The short answer is no. The longer answer is worth understanding, because the question of whether to pursue a literary agent is one that shapes how founders and experts approach the entire publishing process, and the assumptions behind it are not always accurate.
Literary agents occupy an important role in the publishing industry, and for certain authors in certain circumstances, securing representation is genuinely the right move. But the idea that a literary agent is a necessary step on the path to a published book, particularly for nonfiction business authors, is a misunderstanding that costs people significant time and, in many cases, leads them to dismiss publishing routes that would serve them considerably better.
What a literary agent actually does
A literary agent represents authors in negotiations with traditional publishing houses. They review manuscripts and book proposals, pitch them to acquisitions editors at publishing companies, negotiate contract terms on the author’s behalf, and take a commission, typically between ten and fifteen percent, on any deal they secure.
For authors whose goal is a deal with one of the major traditional publishing houses, an agent is often a practical necessity. Most of the large houses do not accept unsolicited submissions from authors without representation. If you want Penguin Random House or HarperCollins to consider your book, an agent is the conventional route in. Writers and Artists, the UK’s leading resource for authors seeking publication, maintains a comprehensive directory of literary agents and their submission requirements.
Agents also bring expertise in contract negotiation that most authors do not have, and the better ones have long-standing relationships with acquisitions editors that can make a significant difference to how a submission is received. For the right project, with the right agent, at the right moment, the relationship can be genuinely valuable.
The problem is that most nonfiction business books are not the right project for this route.
What traditional publishing actually requires
Traditional publishers acquire nonfiction business books based on two things above almost everything else: the commercial potential of the idea, and the size of the author’s existing platform. Industry expert Jane Friedman, who has spent decades advising authors on publishing strategy, notes that for nonfiction, the marketability of the idea and the author’s platform often matter as much as the writing itself, if not more. A publisher considering a business book by an unknown author is essentially being asked to take a financial risk on an unproven quantity, and in a market under significant structural pressure, that risk appetite has narrowed considerably.
The platform requirement is where most serious, credible business authors run into difficulty. Building a career through doing exceptional work, accumulating genuine expertise across decades, and developing a reputation through private networks and referral is not the same as having a large public following. Traditional publishers, and the agents who pitch to them, are looking for the latter. The former, however impressive, does not translate directly into the kind of pre-built audience that makes a traditional acquisition straightforward.
There is also the matter of time. The process of querying agents, waiting for responses, securing representation, going on submission to publishers, and eventually receiving an offer, if one comes at all, typically takes years. For authors who are at the peak of their expertise and want to publish while their thinking is most current and most valuable, that timeline is rarely practical.
The rights and royalties question
Even for authors who successfully navigate the traditional route, the commercial terms of a traditional deal deserve scrutiny. A traditional publisher acquires the rights to a book, often for the full term of copyright, in exchange for an advance against future royalties. Standard royalty rates for business nonfiction sit at around ten to fifteen percent of net receipts, meaning that after the advance has been earned back, the author receives a relatively modest share of the commercial return on their own work.
For authors with significant professional credibility and an existing network, the economics of this arrangement are worth examining carefully. Retaining rights and receiving a substantially higher proportion of the commercial return, as hybrid publishing allows, is a meaningful difference when set against the prestige of a traditional publisher’s name on the cover.
When an agent does make sense
There are circumstances in which pursuing literary agent representation is the right decision for a nonfiction business author.
If the book has genuine mass market potential, and the author has the platform to support a traditional acquisition, an agent can open doors that would otherwise be closed and negotiate terms that reflect that potential. If the book is specifically aimed at a prestige traditional house as a strategic positioning move, and the author has the time and tolerance for a process that may take years, representation is the appropriate route.
If the author’s primary goal is a deal rather than a published book, in the sense that the credibility of the publisher name matters more than the commercial return or the timeline, then traditional publishing with agent representation may be worth pursuing.
These circumstances do apply to some authors. They do not apply to the majority of the founders, executives, and thought leaders who come to Authors and Co.
What the alternative actually looks like
Hybrid publishing can offer nonfiction business authors the editorial rigour, production quality, and distribution of traditional publishing, with the author retaining full rights and receiving the majority of the commercial return. The process does not require an agent, does not require a platform of any particular size, and does not require waiting years for a decision that may not come.
What it does require is a genuine body of work, a clear sense of who the book is for, and a willingness to invest in producing something to the standard it deserves. For authors who have those things, the question of whether they need a literary agent is less complicated than it might initially appear.
The right question is not whether to get an agent. It is what the book needs to do, who it needs to reach, and which route will get it there with the quality and the timeline the project deserves. The answer to that question is different for every author, but for most nonfiction business authors, it does not begin with a query letter.
Authors & Co is a UK hybrid publisher for nonfiction books. Founded by Abigail Horne in 2017, we help founders, leaders, and experts write and publish books that work strategically. Over 700 authors, 50+ countries.
