77 Ligature courses delivered Online

LOOKING FOR: MG, YA, ADULT FICTION, NON-FICTION Thérèse is a Literary and Rights Agent at Susanna Lea Associates, @SLALondon. Born and raised in Belgium, on a diet of frites and Tintin she moved to England in her late teens with her family, then stayed in London to do a History degree and Masters at University College London. Having been brought up bilingual, translation rights seemed like her logical next step. She started off in the rights department at Bloomsbury Publishing, before hopping across the square to Ed Victor’s agency, and found experiencing both the publishing and agency side of publishing incredibly valuable. She has been building her own list of authors alongside selling translation rights since early 2016, which she has hugely enjoyed; working with authors right from the book’s conception, while also experiencing the thrill of selling her own authors’ works in the UK and US as well as in translation to publishers across the globe. In terms of adult fiction, Thérèse has a huge soft spot for historical fiction, having read Early Modern History at university, but is also very much on the hunt for crime/thrillers, bookclub, high-concept love stories and literary fiction. She loves strong female characters, in particular when they go through an evolution or journey as the story progresses and gradually find that inner strength. On the children’s fiction front, Thérèse is all about finding a fresh, new voice. She loves all things funny, fantasy and adventure – across lands, time and space, and involving strong friendships and strong lead characters - and wants to be transported straight away when reading a manuscript. She likes very vivid, well-crafted and imaginative worlds, such as stories set in a toy factory or in an underwater world. Thérèse would love some more adventures set in space, mysteries, quirky characters, explorers and imaginary friends. And last, but not least, in non-fiction, history features heavily in her interests, but Thérèse would also love to see books about big ideas, culture, sociology, science, anthropology and memoir. Anything that helps expand the mind and questions or informs the way in which we view ourselves, the world and how we fit into it, all written in an engaging and accessible manner. Thérèse would like you to submit a covering letter, 1 page synopsis and the first three chapters or 5,000 words of your manuscript in a single word document. (In addition to the paid sessions, Thérèse is kindly offering one free session for low income/under-represented writers. Please email agent121@iaminprint.co.uk to apply, outlining your case for this option which is offered at the discretion of I Am In Print).  By booking you understand you need to conduct an internet connection test with I Am In Print prior to the event. You also agree to email your material in one document to reach I Am In Print by the stated submission deadline and note that I Am In Print take no responsibility for the advice received during your agent meeting. The submission deadline is: Tuesday 26 November 2024

LOOKING FOR: ADULT FICTION, NON-FICTION Amanda Preston has been a literary agent for over 20 years and co-founded LBA in 2005. She won the RNA Literary Agent of the Year award in 2018.  She represents commercial and reading group fiction, as well as a range of narrative non-fiction and memoir. She loves working with authors, championing them every step of the way, and works with them and their publishing teams to build them into brand names and award winning and bestselling authors in the UK and internationally. Whether commercial or reading-group, she loves innovative and well-written stories that hook her in from the start and whose voice stays with her. She is looking for novels that demand to be talked about and shared, whatever their genre, and that she is still thinking about days after finishing.  She is on the hunt for a high-concept thriller which is character and plot driven, but also has a discussable issue at its heart i.e Elizabeth is Missing by Emma Healey and Girl A by Abigail Dean. She love thrillers where the location is as integral to the plot as the crime i.e The Dry by Jane Harper and The Sanatorium by Sarah Pearse, and would love a good locked-room thriller but is only looking for fresh and unique ideas in this area.  She is also on the hunt for a glorious book club love story that is doing something a bit different and special i.e Lessons in Chemistry by Bonnie Garmus or anything by Taylor Jenkins Reid or Liane Moriarty! Or smart, contemporary, observant romcoms with a very strong emphasis on diverse / own voices.  Finally, she would love a historical that vividly brings that period to life as well as having a stunning plot i.e, The Familiars by Stacey Halls and The Doll Factory by Elizabeth MacNeal. Amanda would like you to submit a covering letter, 1 page synopsis and the opening three chapters (max 5,000 words). (In addition to the paid sessions, Amanda is kindly offering one free session for low income/under-represented writers. Please email agent121@iaminprint.co.uk to apply, outlining your case for this option which is offered at the discretion of I Am In Print).  By booking you understand you need to conduct an internet connection test with I Am In Print prior to the event. You also agree to email your material in one document to reach I Am In Print by the stated submission deadline and note that I Am In Print take no responsibility for the advice received during your agent meeting. The submission deadline is: Friday 29 November 2024

