What are literary agents looking for?

What are literary agents looking for?

Jonny Geller (Managing Director - Curtis Brown (Books)) gives expert video advice on: What are literary agents looking for?; Do different agents specialise in different things?; Should I go for a well established agent or a smaller one? and more...

Most literary agents are looking for a voice. We accept that most stories have already been told, but if someone tells it in a unique way that only that writer could have, suddenly you feel you're part of their intimate creative world. How does that communicate? It communicates through quaint sentences, good storytelling, good structure - a lot of things that are indistinguishable, intangible. If a writer gets it right, it flies, but if a writer gets it wrong, then it's just rejected by literary agents.