Submission Guidelines

Thank you for your interest in the Brattle Agency. Since founding the agency in 2008, Brattle Agency has prided itself on accepting unsolicited submissions. The industry is founded on discoveries. Many great writers have never had an agent or have somehow escaped an agent’s radar, which is why we are always interested in hearing from prospective clients. Unfortunately, the industry has changed: nearly no publisher will accept a manuscript unless an agent submits it. This institutional change has meant that almost every hopeful writer has had to spend an excessive amount of time trying to secure an agent to start (or, in a few cases, further) their career. That has led to a tsunami of submissions to agents willing to read and evaluate unsolicited proposals. That tsunami has engulfed the Brattle Agency. On any given day, our inbox has hundreds of submissions. It was untenable. It had to change.

So, as of August 1st, 2019, the Brattle Agency will no longer accept open submissions. We will be moving to an annual reading period for open submissions. The period will be one month, and we will accept both fiction and non-fiction manuscripts. (I should add here that I am extremely discriminating about fiction manuscripts. That doesn't mean I don't take them, but they have to knock me out just to get in the door.) Please keep an eye out here on the Submission Guidelines page for the next open period. We are sorry that we had to make this change; it isn’t a decision we took lightly. We know how hard it is to secure an agent. The agency is small, and we spent too much time reading and responding to queries.

During the open submission period, please send a cover letter, a CV (if appropriate), and as much of the manuscript as you feel we should read to form a full impression of the book. Once assembled, please send the materials to submissions@thebrattleagency.com.

The submission period is now OPEN. The next submission period begins October 1st, 2026. Responses to proposals received in October will be answered approximately six to eight weeks after the agency receives them, in the order in which they were received. Thank you in advance for your patience.