When is the best time to query literary agents?

Yet another question so many writers have before they begin their querying journey is: when is the best time to query literary agents? You’ve probably heard that the publishing industry is incredibly slow, that there are “good” and “bad” times to send out a book, and times of year to avoid. A lot of this information can make your head spin, if you take in too much of it.

It’s a common joke among writers and publishing people in general that there’s never a good time to send out a manuscript. Or there’s a minuscule window that amounts to 3.5 days out of the year and everything else is off limits.

I’m kidding.

But more seriously – there probably are a few things to be aware of about publishing’s “seasons” before you begin querying literary agents. That’s not to say you can’t send your manuscript out during these times. But you may find that responses are much slower.

Sometimes seasons can work in your favour if you have something timely and relevant – like submitting a festive book just before the holidays, or a beach read at the start of summer. Planning to submit work like this at particular times can be a good strategy, as agents may be more in the mood for that type of story.

Publishing seasons to be aware of

Major book fairs

There are three major book fairs that happen in the publishing world: London Book Fair (March or April), Bologna Children’s Book Fair (March or April), and Frankfurt Book Fair (October). When these fairs happen, the majority of agents are going to be attending them. People head to these fairs from all around the world. The fairs keep agents incredibly busy with travel, meetings, and events, and that means less time looking at their submissions. They are already occupied promoting and selling their current authors!

If you’re planning a spring or an October submission, be aware of this as publishing will slow down when the fairs are taking place.

The summer slowdown

Lots of people in publishing take holidays and trips in the summer, especially in July and August, so there’s often a slowdown. Things don’t shut down for good (people are still working), but things do become more sluggish.

This means literary agencies might have staff missing: so even if an agency reader loves your manuscript, she might have to wait until the main agent returns before she can pass it on with a recommendation. Or maybe the reader is the one who is away and has a backlog of submissions to wade through later!

The Christmas season

Christmas is a time when things shut down – everyone is heading off to spend time with their families and eat a lot of mince pies. Like with most other industries, there’s going to be a period of inactivity here, too. And it might not be the best etiquette to query on Christmas day.

There’s no overall best time to query literary agents

We could come up with all sorts of reasons not to query at any given time of the year, if we really wanted to. There’s a writing conference taking place that week. The agent just posted online that she’s travelling. And depending on where you are in the world (or where the agents you’re submitting to are located), you could end up fretting about this in terms of country-specific events, too. There’s a huge book convention happening in London/the United States that week. It’s the Fourth of July.

People in publishing are busy no matter what time of year it is, even during “slower” seasons. Literary agents have existing clients to deal with. Publishers have current books to produce and promote. If you wait for everyone to be fully available and non-busy, you’ll be waiting forever. Remember: the submissions pile is important because it allows agents and publishers to find new books, which is what they want. It’s how they stay in business! It’s just that submissions are often lower down on the list of priorities.

There is no true “best” time to query literary agents. Be aware of the seasons, yes, and which agents are open or closed to submissions. And remember that things are generally going to slow down at certain points. But holding onto your manuscript for more weeks or months when it’s already ready to send out won’t help you. It’ll just mean that you languish on the slush pile for longer, waiting for a response.