Literary Agent Statistics

Aspiring writers have a tough job breaking through in the industry where the odds of getting published hover between 1% and 2%. Finding the right literary agent can significantly increase those chances, assuming that the author’s work satisfies the standards and genre requirements of the agent.

In this report, we’ll closely examine literary agents – how much they earn, the demographic structure of literary agents in the US, and the most common topics agents seek from aspiring writers.

• There is a 1 in 3,000 to 1 in 6,000 chance of authors getting picked up by a literary agent over the year, depending on the number of new writers an agent can assign in 12 months.
• Most of the literary agents will consider books in general fiction (51.74%) and general nonfiction (54.19%) category.
• Memoirs (50.33%), narrative (47.79%), and history (46.75%) are the most frequently looked-for sub-categories among literary agents.
• 83.1% of all literary agents in the US are white, and over 82.1% are women.
• Most literary agents in the US are between 30 and 40 years old.
• 41.1% of literary agents earn less than $50,000 per year, and over 59.3% earn under $100,000 per year.

What genres are literary agents looking for?

• The majority of literary agents are mainly interested in general nonfiction (54.19% of agents) and general fiction (51.74%).
• Within genres, memoirs are the most frequently accepted by agents, as over 50.33% of agents stated this genre among the topics of interest.
• The other two most frequently looked-for genres among agents are narrative (47.79%) and history (46.75%).
• Literary fiction (43.27%) and young adult fiction (41.67%) are the most wanted fiction subgenres among literary agents.
• Architecture (0.85%), dystopian (0.75%), glitz (0.38%), and topics about 20- and 30-somethings (0.19%) are among the least wanted topics among literary agents in the US.

Topic	Category	Share of agents interested in the topic
General Nonfiction	Nonfiction	54.19%
General Fiction	Fiction	51.74%
Memoir	Nonfiction	50.33%
Narrative	Nonfiction	47.79%
History	Nonfiction	46.75%
Literary	Fiction	43.27%
Young Adult Fiction	Fiction	41.67%
Thriller	Fiction	38.38%
Biography	Nonfiction	37.25%
Science	Nonfiction	35.84%
Pop Culture	Nonfiction	32.93%
Mystery	Fiction	32.74%
Business	Nonfiction	31.33%
Suspense	Fiction	31.23%
Health/Wellness	Nonfiction	31.14%
Commercial	Fiction	31.04%
Cultural/Social Issues	Nonfiction	29.92%
Women’s Fiction	Fiction	29.63%
Middle Grade Fiction	Fiction	29.16%
Current Events/Affairs	Nonfiction	28.97%
Lifestyle	Nonfiction	28.32%
Politics	Nonfiction	27.56%
Cooking/Cookbook	Nonfiction	27.00%
Money/Finance	Nonfiction	26.43%
Children’s Fiction	Fiction	25.87%
Romance	Fiction	24.74%
Crime/Detective/Police	Fiction	24.27%
Historical	Fiction	24.27%
Multicultural Fiction	Fiction	23.24%
Fantasy	Fiction	21.26%
Multicultural	Nonfiction	21.17%
Upmarket Fiction	Fiction	21.07%
Sports	Nonfiction	19.94%
Journalism	Nonfiction	19.76%
Humor	Nonfiction	19.66%
Science Fiction	Fiction	19.57%
Food/Drinks	Nonfiction	19.47%
Juvenile Fiction	Fiction	19.00%
Picture Book	Fiction	18.72%
Spirituality	Nonfiction	17.69%
Juvenile	Nonfiction	17.50%
Religion	Nonfiction	17.40%
Psychology	Nonfiction	17.22%
Technology	Nonfiction	17.12%
Parenting/Child Guidance	Nonfiction	16.56%
Young Adult	Nonfiction	16.46%
Dating/Relationship/Sex	Nonfiction	16.18%
Contemporary	Fiction	15.99%
Self-Help/Personal Development	Nonfiction	15.99%
Graphic Novel	Fiction	15.80%
Travel	Nonfiction	15.62%
Mind/Body/Spirit	Nonfiction	15.52%
Art	Nonfiction	14.77%
Women’s Issues	Nonfiction	14.77%
Ethnic Fiction	Fiction	14.58%
Gay/Lesbian Fiction	Fiction	14.58%
Film/Entertainment	Nonfiction	14.49%
Horror	Fiction	14.39%
Ethnic	Nonfiction	14.02%
True Crime	Nonfiction	14.02%
Humor Fiction	Fiction	13.83%
Middle Grade	Nonfiction	13.17%
Nature	Nonfiction	10.91%
Reference	Nonfiction	10.44%
Gay/Lesbian	Nonfiction	10.35%
Music	Nonfiction	10.16%
Family Saga	Fiction	10.07%
How-To	Nonfiction	10.07%
Photography	Nonfiction	9.88%
Celebrity	Nonfiction	9.60%
Environment	Nonfiction	9.03%
Medical/Medicine	Nonfiction	7.81%
Magical Realism	Fiction	7.34%
Christian	Nonfiction	7.15%
Fitness	Nonfiction	6.87%
New Adult	Fiction	6.59%
Gift/Novelty	Nonfiction	6.59%
Upmarket	Nonfiction	6.40%
Religious	Fiction	6.30%
Diet/Nutrition	Nonfiction	6.21%
Action/Adventure	Fiction	6.02%
Family	Nonfiction	6.02%
Military/War	Nonfiction	6.02%
Chapter Book	Fiction	5.93%
Inspiration	Nonfiction	5.64%
Satire	Fiction	5.55%
Gardening	Nonfiction	5.46%
Christian Fiction	Fiction	5.27%
True Adventure	Nonfiction	5.17%
Chick Lit	Fiction	4.99%
Animals/Pets	Nonfiction	4.89%
Autobiography	Nonfiction	4.89%
Computers	Nonfiction	4.80%
Design	Nonfiction	4.80%
Inspirational Fiction	Fiction	4.23%
Short Story Collection	Fiction	4.23%
Mainstream	Fiction	3.86%
Paranormal	Fiction	3.67%
Prescriptive	Nonfiction	3.48%
Education	Nonfiction	3.39%
Economics	Nonfiction	3.20%
Sports Fiction	Fiction	3.01%
Investigative	Nonfiction	2.92%
Crafts	Nonfiction	2.45%
Western	Fiction	2.16%
Erotica	Fiction	1.79%
Government	Nonfiction	1.79%
New Age	Nonfiction	1.79%
Practical	Nonfiction	1.79%
Espionage/Military	Fiction	1.69%
Philosophy	Nonfiction	1.69%
Law	Nonfiction	1.51%
Beauty/Fashion/Style	Nonfiction	1.41%
Architecture	Nonfiction	0.85%
Dystopian	Fiction	0.75%
Glitz	Fiction	0.38%
20- and 30-Somethings	Nonfiction	0.19%

