US literary agents for memoir, true story, and autobiographies

Breaking into the book market can be difficult, but luckily for you, we have all the advice you need to find the right agent for your book.

There are plenty of memoir-loving agents but finalising your agent shortlist can be a painstakingly long, dull task. Unless you’re using AgentMatch, that is.    

We’ve done all the hard work for you: scoured the four corners of the web for every interview, interesting fact, and noteworthy quote, it’s all there. So, why not take out our 7-day free trial to get complete access to all the US literary agent profiles.  

After selecting your country (we advise that US based authors query US based agents), genre or non-fiction subject, you’ll receive a personalised list of suitable agent profiles. Save your search results and work through them one by one, at your own pace. Here’s some names to get you started: 

Margaret Bail

Sonali Chanchani

Dawn Hardy

Edward Hibbert

Jody Kahn 

Ed Maxwell 

Neil Olson

Latoya C Smith

Howard Yoon

Need more information? We break everything down in our guide to finding a literary agent – it’s invaluable for all querying authors!

The Memoir Market

The market for memoirs is easy, if you’re a celebrity that is. If you find that you’re not a celebrity, then things can prove a little harder. 

You will need to show that you have been part of something quite remarkable. Not my-friends-think-it’s-amazing remarkable, but the kind of remarkable that will captivate a perfect stranger, like Cheryl Strayed’s Wild.  

The ability to transform those remarkable experience into excellent prose is another must. To hook an agent, you need to be able to bring to life the things you’ve seen and done. Masterpieces like The Hare With Amber Eyes and Empire Antartica are also great examples. 

Gripping stories like these are rarer than you’d think.