No, you don’t need a direct pipeline. Cold querying is the standard route into traditional UK publishing. A ‘direct pipeline’, such as the agent showcase built into a writing course can be a useful shortcut, but it isn’t a requirement, and it’s one of the pricier ways to reach an agent’s desk.
What ‘cold querying’ actually means
Cold querying is the practice of submitting an unsolicited query letter, synopsis and sample chapters to agents you’ve never met but have chosen because they represent your genre. No course, workshop or referral is needed: you simply research agents who are open to submissions, then approach them directly by email.
It’s hard to put an exact figure on how many published books begin this way, because no single body tracks every author’s route to representation, and claims of a fixed national percentage should be treated with caution. The clearest evidence comes from a widely cited informal poll of 270 successful fiction authors, run by writer Megan Crewe and published on agent Kristin Nelson’s Pub Rants blog, then picked up by Writer’s Digest. It found that 62 per cent of those authors landed their agent through a cold query, with the rest coming through referrals or other personal connections. This was a survey of one group of writers rather than an industry-wide census, but it supports the wider consensus among UK agents and writing organisations that cold querying is the default, not the exception.
Cold querying vs a direct pipeline
| Feature | Cold querying | Direct pipeline (agency showcase) |
| Cost | Free, by email | Built into a course fee; Curtis Brown Creative’s three-month Writing Your Novel course costs £1,900 online or £2,100 in London; Jericho Writers’ Ultimate Novel Writing Programme costs from £3500. |
| Agent choice | Any agent in the UK or abroad who represents your genre | Limited to agents affiliated with that school or agency |
| Route to the agent | Standard submissions queue | Often an informal share of your opening pages with the agency’s own team at the end of the course |
| Outcome | No guarantee; depends on the manuscript and the query | No guarantee; a course place does not equal representation |
Note: these figures describe Curtis Brown Creative, the best-known UK example of a course built around agent access, and prices can change. The same applies to Jericho Writers’ Ultimate Novel Writing Programme, so always check current fees before budgeting.
Is it really acceptable to query several agents at once?
Yes. Writers & Artists, the organisation behind the long-running Writers’ & Artists’ Yearbook, states plainly that sending a submission to more than one agent at a time is fine. There are only two real exceptions. First, always check each agent’s own submission guidelines, since a minority ask not to be queried simultaneously. Second, never query two agents at the same agency with the same book: agents at one agency often compare notes, and you don’t want to be the subject of the conversation.
There is no single official number for how many agents to approach in a batch. Writing organisations and literary agents who discuss the question generally suggest five to ten agents at once, then widening the search if rejections arrive without requests for more material. A few requests to see more suggest the query is working; a wall of rejections points to a problem with the letter or the opening pages. You don’t need to announce that you’re submitting elsewhere unless an agent’s guidelines specifically ask for that information.
Finding the right agents without paying for access
Targeted research works best. You can simply do your own online search for an agent. Name your genre to get more specific results. For example, an agent who only represents authors who write historical fiction will not be interested in your sci-fi manuscript.
- See the list of active UK literary agencies at the end of this article.
- QueryTracker and Manuscript Wish List (MSWL). Both are free and US-based, but popular with UK writers too. QueryTracker tracks agents’ response times and submission statistics; MSWL lets agents post the specific tropes, settings or themes they are actively seeking.
- Writers & Artists. The publisher behind the Writers’ & Artists’ Yearbook also runs an online listings directory with a paid Core Listings subscription, providing access to more than 5,000 publishing industry contacts.
- Agent Hunter. A long-running database of UK agents built by the Writers’ Workshop, available on a low-cost paid subscription rather than free access.
- Book acknowledgements. Authors of comparable recent books almost always thank their agent by name on the acknowledgements page, which is a reliable, free way to find agents actively building a list in your genre.
With these tools, a writer can identify agents at major agencies such as United Agents, A. M. Heath, Blake Friedmann and David Higham, and query them on their own timeline without paying course fees.
So why do people still pay for agent access?
If cold querying works, the continued popularity of courses with built-in agent showcases needs explaining. Two reasons come up most often.
Speed. A cold query sits in a general submissions queue, and response times vary enormously. Writers who’ve been through the process report waits of anywhere from a few weeks to several months, and some agents never reply to a query that isn’t right for them. An end-of-course agent session can shortcut that queue, putting pages in front of a senior agent directly.
