What are the odds of becoming a successful writer in the U.S.? The harsh truth is that a mere 1-2% of submitted manuscripts are published (Martin, 2022), and even worse yet, less than 500 of over 3 million published books make it to the best seller list (Yucesoy et al., 2018). The writer’s dream can be daunting and tests the resolve of those who dare go down this path. While the hardest part about being a successful writer may be scavenging for any chance to have one’s work published, perhaps the greater reality is self-rejection and self-worth. This is where the connection with an agent becomes a critical point in a writer’s journey. An agent is often a connecting bridge between writers and publishers, however, one may also see an agent as a writer’s self-esteem booster; they empower writers (Paling, 2021). New and upcoming writers especially often struggle with this anxiety of imposter syndrome, while also lacking the necessary connections to access the network of literary agents.

Our vision is to tackle this disconnect by creating a user-friendly, AI-enhanced web-based platform that strategically connects writers with literary agents in the United States based on genre, writing style, and expertise. The platform will feature a tiered service model, where basic search features are accessible to all users for free, while premium services (such as submission tracking) generate revenue to support future platform growth.

The initial state of the problem is that the process for writers to secure literary agents is highly competitive and inaccessible for many. While publishers rely on agents to filter high-quality manuscripts, the system contains significant problems for aspiring authors. For instance, agents often receive hundreds of query letters monthly but reply to less than 1% of them (Brown, 2020). The average wait time for a response is three months (Rowlands, 2024), and many writers never hear back. Furthermore, strict submission rules, lack of transparency in agent selection, and reliance on personal connections serve as further disadvantages that affect talented writers without industry connections or the means to navigate the process, leaving many unpublished (Herman, 2014). Additionally, the system exacerbates inequality by favoring established writers or those with pre-existing relationships in the publishing industry. As a result, lower-skilled but well-connected writers may succeed where more talented writers fail (Herman, 2014). Although self-publishing offers an alternative, it is not without its challenges. The sheer volume of self-published books—1.2 million titles in 2018, a 40% increase from the previous year—makes it difficult for individual authors to stand out (Milliot, 2019). By contrast, the top five traditional publishers collectively release just over 100,000 titles annually (Milliot, 2019). Consequently, aspiring authors still rely on literary agents to connect them to major publishers.

Our goal is to make the process of securing literary agents more accessible and equitable for writers. Specifically, we aim to achieve a situation where agents respond to at least 5% of query letters, a significant improvement from the current 1% response rate (Brown, 2020).

This goal is achievable by addressing key inefficiencies in the current system. Many writers submit queries to agents who do not specialize in their genre or areas of interest, leading to mismatches and lower response rates. By implementing a system that ensures writers can identify and connect with agents aligned with their genre or style, the relevance of submissions can improve significantly, increasing the likelihood of responses.

The biggest obstacle is establishing trust within the writing community; it may be challenging for a third-party product to prove its reliability and functionality within this community. This is why we have to carefully consider how our product should be marketed, and also how we can incentivize users to use our product. 

The process of connecting writers with literary agents remains inefficient, as current solutions fail to provide an accessible, personalized, and efficient experience for aspiring authors. We looked at the strengths and weaknesses of four key platforms: Publishers Marketplace, QueryTracker, Manuscript Wish List, and AgentQuery.

While these platforms provide foundational tools, they lack innovative features such as AI matchmaking and advanced submission tracking.  Research shows that finding an agent that is the best fit for a certain writer can be a very overwhelming and challenging thing to do (Penner 2024). Writers often struggle with inefficient manual searches, limited agent data, and outdated interfaces. These gaps leave talented authors without meaningful connections or sufficient guidance to navigate the querying process effectively.

Additionally, none of the existing solutions leverage AI to personalize and optimize agent-writer pairings. For example, Publishers Marketplace is comprehensive but expensive and outdated, while QueryTracker offers basic tracking but depends heavily on manual user updates. Platforms like Manuscript Wish List and AgentQuery are free but lack robust functionalities for tracking or matchmaking. For this reason, currently, most writers are searching for agents manually, which is inefficient (Penner, 2024). 

