's a few things to look out for while looking at literary agent’s qualifications from a writer who has queried four times and has seen and heard...many things.

There are two main rules I follow when choosing which agents to query. Each agent must pass these two qualifications:

1. Has experience behind them

2. Has a matching manuscript wishlist to my book/career path

Let’s dive into the experience part, and what items could be red flags, below. The fact that an agent can actually sell my book to where I want is a non-negotiable skill. Seems straightforward, but so many people see an agency website and just submit without looking deeper.

Please. Not all agents are created equal.

There’s a reason the saying “no agent is better than a bad agent” is prevalent. We can’t control what a “bad” agent is, but we can set ourselves up to get a good business partner as best we can. The only indicator of that for me is looking at the experience they’ve had or have.

Experience matters.

So many agents say they care deeply about writers and putting out important books. That’s really nice, we want that, but you must require more. I wouldn’t want to get surgery from someone who was passionate about healing but had no schooling or training. They can have all the best intentions in the world. But that's not how this industry works. There are so many intricate ins and outs of being a literary agent. I've seen so many things handled by my friends' agents that only come from industry know-how.

So what about new agents? Because here’s the thing—we all start somewhere. The important thing to look at is where this new agent is starting. My general rule of thumb is either the agent has good experience and has sold well, OR the agency the agent works at has sold well.

A new agent needs people who are proven in the industry to teach and guide them. Either way, experience is present. Most of my current favorite agents are newer at great agencies. They’re hungry, building their lists, and most importantly, have the support of a proven agency behind them.

There are agencies I will not touch because they don't have the experience for what I want. That’s not mean, it’s just good business for me. Agents don't just need to love your book, they need connections, contract knowledge, industry norms figured out, pitching skills, etc.

You might not care about this next thing, but if the agency primarily sells to small presses that also take unagented submissions, they may not have the connections or know-how to make a sale to the bigger houses. aka know what you want and find an agent who can get it for you.

While an agent’s bio on the agency website should tell you their history in the industry, it’s sometimes hard to find their sales without a subscription to Publisher's Marketplace. A few ways to get around that (I don’t have it and I’ve made do) is many agencies list books they represent on their website.

My favorite is when they have their sales listed or an open PM page—that’s a green flag. Who publishes those books matters as well, but that depends on personal preference and career aspirations like I said above. Also, going to a bookstore and looking at recent book's acknowledgments for an agent name can work. It’s proof they could replicate that for you.

Now that we’ve covered the basics, let’s look at an easy list of red flags to watch out for as you research literary agents.

🟥New agent at an agency that doesn't sell well

🟥 No sales can be found on website or by digging on the internet

🟥 No sales to reputable publishers

🟥 Agent who has been around for many years with little-to-no sales

🟥 The founder of the agency talks about their passion for books and nothing about qualifications for running a lit agency (no previous experience or real sales)

🟥 Agency has high turnover of agents

🟥 Requests money or exclusive subs. They don't know industry norms or are a scam

🟥 Reported scandals or misconduct online, in WriterBeware, Query Tracker comments, etc.

🟥 Agent has taken on a lot of new clients in a short time period

If you liked this content, try out my Query Readiness Guide where I go into depth about this topic and walk you through researching agents.