Literary agent demographics

The literary agent profession is predominantly white, even though some trends toward more diversity is evident over the last couple of years:

• 83.1% of literary agents in the United States are white as of 2023.
• While white agents still dominate the market, their share in the industry is 5.57% smaller compared to 2021, when over 88% of literary agents were white.
• Agents of Latin origin account for 6.4% of total literary agents, which is a 36.17% growth compared to 2021.
• Literary agents of Asian origin account for 5% of all agents, a 233% growth compared to 1.5% in 2021.
• 4.6% of literary agents in the US are multiracial, while 4.1% are Black. Both groups increased their share in the industry by 17%.

Literary agents’ race/ethnicity	2021 share	2023 share	Change
White	88.00%	83.10%	-5.57%
Latin	4.70%	6.40%	36.17%
Asian	1.50%	5.00%	233.33%
Multiracial	3.90%	4.60%	17.95%
Black	3.50%	4.10%	17.14%
Other/prefer not to say	1.60%	3.00%	87.50%
Middle Eastern	1.60%	2.30%	43.75%

• Over 82.10% of literary agents are women, an increase from 2021 when around 76% of agents were women.
• Men account for 14% of all literary agents as of 2023, a drop from 2021.
• 2.8% of literary agents declare as nonbinary as of 2023. Among agents younger than 40, nonbinary agents increased their share by more than 100% and now account for 7% of all agents in the group.
• The largest age group among literary agents in the US is between 30 and 40 years old as of 2023.
• Compared to 2021, literary agents became younger, as agents between 40 and 50 years of age constituted the largest age group in the industry.

Gender	Share
Male	14%
Female	82.10%
Nonbinary	2.80%
Prefer not to say	1%

What are the odds of getting a literary agent?

• Literary agents usually represent between 3 and 6 new authors annually.
• Agents are able to process around 1,500 queries per month.
• From these 1,500 queries, agents usually accept one author at most. Usually, it’s one author per 2 months.
• This means that there are between 1 in 3,000 and 1 in 6,000 chances to get picked up by the literary agent.
• Most literary agents reject 95% of all submissions due to the book not meeting the required standards.
• Among the 5% that are taken into consideration, around 80% get rejected.
• This means that literary agents decide to pick up 1% of the submissions they receive from the authors.

How much are literary agents making per year?

• 10% of literary agents earn less than $25,000 per year as of 2023. This is 43% more compared to 7% of agents receiving less than $25k in 2021.
• An additional 18.20% of agents earn between $25,000 and $50,000 per year, and 31.1% receive between $50,000 and $100,000 annually.
• Overall, 59.3% of literary agents will earn under $100,000 in 2023.
• On the other hand, only 11% of literary agents earn between $150,000 and $250,000 per year as of 2023, a drop from 13.7% in 2021.
• There’s also an increased share of the highest-earning agents, with 13.40% receiving over $250,000 annually as of 2023, a 15% increase from 11.70% in 2021.

Annual income	2021	2023	Change
Under $25,0000	7.00%	10.00%	43%
Between $25,000 and $50,000	15.60%	18.20%	17%
Between $50,000 and $100,000	23.00%	31.10%	35%
Between $100,000 and $150,000	10.20%	13.90%	36%
Between $150,000 and $200,000	8.20%	5.30%	-35%
Between $200,000 and $250,000	5.50%	5.70%	4%
Over $250,000	11.70%	13.40%	15%
Don’t want to share	18.80%	2.40%