These deficiencies can be addressed by introducing an AI-powered platform. This system will automate the matching process by analyzing manuscript content and agent preferences and creating personalized recommendations. Furthermore, integrating submission tracking will streamline the process, offering both transparency and efficiency for writers and agents. These advancements represent a significant improvement over existing solutions, addressing critical gaps in usability, functionality, and equity.

Synthesizing our research, we continue to stand with our deliverable as a web-based platform that can be accessed both by writers and agents. We do recognize that our time frame may not allow for such a comprehensive model, however, we also recognize through our research that we may only need to focus on one aspect: the quality of connection. We have seen that the current state and third-party solutions still lack the aspects of transparency, personalization, accessibility, and effective connections between writers and agents. Hence, our solution is not to start from scratch, but to instead improve upon what we believe is the most integral part of this writer-agent relationship facilitated by existing solutions, particularly prioritizing the writer’s perspective. Our most current thought is to embed AI into this ‘matchmaking’ process to create a sort of compatibility algorithm, while also emphasizing aspects that will make this agent-finding journey more personalized and transparent (e.g. a personal dashboard).

References

AgentQuery. (2024). AgentQuery. AgentQuery :: Find the Agent Who Will Find You a Publisher. Retrieved November 21, 2024, from https://www.agentquery.com/

Brown, D. (2020). Literary representation: by the numbers. Retrieved from https://darlingaxe.com/blogs/news/by-the-numbers

Herman, J. (2014). Jeff Herman's Guide to Book Publishers, Editors and Literary Agents: Who They Are, What They Want, How to Win Them Over. New World Library. Retrieved from https://www.google.com/books/edition/Jeff_Herman_s_Guide_to_Book_Publishers_E/9TcjBQAAQBAJ?hl=en&gbpv=1

Manuscript Wish List. (2024). Manuscript Wish List. The Official Manuscript Wish List Website – #MSWL: What do you wish you had in your inbox? Retrieved November 21, 2024, from https://www.manuscriptwishlist.com/ 

Martin, T. Y. (2022, February 10). The Happy Harsh Truths of a Writing Career. FoxPrint Editorial. Retrieved November 21, 2024, from https://foxprinteditorial.com/2022/02/10/the-happy-harsh-truths-of-a-writing-career/

Milliot, J. (2019). Number of Self-Published Titles Jumped 40% in 2018. Publishers Weekly. Retrieved from https://www.publishersweekly.com/pw/by-topic/industry-news/publisher-news/article/81473-number-of-self-published-titles-jumped-40-in-2018.html

Minerva IRB. (2024). Year 1 Civic Projects. Minerva University IRB. Retrieved November 20, 2024, from https://irb.minerva.edu/year-1-civic-projects/ 

Paling, C. (2021, June 28). This article is more than 3 years old Why do writers need agents? To keep track of the rejections. The Guardian. Retrieved November 20, 2024, from https://www.theguardian.com/books/2021/jun/28/why-do-writers-need-agents-to-keep-track-of-the-rejections 

Penner, S. (2024). Getting the Most out of QueryTracker. Sarah Penner. Retrieved November 21, 2024, from https://www.sarahpenner.com/getting-the-most-out-of-querytracke 

Publishers Marketplace. (2024). Publishers Marketplace. Publishers Marketplace. Retrieved November 21, 2024, from https://www.publishersmarketplace.com/ 

QueryTracker. (2024). QueryTracker. QueryTracker. Retrieved November 21, 2024, from https://querytracker.net/

Rowlands, R. (2024). How long do literary agents take to respond? Retrieved from https://racheljrowlands.com/2024/01/04/how-long-do-literary-agents-take-to-respond/ 

Yucesoy, B., Wang, X., Huang, J., & Barabási, A.-L. (2018, April 6). Success in books: a big data approach to bestsellers. Springer Open. Retrieved November 20, 2024, from https://epjdatascience.springeropen.com/articles/10.1140/epjds/s13688-018-0135-y