10 Agents Looking for Genre-Bending Fiction
Where to Query This Week (1.22.25) | Plus an agent shares how to use your query letter to stand out
Welcome to Sub Club’s Where to Query This Week!
Before we dive in, I wanted to let you know that my Personalized Agent Lists are open again! This service provides a list customized just for you, lovingly handpicked by me, featuring agents who are currently open to queries.
I’ll curate your list based on your query letter and responses to our quick questionnaire. Along with the agent names, you’ll get:
A brief explanation of why each agent is a great match for your manuscript
Suggested phrasing for your query letter to help you show how your book aligns with their interests
Psst, I’ll also include notes to help make your query letter even stronger! We have limited spots available, so if you’re ready to hand off this daunting task and get personalized support, snag your spot today!
This week, we get to hear from another agent! Lauren Liebow has been with Aevitas Creative Management for two years as a literary agent. Today, she is sharing advice on how to make your query letter stand out by thinking like an agent. She is also open to queries—see below!
Thinking Like an Agent: 4 Tips on How You Can Use Your Query to Stand Out
While agents can open doors for authors pursuing a career in traditional publishing, many of us receive thousands of queries every year and will take on only a small number of the projects that cross our desks. It can feel daunting in such a competitive industry to set your work apart, so I’m sharing a few tips that will shed light on how I approach the querying process and demystify some of the things that other agents might be looking for, too.
Tip #1: Submit your best work
Being an author is often a full-time job. Agents usually want to develop our clients’ writing careers beyond their first book, and we, therefore, are looking for writers who can consistently deliver professional, high-quality work. Sending a polished pitch letter that highlights your unique voice while being economical and direct can signal to agents that you have the qualities we’re typically looking for in a client.
To me, the sample pages are the most critical part of the query. Your writing style, voice, and characters are what I'm ultimately representing to publishers, so I need to feel confident in your creative vision to dutifully advocate for your work. With that in mind, your manuscript may require multiple rounds of revisions before it is ready to share with agents. Join writers’ groups, participate in professional networking opportunities, and get ample feedback from trusted readers who are objective and can give you honest, critical notes. Refining your work in this way will give you the best chance at success in the querying stage.
Tip #2: Find what sets your book apart
Imagine a world in which there are already twenty other people writing a similar story, with comparable characters, and with the same message or theme in the book that you’re writing. In that situation, what makes your work stand out against the rest? Is it your unique writing style, the perspective you use, or your richly depicted world? What is it about your work that nobody else can copy? You can use your sample pages to lean into whatever it may be that makes your work truly exceptional.
I’m always on the hunt for projects that have that “secret ingredient,” so to speak, whether it’s in the form of expertly written characters, beautiful prose, or an original voice that sweeps me off my feet. Excelling in whatever your book will accomplish that nobody else has done before will help agents see the commercial promise of your work more clearly and visualize the readership for your book.
Tip #3: Never stop reading
As you’re writing, continue reading recently released books and figure out where your work might fit into the publishing landscape. Think about your favorite new books and what you love about them. What do those books do exceptionally well? How does your work compare to other books coming out this year? While it’s not necessary to follow trends, it can be helpful to stay informed about similar books to yours that are being published.
At the end of the day, publishers need the books on their list to sell enough copies to meet their financial goals. Though it’s nearly impossible to forecast book sales, some data shows certain books sell more copies than others. And that data can tell us a little more about what readers might want. As an agent, I’m looking for authors who have the writing skills to measure up to those successful books that are already out there while providing a fresh, innovative take that we’ve never seen before—and that requires a bit of market research and competitive analysis.
Tip #4: Don’t take rejection personally
Agents could have a million possible reasons why they didn’t connect with your work. Sometimes the project doesn’t quite fit within our wheelhouse, or there might be other factors that an author simply can’t control. So much of our decision is based on personal taste and style that it can be difficult to pinpoint exactly why an agent may not have wanted to work together. Receiving a rejection is not always a testament to the quality of your work, though it can often be an invitation to continue editing and refining your project.
Ultimately, every agent has different ways of approaching the querying process. Many of us, though, have the same goals for our clients and want to work hard for books that inspire us. At the same time, positioning these books requires a lot of hard work, market research, and savvy thinking. If you’ve thoroughly considered these aspects of the publishing industry and feel that you’ve done the legwork to put together a sharp, compelling manuscript with a commercial angle, then you just might be ready to query a literary agent!
Lauren Liebow is an agent at Aevitas Creative Management, representing authors across literary and upmarket fiction as well as non-fiction. In fiction, she is seeking projects that feature voice-driven narratives with beautiful prose and is most fascinated by novels that feel larger than the sum of their parts. In nonfiction, she is focusing on narrative nonfiction, memoir, and investigative journalism. Across all genres, she’s keenly interested in uplifting historically underrepresented voices. Based in New York City, Lauren graduated with honors from the United States Military Academy at West Point and served as a commissioned Army officer in El Paso, TX, before joining Aevitas.
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10 Agents Looking for Genre-Bending Fiction
Before we get into this list, here is a quick note on defining “genre-bending” fiction. I know genres can make us feel crazy, especially when your query letter is supposed to let agents know what genre you are pitching your book in. Genre-bending fiction refers to stories that blend elements from multiple genres, breaking traditional boundaries to create something unique and innovative. For example, a novel might combine romance and horror, or science fiction and literary fiction, resulting in a narrative that defies categorization while appealing to diverse audiences. Phew.
But this can also be an advantage in your query journey because it allows you to cast a wider net. When querying, describe your book using terms like "a blend of [genre] and [genre]" or "a [primary genre] novel with elements of [secondary genre]." This helps agents understand how your novel fits the market while showcasing its unique appeal. Just make sure that the genres you choose are compatible and accurately reflect your story. And that your comps exemplify this, too!
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