While we accept both email and snail mail submissions, we STRONGLY PREFER submissions vie EMAIL.

Wendy Sherman Associates is a literary management agency representing a broad range of quality fiction and non-fiction. In contacting us, please follow the guidelines detailed below:

Snail Mail | E-mail

Snail Mail

For fiction: please send a query letter with enough information about the novel and your writing credentials for us to evaluate whether the material is going to be right for us. A brief description of the story and the style of the writing is what we're looking for. You are also welcome to include the first chapter. Please include information about your previous publications, awards, and conferences and workshops you have attended.  
 
For non-fiction please send a query letter with a clear description of the proposed book, a table of contents or outline and a sample chapter. The writer's qualifications and credentials such as expertise in the subject area and promotional experience are essential to our assessment of the salability of the material.  
 
For both fiction and non-fiction please include a self-addressed stamped envelope (SASE). Only queries with a SASE will be responded to. Please specify whether the material is being considered by other agencies. We generally respond to all queries within four weeks, and while we carefully consider every submission, the high volume of submissions we receive makes it impossible to write a personal letter with each reply.

We strongly discourage phone calls and fax queries.  
 
Foreign submissions are welcome. We ask that you include an email address for our reply. Please note that we will not return material or reply to an international address. All responses to foreign submissions will be communicated by email only.  

E-Mail

Please send all e-mail submissions to submissions@wsherman.com.  We ask that you include your last name, title, and the name of the agent you are submitting to in the subject line.  For fiction, please include a query letter and your first 10 pages copied and pasted in the body of the email.  We will not open attachments unless they have been requested.  For non-fiction, please include your query letter and author bio.

Due to the large number of e-mail submissions that we receive, we can only reply to e-mail queries in the affirmative.  We respectfully ask that you do not send queries to our individual e-mail addresses, and any that we receive will be deleted unread. 

Guidelines for your query:  
 
DO:

  • Write a fabulous query letter
  • Tell us why you chose our agency
  • Tell us why this book has an audience, and why you're the one to write it
  • Include information about your credentials to write this book, publications and prizes, awards, and conferences
  • Know the competition and describe those titles
  • Tell us which well-known writer's work yours most clearly compares to
  • Keep your letter under two pages
  • You can include a double-spaced table of contents and overview (non-fiction)
  • You can include a double spaced 1st chapter (fiction)
  • Tell us if you are submitting to more than one agency
  • Always include a SASE for snail mail queries
  • Please be sure to provide us with your email, phone number, and address.
  • Read the books on how to find an agent - there are several. There is much valuable information that will help you throughout this process.

DON'T

  • Refer me to your website for a reading sample.
  • Tell me about all the agents who have turned you down
  • Call to see if we received the material
  • Send me a query for something I turned down before (even if you rewrote it)
  • Tell me about several books I can choose from. Pick one!
  • Send anything that is single-spaced or in type less than 12 pt.
  • E-mail to our personal addresses.  We no longer accept e-mail queries to these accounts.  Please use submissions@wsherman.com.
  • Fax. We do not accept fax queries
  • Drop it off in person

The bottom line is: do your homework. Be as well prepared as possible. Read the books that will help you present yourself and your work with polish. You want your submission to stand out.

Thanks for your interest in our agency. We wish you all the best!