LOOKING FOR: ADULT FICTION, NON-FICTION Diana joined the prestigious DHH Literary Agency in June 2024. She started agenting with Rupert Heath Literary Agency in 2011 before moving to UTA and Marjacq in 2017. Before that she was senior commissioning editor at Transworld. Diana was chosen as one of The Bookseller’s Rising Stars of 2012, was a nominee for RNA Agent of the Year 2019, and was shortlisted for Literary Agent of the Year 2022 at the British Book Awards. Her list includes a wide range of bestselling and prize-winning authors in the UK and internationally. Diana represents adult fiction and non-fiction. For fiction, she is looking for upmarket women's commercial, with depth and heart, including reading group, historical, saga, uplit and contemporary stories that are irreverent and make her laugh; accessible literary fiction, high-concept crime fiction and thrillers. She has a thing for spy novels and would love to find a great vampire story.  On the non-fiction side: memoir, smart, funny feminists, lifestyle, cookery and social justice, and open to anything with a strong, original voice. She also encourages submissions from writers who have been traditionally under-represented. Diana would like you to submit a covering letter, 1 - 2 page synopsis and the first three chapters (a maximum of 5,000 words) of your manuscript in a single word document.  (In addition to the paid sessions, Diana is kindly offering one free session for low income/underrepresented writers. Please email agent121@iaminprint.co.uk to apply, outlining your case for this option which is offered at the discretion of I Am In Print).  By booking you understand you need to conduct an internet connection test with I Am In Print prior to the event. You also agree to email your material in one document to reach I Am In Print by the stated submission deadline and note that I Am In Print take no responsibility for the advice received during your agent meeting. The submission deadline is: Monday 2 December 2024

LOOKING FOR: ADULT FICTION, NON-FICTION Publisher / editor Scott Pack is now in his third decade working in the world of books. During that time he has been Head of Buying for Waterstones, worked for publishers big and small - including a lengthy spell at HarperCollins - and taught numerous workshops and classes on all aspects of writing. These days he splits his time between writing his own books, editing other people's, teaching the editors of tomorrow as part of the Oxford Brookes University MA in Publishing, and he is one of the question setters for BBC's Mastermind. His latest book, Tips From A Publisher, is out now.  As a publisher, Scott has published across most genres in fiction and a wide range of non-fiction and is happy to read any style of writing. He will assess your sample and provide feedback on any issues he identifies, the manuscript's commercial potential and what steps he would advise before you submit to agents or publishers. Scott is very direct with his feedback, so expect robust, but always constructive, comments! Scott would like you to submit your fiction as a covering letter, 1-2 page synopsis and the first 5,000 words of your manuscript in a single word document.  For non-fiction, he would like to see:- 1-page synopsis – to give an overview of what the book will offer the reader and how it's different from other books out there on this topic A detailed proposed contents list, including proposed sub-section headings as well as chapter headings – to give a sense of the overall reader journey 1000-1500 words of intro text - to showcase context, tone etc 1000-1500 words from later in the book - to showcase the progression of the book (In addition to the paid sessions, Scott is kindly offering one free session for low income/underrepresented writers. Please email agent121@iaminprint.co.uk to apply, outlining your case for this option which is offered at the discretion of I Am In Print).  By booking you understand you need to conduct an internet connection test with I Am In Print prior to the event. You also agree to email your material in one document to reach I Am In Print by the stated submission deadline and note that I Am In Print take no responsibility for the advice received during your agent meeting. The submission deadline is: Monday 2 December 2024

