Do you need a literary agent?
An agent is essential for the Big Five and most major children's houses — but not for everything. Here's when you need one, when you don't, and the legitimate routes that skip the agent entirely.
Short answer: if you want a traditional deal with a major publisher, yes. If you’re open to small presses, regional houses, or self-publishing, often no. An agent is a powerful ally, but they’re a means to an end — so the real question is which publishing path fits your book and your goals.
What a literary agent actually does
A good agent is far more than a door-opener. They edit and position your manuscript, know which editors are buying what, pitch your book on submission, negotiate the contract (advance, royalties, and the rights you keep), chase payments, and manage the relationship over a career. They earn a commission — typically 15% of what you earn — and nothing up front. That incentive alignment is the whole point: they only get paid when you do.
When you almost certainly need one
- The Big Five and their imprints. Penguin Random House, HarperCollins, Simon & Schuster, Hachette, and Macmillan generally don’t accept unagented manuscripts.
- Most major children’s and YA publishers. The biggest picture book, middle grade, and YA houses work through agents.
- Anything with serious subsidiary-rights potential — film/TV, foreign translation, audio. An agent fights for and tracks these.
- A career, not a single book. If you want to publish repeatedly at scale, an agent is the long game.
When you may not need one
- Small, independent, and regional presses. Many accept direct submissions — see our directory of publishers that take unagented manuscripts.
- Academic, niche, or category nonfiction where you’re selling expertise to a specialist publisher.
- Self-publishing. If you want full control and the higher per-copy royalty, you don’t need an agent at all — you need a production budget and a plan.
Legitimate agents make money from sales, not from authors. If a company asks you to pay to be published or represented, that’s a different thing entirely. Before you sign or send money to any paid service, read our sourced guide to hybrid publishers and author services — it separates the legitimate from the predatory, with dated verdicts.
So how do you decide?
Work backwards from where you want the book to live. Want it on the front table at every bookstore with a national marketing push? You’re aiming at the big houses, which means you need an agent. Happy with a respected small press, a regional readership, or full creative control? You have direct routes that skip the query trenches.
If the answer is “agent,” the next step is building your list. Start with how to find a literary agent, then browse agents open to queries or newer agents building their lists.