An informal vetting filter. Some agents treat a place on a selective course, such as one that accepts only a small proportion of applicants based on the strength of a writing sample, as a loose signal that the manuscript has already had professional editorial attention. However, that signal is no guarantee of interest, and plenty of agented and published authors never attended such a course.
Neither reason changes the central fact: a course place does not equal representation, and a strong query to a well-matched agent beats a weak manuscript shown directly to the right person.
The bottom line on a limited budget
If your budget is under £1,000, paying £1,900 or more purely for an agent showcase is rarely a sound use of money. It buys a short window of agent attention rather than any greater chance of a yes.
A more cost-effective path is to spend a smaller sum on sharpening the manuscript itself, then query widely for free.
UK Writers’ College offers writers one-to-one mentoring on their Write a Novel Course. Study over 12 months, with editorial input from multi-award-winning authors from the very first word of your novel, for £945.
Two other examples of lower-cost, editorially focused options: Curtis Brown Creative sells standalone manuscript reports, with no course or agent access attached, ranging from £450 to ₤960 for between 40,000 and 125,000 words; Jericho Writers’ Self-Edit Your Novel course, also independent of any agent showcase, costs £900.
Pair a manuscript assessment or self-editing course like these with cold querying twenty to thirty well-matched UK agents, which costs nothing beyond your time, and you are on a proven path to traditional publication, and one most agented authors have taken.
A list of reputable UK agencies for fiction or non-fiction
To see just how easy it is to find an agency that matches your genre, start your research here:
| Agency | Website | Type of books | Submission guidelines |
| A M Heath & Co. | https://amheath.com | Fiction and non-fiction; the page lists no genres or exclusions | https://amheath.com/submissions |
| David Higham Associates | https://davidhigham.co.uk | Adult fiction, non-fiction, and children’s/YA (picture books, young fiction, novels, illustration) | https://davidhigham.co.uk/submissions/ |
| Janklow & Nesbit UK | https://www.janklowandnesbit.co.uk | Fiction, non-fiction and poetry. No scripts, postal or AI-generated work | https://www.janklowandnesbit.co.uk/submissions |
| Greene & Heaton | https://greeneheaton.co.uk | Fiction and non-fiction, including crime, thrillers, historical, romance, YA/middle grade (varies by agent) | https://greeneheaton.co.uk/submissions |
| Peters Fraser + Dunlop (PFD) | https://petersfraserdunlop.com | Fiction and non-fiction; the page lists no genres | https://petersfraserdunlop.com/submissions/books/ |
| RCW Literary Agency | https://rcwlitagency.com | Fiction and non-fiction. No theatre, film or TV scripts | https://rcwlitagency.com/submissions |
| Blake Friedmann | https://blakefriedmann.co.uk | Fiction and non-fiction across many genres. No children’s books | https://blakefriedmann.co.uk/submissions |
| Darley Anderson | https://darleyanderson.com | Commercial fiction (thrillers, rom-coms, romance, crime, romantasy). No non-fiction, poetry, screenplays, novellas or erotica | https://darleyanderson.com/submissions/ |
| Eve White Literary Agency | https://evewhite.co.uk | Adult fiction and non-fiction. Not accepting children’s books as of 1 July 2026; no ghostwritten work | https://evewhite.co.uk/submissions/ |
| Graham Maw Christie | https://grahammawchristie.com | Non-fiction and fiction. No poetry, YA or children’s fiction | https://grahammawchristie.com/submissions |
| Sheil Land Associates | https://www.sheilland.com | The page lists no genres or agents’ areas of interest | https://www.sheilland.com/book-submissions |
| Hardman & Swainson | https://www.hardmanswainson.com | Fiction and non-fiction. No TV/film scripts or poetry | https://www.hardmanswainson.com/submissions/ |
| Greyhound Literary | https://greyhoundliterary.co.uk | Commercial and literary fiction; non-fiction (biography, cookery, history, memoir, etc.); children’s incl. picture books. No screenplays | https://greyhoundliterary.co.uk/submissions |
| PEW Literary | https://www.pewliterary.com | Fiction and non-fiction. No picture books, poetry, academic books or scripts | https://www.pewliterary.com/submitting |
| Laxfield Literary Associates | https://laxfieldliterary.com | Literary and commercial fiction, speculative fiction, non-fiction (creative, travel, memoir, nature). No plays, screenwriting, children’s or horror | https://laxfieldliterary.com/submissions/ |
