July First Literary is a full-service literary agency founded in 2026 by literary agent Brent Taylor. Taylor established the agency after twelve years with Triada US, where he represented bestselling and award-winning authors across children's and adult publishing. July First specializes primarily in commercial fiction, with interests spanning romance, fantasy, horror, mystery, thrillers, young adult fiction, middle grade, graphic novels, and other highly readable, voice-driven work.
The agency emphasizes a hands-on partnership with its authors throughout both the creative and business sides of publishing. Its representation includes developmental and editorial guidance, contract negotiation, domestic and international rights, branding, marketing and publicity strategy, and long-term career planning. July First describes its ideal books as memorable, entertaining stories with humor, heart, and strong commercial appeal.
Although this is a relatively new agency, Taylor brought a mature client list, established publisher relationships, foreign-rights experience, and bestselling/award-winning authors with him, which makes July First considerably more established operationally than its age suggests.
July First Literary Submission Guidelines
Before submitting to July First Literary
The Market List recommends you verify the market is active and accepting submissions before sending your manuscript via regular mail. You may verify a market status by either visiting their website, calling their listed phone number, or confirming via regular mail that the market is still active before sending them your work.
To be sure your submission is appropriate for this market, we recommend you familiarize yourself with July First Literary by reading a sample issue before submitting.
If you have recently submitted to July First Literary or have experience with this market, please submit a comment below. Recent submission response times are always welcome and helpful to other writers.
From the July First Literary guidelines:
Submission Guidelines Details for July First Literary
Market Type: Literary Agency
Accepts: Commercial Fiction; Romance; Fantasy; Romantasy; Horror; Mystery; Thriller/Suspense; Crime; Contemporary Fiction; Speculative Fiction; Young Adult; Middle Grade; LGBTQ+; Graphic Novels
From the Guidelines
July First Literary handles submissions through its individual literary agents rather than through a general agency submission address. Writers should review each agent's current interests and submission status before querying.
Kelsey Evans is currently open to submissions through QueryManager. Her submission form requests a query letter, one-sentence pitch, comparable titles, and the first 10 pages of the manuscript, with additional information requested through the online form. She does not accept unsolicited queries by direct email. Brent Taylor is currently closed to unsolicited queries indefinitely.