All agents are looking for the same thing: saleable manuscripts that might make money. Whilst specialist or academic non-fiction isn’t on the cards (you’ll need a book proposal to pitch to publishers, in this instance), non-fiction literary agents are looking for:

• Anything celebrity-led, and written by or endorsed by that celebrity;
• A strong and compelling personal memoir;
• A funny, moving, exotic tale of travel;
• A popular science tome;
• A narrative-led history;
• A biography, if the subject in question is genuinely famous;
• A major new diet and motivational work;
• A strong, quirky one-off.

What no one’s looking for is niche.

Guidebooks in minor subject areas, books of local history, biographies of little-known subjects, aren’t sought after. These books may well sell to the right publishers, though mightn’t sell for enough money to make it worth an agent’s while to get involved. In such cases, it’s fine to approach publishers direct.”