Researching agents is one of those tasks that would put anyone\u2019s head in a spin. If you\u2019ve got as far as being in that position, it means you\u2019ve almost certainly spent years writing your book, editing your book, and planning the potential future of your book through a series of elaborate daydreams. The job, then, of working out who to actually send it to is, to put it lightly, rather overwhelming. <\/p>\n\n\n\n
I began querying in 2021, after having spent ten years (at least) writing a middle-grade fantasy in between getting married, having children, moving houses etc. I spent a year sending this work of a decade to a list of carefully researched agents, and the same year being roundly rejected. So far, so normal. <\/p>\n\n\n\n
After shelving this middle-grade novel, I decided I\u2019d write a psychological thriller. This was, after all, the genre I mainly read in. And after completing and editing it (in only a year this time!) I was ready to start querying again. I drew up a comprehensive list of agents based on Google searches, The Writers\u2019 and Artists\u2019 Yearbook, and the acknowledgments section of any thriller I could get my hands on. <\/p>\n\n\n\n
This research is incredibly longwinded and time-consuming if you want to do it properly, and get a real sense of what an agent is like, what they\u2019re looking for, and the reasons why you think you\u2019d be a good match for each other. So after a few months of more rejections, I decided to give Jericho Writers\u2019 AgentMatch<\/a> a go. And I found it completely addictive.\u00a0<\/p>\n\n\n\n Not only could I search for relevant agents, but I could filter by things like how many years\u2019 experience they had, whether they were actively looking for new authors, or how many clients they had. And it was amongst this treasure trove of information that I found Jo Williamson of Antony Harwood Literary Agency. <\/p>\n\n\n\n I\u2019d queried Jo before with my middle-grade novel, so knew I liked the sound of her as an agent, but I had no idea she represented anything other than children\u2019s books. It turns out she had only recently begun looking for adult books, and Jericho Writers (being so well connected to agents) had sniffed out that vital piece of information and fed it into their AgentMatch feature. They also had very helpful sections where they\u2019d collated interview transcriptions, and links to relevant videos, so you could browse information about agents gathered from more than one source, all from the AgentMatch page. <\/p>\n\n\n\n Jericho really helped me home in on the agents I wanted to approach, and gave me the confidence to know I\u2019d done my research properly, and had been provided with up-to-date information. I also used their Agent One-to-One to get feedback on my query package before I began querying. This gave me a fifteen minute phone call with Phillipa Sitters of DGA, which was really useful, and meant I felt confident in the pages I was about to put out there, as well as the information I\u2019d included in my query letter. <\/p>\n\n\n\n In the end I received three full manuscript requests and two offers of rep \u2013 and obviously chose the amazing Jo Williamson, who is still my agent four years and three books later! <\/p>\n\n\n\n My debut, The Perfect Guest<\/em> came out in 2024, followed by Home Sweet Home<\/em> a year later. My third thriller, The Family Break was published<\/em> 30th<\/sup> July 2026 by Zaffre Books. <\/p>\n\n\n\nTop tips for querying authors: <\/h3>\n\n\n\n