Literary Agents Are Actively Seeking LGBTQIA2+ Manuscripts
If you’ve been doom-scrolling lately, you deserve a break — so here’s some genuinely good news. Right now, literary agents are actively seeking LGBTQIA2+ manuscripts in bigger numbers than they have in years.
Over the past couple of weeks and months, we’ve been tracking agent and editor wishlists, and the numbers are worth celebrating: more than 50 agents and editors are actively looking for queer and LGBTQIA2+ works right now.
The Numbers: What Literary Agents Are Requesting
53% of new agent profiles list queer subgenres among what they’re actively seeking.
12 subgenres are currently in active demand — including romance, contemporary, horror, and fantasy, with champions across all of them.
Queer fiction is currently generating more requests than sci-fi — a genuinely surprising and exciting shift in the market.
That last stat is worth sitting with. Sci-fi has long been treated as one of the “safe bets” in terms of agent interest, so seeing queer subgenres outpace it says a lot about where publishing is heading. This aligns with broader industry tracking — Manuscript Wish List (https://www.manuscriptwishlist.com/) and QueryTracker (https://querytracker.net/) both show a steady rise in agents flagging LGBTQIA2+ work as an active want, not just a “nice to have” on their submission page.
It’s Not Just the Numbers — It’s the Enthusiasm
Beyond the raw data, what stands out is *how* agents are talking about these requests. Browse any recent batch of #MSWL (Manuscript Wish List®, our sister company) posts and the tone is unmistakable: agents aren’t just open to queer stories, they’re actively hoping to find them. Many describe wanting queer joy rather than hardship, and are seeking out contemporary literary fiction with queer characters and “cool girl” or “sad girl” vibes.
That’s the pattern across dozens of these requests: specific, personal, and enthusiastic–a genuine editorial appetite. (We’ll be sharing more of these quotes directly in the video so you can read them for yourself.)
Why This Matters If You’re Querying
It’s easy, as a writer, to internalize doubt about whether there’s room for your story — especially if you’re writing outside the narratives that have historically dominated shelves. This data is a direct counterpoint to that doubt: queer literary agents are not just accepting these stories, they’re requesting them by name.
Whether you’re writing queer romance, horror, contemporary fiction, or fantasy, there is real, measurable, active interest from agents right now across a dozen subgenres.
Your story is not just needed. It’s wanted.
If you’ve been sitting on a manuscript, second-guessing whether now is the right time to query — the data suggests this is one of the best windows in recent memory to put your work out there.
Where to Find These Agents
Use this smartlink to view agents on ManuscriptWishList.com looking for LGBTQIA2+ works.