How to Snag a Romance Book Agent: Where to Target Your Queries

Romance writing may be the biggest sellers in today's bookstores. Those books are a big market in the book publishing industry. If you are writing one you know that getting the right literary agent, one that has a specialty in the romance genre division, is crucial to your book's success or failure. Average writers, no matter what their skill level, will not have much credibility in the big markets. You will need a serious platform for this market. Make sure you have a web presence and a good speaking platform where you can do conferences and seminars on your topic once your book is out. Have an ezine, a newsletter, or a high ranking website under your belt. Give talks in your community. The better you look on paper, the easier it will be to get that business book proposal into the sell pile and out of the slush pile.

The statistics point that the majority of book buyers are women and that the romance market is one of the highest selling genres out today. There has never been more opportunity and more competition for the slots available. You have to have a hook and a passion to gather what you need in this market. Gathering the right agent is the main thing to remember.

Below are literary agents that all deal with how-to books and are all, at the time of this article's writing, taking submissions and queries. Each literary agent is profiled with contact information and the other genres they represent. Polish off that query, make that hook the best it can be, and good luck in your quest for representation. Competition is brutal and the fight for the slots at the publishing houses can get messy. You need a competent agent going to work for you, one who knows the market trends and which houses are seeking what type of manuscripts. They can more easily find a home for your book than you can, they can also get your foot in the door of the publishing houses that don't even look at unsolicited manuscripts.

Remember to look for their website and to not email them the proposal unless you know that it is accepted. A snail mail query is always your best bet if in doubt. You don't want a book that could have been a bestseller falling through the cracks just because the agent thought you couldn't follow directions.

Jill Grinberg
Jill Grinberg Literary Management
244 Fifth Avenue, Floor 11
New York, NY 10001
jillgrin@aol.com
(No Email Queries, please)

Represents Literary Fiction, Sci Fi, Commercial Fiction, Fantasy, Women's Fiction, Romance, Historical Fiction, YA, Childrens, Middle Grade, History, Biography, Politics, Science, Multi Cultural, Travel, Adventure, True Story, Spirituality, Current Affairs, Business, Women's Issues, Narrative Nonfiction, Finance, Psychology, and Health and Fitness.
They are currently accepting queries at this agency.

Janet Benrey
Benrey Literary Agency
P.O. Box 812
Columbia, MD 21044
janet@benreyliterary.com

Represents Literary Fiction, Chick Lit, True Crime, Mystery, Horror, Christian, Commercial Fiction, Women's Fiction, Romance, Family Saga, Thrillers and Suspense, Religion, Adventure, True Story, Spirituality, Business, Women's Issues, Narrative Nonfiction, and True Crime.
They are currently accepting queries at this agency.

Elyse Cheney
Elyse Cheney Literary Associates
156 Fifth Avenue, Suite 1134
New York, NY 10010
elyse@cheneyliterary.com
(No Email Queries, please)

Represents Literary Fiction, Horror, Romance, Historical Fiction, Thrillers and Suspense, History, Sports, Biography, Multi-Cultural, Women's Issues, and Narrative Nonfiction.
They are currently accepting queries at this agency.

Caren Johnson
Caren Johnson Literary Agency
132 East 43rd Street, #216
New York, NY 10017
carenjla@gmail.com

Represents Mystery, Commercial Fiction, Women's Fiction, Romance, YA, Multi-Cultural, middle Grade, Biography, Memoirs, Pop Culture, and Narrative Nonfiction.
They are currently accepting queries at this agency.

Meredith Bernstein
Meredith Bernstein Literary Agency
2095 Broadway, Suite 505
New York, NY 10023
MGoodBern@aol.com
(No Email Queries, Please)

Represents Literary Fiction, Sci Fi, Chick Lit, Mystery, Fantasy, Women's Fiction, Humor and Satire, Romance, Thrillers and Suspense, Sports, Biography, Politics, Medical, Parenting, How to, Drama and Music, Multi-Cultural, Self help, Travel, Art, Spirituality, Women's Issues, Psychology, Health and Fitness, Gardening, Pets, Gay and Lesbian, and Technology.
They are currently accepting queries at this agency.