Storybound Faith

Storybound Faith

Tips for Querying a Literary Agent

Marissa Franks Burt's avatar
Marissa Franks Burt
Aug 20, 2025
∙ Paid

Hello subscribers!

I’m so glad you’re here and want to offer you some paywalled content as a thank you for your support. I am developing a course to walk authors through the querying process, which will eventually be available here alongside my How to Write a Novel and How to Write a Nonfiction Proposal courses, but in the meantime, I though to share some general querying tips. Over the years, I’ve had many people ask me about how to land a literary agent or how to find an editor for their book. So here are some general ideas that might help you along your own path to publication.

The basic process is to finish your book (fiction) or proposal (non-fiction) and then try and connect with an agent. Agents will become your business partner to get your manuscript in front of editors at traditional publishing houses. Literary agents are well worth the fee they earn, because they help you negotiate contracts, sometimes give editorial insight, and help advocate for you should you have any conflicts or problems with publishers.

My very first query list—yes I still have it!


To get started querying:

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