It is not necessary to ask those agents you are querying to recommend another agent. If the agent likes your work and thinks of someone to suggest, they will do this without your asking. Some agents have a policy against referrals, period. Either way, you are wasting valuable space as well as the recipient’s time by asking for a referral in your query letter.

We have an upcoming article that will discuss this issue further.

Hope this helps–Barb

I came across your article “The Write Approach: Author-Agent
Etiquette” today and I wondered if you might be able to answer a
question for me? I have had lots of positive feedback on my query
letter and requested materials, but in the end the majority of the
agents who rejected it said that they just didn’t feel that it was the
type of story they typically represented. I was wondering, is it
considered inappropriate to ask those agents if they have any
colleagues they believe might be interested in my type of story? I
understand that even within agencies genre and writing style
preferences can vary greatly, and it seems that the best and most
honest resource to find an agent for your work is probably other
agents.

Thanks for your time, I hope you can shed some light on this question for me–M