| LBA Books | https://lbabooks.com | Fiction, non-fiction and children’s. No poetry, short stories or film scripts | https://lbabooks.com/submissions |
| United Agents (books) | https://www.unitedagents.co.uk | Commercial and literary fiction, non-fiction, children’s/YA | https://www.unitedagents.co.uk/node/12695 |
| Andrew Lownie Literary Agency | https://www.andrewlownie.co.uk | The page lists no genres; it gives requirements for non-fiction only | https://www.andrewlownie.co.uk/how_to_submit |
| The Soho Agency | https://www.thesohoagency.co.uk | Fiction and non-fiction across many genres. No poetry or textbooks | https://www.thesohoagency.co.uk/literary-submissions |
| Susanna Lea Associates | https://www.susannalea.com | Fiction and non-fiction. No poetry, plays, screenplays, academic or illustrated works | https://www.susannalea.com/submissions/ |
| Antony Harwood Limited | https://www.antonyharwood.com | Fiction and non-fiction in most genres, for adults and younger readers. No poetry, plays, screenplays, self-help or picture books | https://antonyharwood.com/submissions/ |
| Mushens Entertainment | https://www.mushens-entertainment.com | Fiction (crime, thrillers, fantasy, horror, literary and upmarket) and some non-fiction. No picture books, children’s under teen, poetry, screenplays or comics | https://www.mushens-entertainment.com/submissions |
| DHH Literary Agency | https://dhhliteraryagency.com | Fiction and non-fiction; agents’ pages give specific genres | https://dhhliteraryagency.com/submissions |
| Georgina Capel Associates | https://georginacapel.com | The page lists no genres; non-fiction is accepted | https://georginacapel.com/submissions |
| Marjacq | https://www.marjacq.com | Full-length fiction and non-fiction for adults and children. No picture books, poetry or plays | https://www.marjacq.com/submissions |
| Aitken Alexander Associates | https://aitkenalexander.co.uk | Fiction (novels and short stories), narrative non-fiction, subject-led non-fiction; screenwriting from UK-based writers with credits | https://aitkenalexander.co.uk/contact-us/submissions |
| Curtis Brown (UK) | https://www.curtisbrown.co.uk | Fiction: adult commercial, literary, historical, crime, thriller, sci-fi/fantasy and romance. Non-fiction: biography, history, politics, memoir and popular science. Children’s and YA: children’s books, graphic novels and YA fiction/illustration. No poetry or stage plays/screenplays through the general book division. | https://www.curtisbrown.co.uk/page/submissions |
| C&W (formerly Conville & Walsh) | https://cwagency.co.uk | Fiction: literary and commercial adult fiction across many genres. Non-fiction: narrative non-fiction, memoir, pop culture, history and general non-fiction proposals. Children’s and YA fiction. No picture books, poetry or scripts. | https://cwagency.co.uk/page/submissions |
| Johnson & Alcock | https://www.johnsonandalcock.co.uk | Fiction: broad range of adult literary and commercial fiction (crime, thriller, historical, speculative and more). Non-fiction: biography, history, nature writing, popular science, politics, lifestyle and memoir. No plays or film scripts. | https://www.johnsonandalcock.co.uk/submissions |
| Madeleine Milburn Literary, TV & Film Agency | https://madeleinemilburn.co.uk | Fiction: commercial and book-club fiction, crime, psychological thrillers, fantasy, historical, romance and literary fiction. Non-fiction: memoir, true crime, pop culture, history, cooking, self-help and popular science. Children’s and YA: middle grade and YA. No picture books. | https://madeleinemilburn.co.uk/submissions/ |
| Andrew Nurnberg Associates | https://www.andrewnurnberg.com | Fiction: adult and children’s (literary, commercial, crime, thriller, YA). Non-fiction: history, memoir, food/cookery, politics, current affairs, science, travel and more. No children’s picture books or scripts for film, TV, radio or theatre. | https://www.andrewnurnberg.com/enquiries/ |
Sources
- Rennoldson, J. (2020, September 28). Should I submit my book to multiple agents at the same time? Writers & Artists.
- Sambuchino, C. (2009, October 12). Cold Querying Still Works. Writer’s Digest.
- Curtis Brown Creative. Writing Your Novel – Three Months.
- Curtis Brown Creative. Post-course reports and Editorial Services.
- Jericho Writers Help Center. Ultimate Novel Writing Programme FAQs.
- James, ADMIN. (2024, October 6). Announcing Agent Pages. Writers & Artists.
