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The Best Literary Agents Seeking Submissions in Toronto

Showing 30 agents that match your search.

Carly Watters

💼 Agency: P.S. Literary Agency

🌍 Location: Toronto, CA

🧑‍💻 Website: https://www.psliterary.com/

📣 Preferred contact method: Email

Genres: Fiction, Commercial Fiction, Historical Fiction, Literary Fiction, Thriller, Women's Fiction, Young Adult, Nonfiction, Cookbook, Narrative Nonfiction, Children's Book, Diverse Fiction, LGBTQ, Business Book, Humor, Memoir, Mystery, Romance

Previous clients: Colin Mochrie, Mary Akers, Danny Appleby, Jay Onrait, Taylor Jenkins Reid, Lorene Sauro

Interested in debut authors

Query Tracker | MSWL | Agent Query

Cassandra Rodgers

💼 Agency: 5 Otter Literary

🌍 Location: Toronto, CA

🧑‍💻 Website: https://fiveotterliterary.com/

📣 Preferred contact method: Email

Genres: Fiction, Commercial Fiction, Historical Fiction, Thriller, Nonfiction, Business Book, Memoir, Politics, Sports

Previous clients: Dayle Furlong, Gabriele Wills, James R. Wallen, Kath Jonathan

Query Tracker

Cecilia Lyra

💼 Agency: P.S. Literary Agency

🌍 Location: Toronto, CA

🧑‍💻 Website: https://www.psliterary.com/

📣 Preferred contact method: Email

Genres: Fiction, Commercial Fiction, Literary Fiction, Women's Fiction, Nonfiction, Business Book, Memoir, Diverse Fiction, BIPOC, Feminism, LGBTQ

Previous clients: Lene Andersen, Jenna Ferrey, Amy Rosen, Jessica Hinkson

Interested in debut authors

Query Tracker | MSWL

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Helen Heller

💼 Agency: The Helen Heller Agency

🌍 Location: Toronto, CA

🧑‍💻 Website: https://thehelenhelleragency.com/

📣 Preferred contact method: Email

Genres: Fiction, Commercial Fiction, Literary Fiction, Historical Fiction, Thriller

Previous clients: Khaled Hosseini, Bruce Holsinger, Nora Murphy

Interested in debut authors

Query Tracker | MSWL

Curtis Russell

💼 Agency: P.S. Literary Agency

🌍 Location: Toronto, CA

🧑‍💻 Website: https://www.psliterary.com/

📣 Preferred contact method: Email

Genres: Fiction, Commercial Fiction, Humor, Literary Fiction, Mystery, Romance, Thriller, Young Adult, Nonfiction, Business Book, Memoir, Politics, Self-Help, Sports, Children's Book, Middle Grade, Picture Book

Previous clients: Pamela Beason, Nick Powdthavee, Gail Vaz-Oxlade, Gerry Dee, Tommy Europe

Interested in debut authors

Query Tracker | MSWL | Agent Query

Barbara Berson

💼 Agency: The Helen Heller Agency

🌍 Location: Toronto, CA

🧑‍💻 Website: https://thehelenhelleragency.com/

📣 Preferred contact method: Email

Genres: Fiction, Literary Fiction, Young Adult, Nonfiction, Narrative Nonfiction, Children's Book, Middle Grade

Previous clients: Corinne Clark, Amanda Ghazale Aziz, David Demchuk

Query Tracker

Sandra Bishop

💼 Agency: Transatlantic Agency

🌍 Location: Toronto, CA

🧑‍💻 Website: https://www.transatlanticagency.com/

📣 Preferred contact method: Email

Genres: Nonfiction, Cookbook, Memoir, Self-Help

Previous clients: Maureen McQuerry, Carolyn Pizzuti, Rachel Stafford, Rebecca Eanes

Query Tracker | Publishers Marketplace

Brenna English-Loeb

💼 Agency: Transatlantic Agency

🌍 Location: Toronto, CA

🧑‍💻 Website: https://www.transatlanticagency.com/

📣 Preferred contact method: Email

Genres: Fiction, Fantasy, Mystery, Science Fiction, Thriller, Young Adult, Crime Fiction

Previous clients: Mark Sampson, Kathleen Doughty, Genoveva Dimova

Interested in debut authors

Query Tracker | MSWL

Dean Cooke

💼 Agency: CookeMcDermid

🌍 Location: Toronto, CA

🧑‍💻 Website: https://cookemcdermid.com/

📣 Preferred contact method: Online submission form

Genres: Fiction, Commercial Fiction, Fantasy, Horror, Science Fiction, Thriller, Young Adult, Nonfiction, Narrative Nonfiction, Children's Book, Middle Grade

Previous clients: Cherie Dimaline, John Irving, Marsha Skrypuch, Lilian Nattel

Query Tracker | Publishers Marketplace | Agent Query

Denise Bukowski

💼 Agency: The Bukowski Agency

🌍 Location: Toronto, CA

🧑‍💻 Website: http://www.bukowskiagency.com/

📣 Preferred contact method: Email

Genres: Fiction, Literary Fiction, Nonfiction, Narrative Nonfiction

Previous clients: Alan Bradley, Lori Lansens, George Bowering, Frank Koller

Query Tracker | Publishers Marketplace

What do literary agents do?

A literary agent represents your book to acquiring editors who want to publish it. In other words, an agent gets the foot of new authors in the door of a publishing house — and onto the path of getting traditionally published. 

In addition to championing you and your writing and serving as your point of contact with others in publishing, literary agents understand editors’ tastes and the types of books they are looking to add to their lists — a crucial component in getting any publishing house to invest in the works of new authors. Since most big publishers don’t accept unsolicited submissions, getting a literary agent who’s accepting submissions is the most realistic route to traditional publication, particularly for debut authors.

Aside from getting your foot in the door, what else do literary agents do?

  • They are expert negotiators, combining publishing acumen with a nose for the value of good, sellable writing;
  • They act as mediators between you and your publisher (when you don’t want to hurt your working relationship with an editor by talking brass tacks);
  • They manage the financial and marketing side of things while you concentrate on the writing; and
  • They often have strong editorial skills, helping refine your manuscript before you submit it to a publisher.

As you might've guessed, literary agents are especially important for debut authors, who often don't have a starting point in the vast maze that is the publishing industry. That's what a literary agent will become for you: a guide to help you throughout the publishing process, and kickstart your publishing career. 

New authors might be intimidated by the wealth of information and cautionary signs in the industry. It's especially tricky to research literary agents when some are open to submissions from new authors, and some are not.

If you're one of those debut authors, don't fret! We've got you covered with the resources that you need to gain your bearings. 

Resources for new authors landing a literary agent in 2024

You might think that a great book is all you need to catch a literary agent’s attention. But you’ll need to put in a good amount of work to land them — and that includes everything from the careful study of each agent's wishlist to personalizing your query letter for each candidate..

Whether you’re a new author learning how to research literary agents or an experienced writer refining your query letter, here are the resources that can give you a headstart.

Free online materials for debut authors

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Reedsy | Editors working on Query Letter | 2023-10

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