What Agent Query does

AgentQuery is a privately held online resource operated by Agent Query LLC, headquartered in Chicago, that maintains what it claims to be the internet's largest free searchable database of literary agents. The platform serves aspiring and published writers—primarily fiction authors, nonfiction authors, and children's book authors—who need to identify and submit to legitimate literary agents for manuscript representation. Writers access the database directly at agentquery.com without registration or subscription, searching across 900+ agent profiles that include contact details, genre specializations, submission guidelines, AAR membership status, past sales, and client history.

The platform's core technology is a web-based structured search engine over a proprietary database, supplemented by extensive editorial content covering query letter writing, manuscript formatting, genre definitions, and publishing industry guidance. Adjacent offerings include AQ Connect (a free online writing community where veteran members provide advice) and an AQ Success Stories section showcasing authors who secured publishing deals. The platform also provides e-publishing resources on Kindle and ePUB workflows.

AgentQuery's business model is explicitly free to end users, with the company stating the service is provided without a catch. No subscription, advertising, premium tier, or transactional revenue model is disclosed in the available source material, and no funding rounds, investors, or revenue figures are documented. The company was founded by a group of writers, web designers, and computer programmers and operates as an independent, founder-led LLC with 11-50 employees, distributing exclusively through its own website via organic search and content marketing.

Name

Agent Query

Legal name

Agent Query LLC

Website

https://agentquery.com

Company type

Private

Operating status

Operating

Headcount range

11–50 employees

Short description

AgentQuery operates a free online searchable database of 900+ literary agents for aspiring and published fiction, nonfiction, and children's book authors seeking manuscript representation. The Chicago-based LLC supplements its core database with writing resources and the AQ Connect community.

Ownership category

akta.pro rank

Product category

Literary Agent Discovery Platform

NAICS

Web Search Portals, Libraries, Archives, and Other Information Services (519), Web Search Portals and All Other Information Services (51929)

akta.pro primary industry

Author Service Marketplaces & Aggregators (Vetting, Bundled Services) (MPAJAJAB)

Keywords

• Literary agent database
• Writer submission resources
• Publishing industry guidance
• Agent search directory
• Manuscript query tools

Headquarters

HQ city

Chicago

HQ country

United States

HQ region

North America

Markets served

GTM type

B2C

Offering type

Software

Cost components

Personnel, Technology or R&D, Operations, Marketing or Sales

Revenue model

1. Free Database Service: AgentQuery provides its searchable database of literary agents completely free of charge to writers. The company states the service is free 'not because there's a catch, but simply because not enough things in this world are free.' No explicit revenue model is disclosed in the source material.

Pricing tiers

Go-to-market motion1 record

Distribution channels1 record

Marketing channels6 records

Core offering

AgentQuery.com provides a free, web-based searchable database of over 900 reputable literary agents, allowing writers to search by agent name, book title, author, genre represented, and AAR membership status. Each agent profile includes contact details, previous publishing experience, education, former agency affiliations, titles sold, and past and present clients, alongside free educational content on query writing, manuscript formatting, and genre descriptions.

Product overview

AgentQuery.com is a single unified product—a free searchable database and writer's resource website dedicated to helping fiction and nonfiction authors find literary agents and navigate the publishing process. The core offering is the AgentQuery.com database (over 900 literary agents), complemented by AQ Connect (a free online writing community), and the AQ Success Stories section showcasing published authors. The site also provides content sections for publishing guidance, e-publishing resources, genre descriptions, formatting tips, and a blog roll of industry agent and editor blogs.

Differentiator

Problem solved

Functional benefit

Brands

• AQ Connect: A free online writing community where veteran AQC members and moderators assist aspiring writers with questions about drafting queries, getting agents, and the publishing industry. Writers can register and post questions in proper groups for community support.

Products and services

• AgentQuery.com Database A free, web-based searchable database of over 900 reputable literary agents targeted at fiction and nonfiction authors seeking representation. Writers can search by agent name, book title, author, genre represented, AAR membership status, and email query acceptance, and review full agent profiles including previous publishing experience, education, former agency affiliations, titles sold, and past and present clients.

Quantifiable outcome

• Helped thousands of writers find literary agents for representation
• +1 more outcomes

Named customers1 record

Segments4 records

Ideal customer profiles3 records

Technology focussed Yes

API detail

Has API

No

API docs

API detail

Core technology

AI maturity

App detail

Feature1 record

Scale indicators4 records

Recent moves4 records

Expansion highlights3 records

Broad incumbents

• Reedsy: Reedsy is a broad marketplace for authors offering agent directories, editorial services, design, and marketing tools. It serves the same author audience with a wider, paid-product portfolio, positioning AgentQuery as a free discovery layer competing for the same traffic.
• BookBub: BookBub is a major author-reader marketing platform with adjacent tools for self-published authors, including recommendations for editors, designers, and marketing partners. It reaches a broader author audience than AgentQuery and intersects on the writer-services value chain.
• Writer's Market: Writer's Market is the legacy annual directory of agents, publishers, and literary markets, now operated by Writer's Digest. It competes with AgentQuery in agent discovery and adds curated submission guidance, though it monetizes via book/annual subscriptions.

Regional players

• Backstage: Backstage is a casting and talent-representation marketplace primarily for actors. While focused on entertainment talent rather than literary agents, it shares the underlying 'discovery directory + representation matching' model that AgentQuery applies to publishing.

Emerging players

• Jane Friedman: Jane Friedman is an established author education and consulting brand publishing guides, courses, and reviews of publishing industry resources. It overlaps with AgentQuery's educational content (query writing guides, publishing process explainers) and competes for the same writer search traffic.
• Manuscript Wishlist (MSWL): Manuscript Wishlist is a free platform where literary agents and editors post what they are currently seeking. It partially overlaps with AgentQuery by giving writers visibility into agent preferences, though it relies on agent self-reporting rather than curated profiles.
• Poets & Writers: Poets & Writers is a nonprofit literary organization with agent and publisher listings, MFA program directories, and editorial content. It serves a partially overlapping author audience with mission-driven positioning similar to AgentQuery's founder ethos.

Direct peers

• Duotrope: Duotrope is a searchable database for literary magazines and short-story markets with subscription access. While focused on short fiction rather than book-length agents, it solves an adjacent author-discovery problem using the same curated-database playbook.
• QueryTracker: QueryTracker is a direct competitor offering a searchable database of literary agents for writers. It overlaps almost entirely with AgentQuery's core product (agent search and submission tracking) and serves the same fiction/nonfiction author segments.
• Publishers Marketplace: Publishers Marketplace is a paid database of literary agents, editors, and publishers, including deal-tracking functionality. It is the most established paid competitor in the agent-discovery space and addresses the same writer pain points as AgentQuery.

Market position

Strengths5 records

Weaknesses5 records

Competitive moat3 records

Key risks7 records

Key highlights7 records

Customer concentration

• Xx.com/agentquer

Revenue estimate

Valuation estimate

Number of profiles

Funding overview

Funding rounds

Investors

Funding detail is available on the Subscription and Enterprise plan.Contact sales →

M&A

Investments

M&A and investment is available on the Subscription and Enterprise plan.Contact sales →

Frequently asked questions about Agent Query