It is a woeful tale, known the world over by every budding author out there who has ever experienced the pain of rejection, yet still retains some semblance of hope. There are thousands, if not millions of us out there who have already tasted that soul-destroying sting, yet still hunt down literary agents regardless, with a rosary bead in one hand, and a crucifix in the other. Because we all know that if you’re going to have any success in this game, you’re going to need God (or an insane amount of talent) on your side.
I have re-begun my search for an agent for my latest novel, The Echo In the Woods, a psychological/suspense/mystery novel and I am both excited, and terribly apprehensive about this. The first novel I ever queried, Mesmerise, didn’t make it past the partial submission stage, and while I expected this due to its slightly odd concept, I never found out if it was due to the unpublishable genre or my ineptness as a writer. It is entirely possible that they were too kind to tell me how much my writing skills were in serious need of improvement.
I recently read about how one author (Lynn Rush) only landed an agent with her tenth novel, although it wasn’t until she’d written her thirteenth that she finally got published. But there is hope. On the other end of the spectrum you have Katherine Brabon who won the 2016 Australian/Vogel’s Literary Award with her very first novel. How wonderful would it be to find out so early on that your writing is worth publishing?
First stop for aspiring novelists in Australia is the Australian Literary Agent’s Association, where you will find a grand total of 15 literary agents waiting (or not) to uncover your diamond in the rough.
I have compiled a list below to share with you all and have determined that I can only send my psychological mystery to 6 of these agencies. When I was querying Mesmerise I got a quick and lovely response from Danielle Binks at Jacinta di Mase Management. I’m not going to lie, I absolutely fancy her as my future literary agent… if I could but write a YA novel she’d love!
So happy hunting everyone! And good luck, God speed etc… oh and almost forgot, the NSW Writers’ Centre provides a very good example of a query letter at the bottom of their article.
Here’s the list!
Australian Literary Management
- Open
- Looking for everything except scripts of any kind, children’s books by unpublished authors, self-published novels
- By query via email or phone:
- Brief query letter
- One or two-page synopsis
- Open
- Looking for adult fiction, narrative non-fiction, children’s and young adult
- Send query via mail:
- Outline/synopsis, First chapter + 2 others
- biographical note
- Closed
- Open
- They are NOT looking for: fantasy, sci-fi, stage/screenplays, poetry, self-help books, children’s picture books, early reader books, comic books, short stories, cookbooks or translations
- Send query via email:
- 300 word covering letter
- Short Synopsis
- First 3 chapters or first 50 pages
- Open
- Looking for: fiction and non-fiction for adults and YA fiction, but not fantasy or science fiction. They do not consider educational materials, poetry, plays, film scripts or children’s picture books
- Send query via email, phone or letter:
- Brief query letter
- Closed
HLA Management Theatrical Agency Australia
- Closed
- Closed
- Open
- Looking for: middle grade and young adult ONLY (look towards bottom of webpage)
- Send query via email:
- Brief query letter
- Closed
Margaret Connolly & Associates
- Unknown
- Open
- Looking for: contemporary, literary fiction receives high priority and general and historical fiction is sometimes of interest. Fiction not represented includes fantasy and science fiction, chick lit and chook lit, horror and erotica.
- Send query via email:
- Brief query letter
- Closed
- Open
- Looking for: Represents adult non-fiction mainly, as well as book designers.
- Query via phone
- Open
- Unknown
- Send query via email:
- Short cover letter about yourself
- One page synopsis
The Cat's Write 
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