Drew Gilmour is a hybrid agent and rights specialist at Achilles Literary Agency who focuses almost exclusively on SFF — with a gravitational pull toward fantasy in all its forms, particularly progression fantasy and LitRPG — and who is best known for representing two of the genre's most-read web serial properties.
In brief
The deal record is sparse in titles but enormous in scope: a nine-book audio rights deal with a major genre audio publisher signals that Drew Gilmour operates in high-volume, serialized fantasy — the kind with massive existing readerships, not debut literary fiction.
Leading clients Pirateaba (The Wandering Inn) and Nobody103 (Mother of Learning) are both web-serial giants with millions of online readers — this is the clearest possible signal that Drew Gilmour is deeply embedded in the progression fantasy, LitRPG, and serialized web fiction ecosystem.
Despite an expansive stated wishlist covering virtually every SFF sub-genre, the actual track record points squarely at adult serialized fantasy with complex systems and long-form storytelling. Writers of experimental literary SFF or standalone literary fiction should temper expectations.
Drew Gilmour is also a practicing Canadian tax lawyer — a background that likely shapes a pragmatic, deal-focused approach to rights and contracts, and that distinguishes them from agents with purely editorial backgrounds.
Query access is heavily gated: Gilmour is mostly closed to cold submissions and explicitly asks writers to introduce themselves by email first, without attaching any work or synopsis in that initial message.
Lately
Drew Gilmour describes their approach as 'hybrid agent and rights management, specializing in the unusual' — a framing that aligns with their known clients, who are unconventional web-serial authors with enormous reader bases but publishing careers that don't follow standard debut trajectories.
What Drew is looking for
This is where Drew Gilmour's actual deal record lives. Systems-driven fantasy where characters level up in ways that carry genuine emotional and narrative cost — not just stat sheets, but meaningful growth. Smart world-building and real stakes are non-negotiable. The Wandering Inn and Mother of Learning are the benchmarks.
Long-form, immersive fantasy with serious world-building investment. Drew Gilmour cites the Wheel of Time as a personal favorite, suggesting an appetite for ambitious, large-scale narratives. Should have emotional depth alongside scope.
Drew Gilmour's stated wishlist is unusually expansive, encompassing cozy fantasy, urban fantasy, dark fantasy, historical fantasy, literary fantasy, portal fantasy, fantasy romance, gaslamp, non-Western, science fantasy, and more. Given the actual deal record, writers in these sub-genres should make an especially compelling case for why their work is an undeniable fit before reaching out.
Listed as an active interest alongside fantasy, with cyberpunk, post-apocalyptic, and science fantasy all named. No confirmed sales in pure SF appear in the current record, so this is a stated rather than demonstrated priority — treat with moderate optimism.
Not the right fit
On Drew's list
Taste fingerprint
How to query Drew
Do NOT attach your manuscript, synopsis, or any sample pages to your first email. Gilmour is explicit: the first message is an introduction only.
Address three things in that introduction: a book you love that most people haven't read and why it matters to your writing; what you do or have done outside of writing; and what you're looking for in an agent. This framing comes directly from Gilmour — follow it.
Make the 'undeniable fit' case immediately. Because Gilmour is mostly closed to cold queries, your opening email needs to signal within the first few lines that your work sits at the intersection of their actual deals: serialized, systems-driven, emotionally costly progression fantasy or LitRPG. Generic SFF pitches will not cut through.
Referrals are explicitly welcomed — if you have a connection in the web serial or LitRPG community who knows Gilmour's work, a warm introduction is worth pursuing.
Drew Gilmour is a Canadian tax lawyer as well as an agent. A professional, no-nonsense tone in your introduction is appropriate. Avoid overwrought pitching language.
The contact email is drew@fantasybookagent.com — use it for the introduction. Confirm on the agency's live site that this is still current before sending.
Verify query status before submitting — Gilmour's openness to cold queries is conditional and can change.