LOOKING FOR: MG, YA AND ADULT SCI-FI / FANTASY, CHILDREN'S NON-FICTION After graduating from St Andrews University with a degree in English Literature and Art History, Maddy followed her love of literature to an internship at non-fiction literary agency Graham Maw Christie. At GMC, Maddy worked her way up to Agent and built a list of authors who wrote for both for adults and children, spanning history, tarot, and nature writing. An avid reader of anything magical, Maddy joined Madeleine Milburn in 2022 to build a list specialising in SFF. Maddy would like to see SFF across all genres for all ages, including: grim dark, thriller, historical, romance, cosy fantasy, sci-fi, epic, YA fantasy, dark academia, contemporary fantasy, fantasy middle-grade, mythology, fairy tale and queer fantasy. Inspiring children’s non-fiction. She loves worlds to get lost in, adventures that transform what it means to be a hero, and unique magic that offers as many problems as solutions. She likes books that make her cry and books that change her mind. Above all, when she finishes a story about another world, she wants it to have taught her a lesson which helps her live in this one. She loves all fantasy, but favours richly imagined, complex worlds with a history to discover and a future to protect. Worldbuilding is one of her favourite aspects of this genre and she is always looking for a new, dense world with series potential. Think Brandon Sanderson’s Cosmere or the Marvel Cinematic Universe – the bigger the better! She also likes character-driven fantasy with a diverse cast to root for (or root against) and she wants to see a range of different relationships depicted authentically. She particularly like epics that dip into big, universal themes such as grief, climate change, or war and which ask impossible questions in the vein of R.F. Kuang or N.K. Jemisin. She is also excited by authors that play with form and language in a fantasy setting. In YA, she is looking for much the same as in an adult fantasy, but with younger protagonists and a closer focus on relationships. She wants to see the tropes she knows and loves in new and exciting forms and her favourite YA books often centre around belonging and becoming. She likes a dash of romance in everything, because she is sentimental that way, but it’s particularly important in the YA space. Sci-fi is a big passion of hers, especially when it comes with a strong hook. She is a huge fan of Becky Chamber’s The Long Way to a Small Angry Planet and Michaiah Johnson’s The Space Between Worlds. She likes space as a metaphor, and would love something that explores different alien species. Please send her your space operas and sci-fi romances which combine space, magic and mayhem! In fantasy middle grade, she favours whimsy and animal companions; she would love to follow a group of kids through magic school. She tends to look for plenty of humour with a strong friendship at the centre, and she wants middle grade stories which engage with the concerns of children growing up as well as offering an all-important escape (preferably on a dragon/unicorn’s back). She is also looking for children’s non-fiction for all ages. In this space, she wants something as creative as it is informative, and thinks diverse voices are increasingly important. Maddy would like you to submit a covering letter, one page synopsis and the first three chapters (Max 5000 words) of your completed manuscript in a single word document. (In addition to the paid sessions, Maddy is kindly offering one free session for low income/under-represented writers. Please email agent121@iaminprint.co.uk to apply, outlining your case for this option which is offered at the discretion of I Am In Print).  By booking you understand you need to conduct an internet connection test with I Am In Print prior to the event. You also agree to email your material in one document to reach I Am In Print by the stated submission deadline and note that I Am In Print take no responsibility for the advice received during your agent meeting. The submission deadline is: Thursday 28 November 2024

LOOKING FOR: MG, ADULT FICTION Jo Williamson has been in publishing for over 25 years. Having worked in Children’s books PR for Dorling Kindersley, HarperCollins and Orion, she started as an agent with Antony Harwood in 2008. She feels very privileged being with authors at the very start of their publishing journey and enjoys close working relationships with all her clients. From editorial help, general advice on the publishing world, guiding careers long-term and general cheerleading, she feels she has the perfect job. Although nothing is off limits and she loves being surprised by submissions, In middle grade children's fiction, Jo is particularly looking for books with heart, epic adventures with voice-led characters, and younger funny fiction with series potential.  In adult fiction, page-turning Commercial Women’s and Book Club fiction are right up Jo's street, including psychological suspense, thriller, cosy crime and books that don’t quite fit the mould. Above all, she wants stories that linger long after the final page has been read. Jo is not the right fit for police procedurals. Jo would like you to submit a covering letter, 1 page synopsis and the first 5,000 words of your manuscript in a single word document. (In addition to the paid sessions, Jo is kindly offering one free session for low income/underrepresented writers. Please email agent121@iaminprint.co.uk to apply, outlining your case for this option which is offered at the discretion of I Am In Print).  By booking you understand you need to conduct an internet connection test with I Am In Print prior to the event. You also agree to email your material in one document to reach I Am In Print by the stated submission deadline and note that I Am In Print take no responsibility for the advice received during your agent meeting. The submission deadline is: Monday 2 December 2024

LOOKING FOR: ADULT FICTION Louise Buckley has worked in publishing for well over a decade. She was inspired to enter the publishing industry after completing an MA in Creative Writing and then spent a hugely enjoyable year working as a bookseller for Waterstones, wishing that she could have a hand in publishing books. After a year working at Dorling Kindersley, she then spent almost five years working in the commercial fiction division at Pan Macmillan, where she published a mix of commercial bestsellers and award-winning authors. Most recently, she was an Associate Literary Agent at Zeno Agency Ltd. As an agent she represented a roster of commercial and literary fiction, including Anne Griffin’s When All is Said, which spent five weeks at number one in Ireland and sold into 17 territories. She is delighted to be working with Hannah at Hannah Sheppard Literary Agency. Louise is looking for:- Literary and upmarket fiction that focusses on the underdog, the repressed, the suppressed. Louise is especially interested in novels that represent working-class people or children going through difficult circumstances (think Shuggie Bain by Douglas Stuart, My Name is Leon by Kit de Waal or Boys Don’t Cry by FÍona Scarlett). Irish literary and book club fiction. Think Claire Keegan, Louise Kennedy or Anne Griffin. In commercial fiction she loves novels set during the Second World War, such as The Nightingale by Kristin Hannah, The Beekeeper of Aleppo by Christi Lefteri or The Midwife of Auschwitz by Anna Stuart. Louise recently read and loved The Last List of Mabel Beaumont by Laura Pearson and would love to see anything in the same ‘older person going on a journey’ category, a more recent The Unlikely Pilgrimage of Harold Fry. Louise had a lot of fun publishing a ‘pet fiction’ novel as an editor (Molly and the Cat Café) and would love to find an author who can write an Alfie the Doorstep Cat/Dog. She has a soft spot for novels featuring time-travel or parallel universes, a ‘what if’ that plays around with conventions. At the literary end this would be books like Life After Life by Kate Atkinson, The Shining Girls by Lauren Beukes or This is How You Lose the Time War by Amal El-Mohtar and Max Gladstone. At the more commercial end Louise loved Wrong Place, Wrong Time by Gillian McAllister, Dark Matter by Blake Crouch and Oona Out of Order by Martina Montimore. She also enjoys novels set in the real world but featuring a hefty dose of magic or the supernatural. They can be commercial or literary, present-day or historical. Think Rivers of London by Ben Aaronovitch, Threadneedle by Cari Thomas, A Discovery of Witches by Deborah Harkness or The Gifts by Liz Hyder. And also cosy fantasy in the vein of Legends and Lattes or The House in the Cerulean Sea. Cosy or humorous crime. Recently, Louise absolutely loved Over My Dead Body by Maz Evans. When she was an editor Louise published the hit Luckiest Girl Alive by Jessica Knoll and would love to represent incisive, intelligent suspense written by authors such as Jessica Knoll and Gillian Flynn, or something a little more subversive and blackly comic like My Sister, the Serial Killer by Oyinkan Braithwaite. More generally, Louise would also love to see novels with a disabled protagonist or someone (like myself) who is living with an invisible disability. As an ex-primary school teacher, she also warmly welcomes submissions from teachers, especially if the submission falls into one of the other categories she has listed. Following-on from this, she enjoys reading stories that follow a ‘beating the system’ narrative. Louise is NOT looking for: -romance -romantasy -epic, traditional fantasy -space opera -straightforward women’s fiction -children’s fiction of any kind -non-fiction Louise would like you to submit a covering letter, 1 page synopsis and the first three chapters or 5,000 words of your manuscript in a single word document. (In addition to the paid sessions, Louise is kindly offering one free session for low income/under-represented writers. Please email agent121@iaminprint.co.uk to apply, outlining your case for this option which is offered at the discretion of I Am In Print).  By booking you understand you need to conduct an internet connection test with I Am In Print prior to the event. You also agree to email your material in one document to reach I Am In Print by the stated submission deadline and note that I Am In Print take no responsibility for the advice received during your agent meeting. The submission deadline is: Friday 6 December 2024

LOOKING FOR: ADULT FICTION Clare set up the Liverpool Literary Agency in 2020 to help address inequality and underrepresentation in the publishing industry. With more than 15 years’ experience of writing and editing professionally, including the publication of two novels, Definitions (2015) and We Are of Dust (2018 - which has received development funding from the Liverpool Film Office for a TV adaptation), she has developed an in-depth knowledge of what commissioning editors and publishers expect to see from a submitted manuscript. With a background in PR and marketing, alongside teaching on creative writing programmes, Clare also has extensive experience in pitching and promoting writers and has been nominated for the Romantic Novelist Association Agent of the Year Award! Clare would love to see historical fiction, crime fiction, psychological thrillers and women’s fiction, but she is open to all great writing with a strong hook in any area (excluding non-fiction, children’s and YA). She actively encourages submissions from writers who have been traditionally under-represented. Clare would like you to submit a covering letter, 1 page synopsis and the first 5,000 words of your manuscript in a single word document. (In addition to the paid sessions, Clare is kindly offering one free session for low income/under-represented writers. Please email agent121@iaminprint.co.uk to apply, outlining your case for this option which is offered at the discretion of I Am In Print).  By booking you understand you need to conduct an internet connection test with I Am In Print prior to the event. You also agree to email your material in one document to reach I Am In Print by the stated submission deadline and note that I Am In Print take no responsibility for the advice received during your agent meeting. The submission deadline is: Monday 9 December 2024

LOOKING FOR: ADULT FICTION Jade Kavanagh is a Literary Agent at Darley Anderson Literary Agency. She has a degree in English Literature from the University of Westminster then went on to achieve her Masters in Modern and Contemporary Fictions. Alongside assisting Camilla Bolton on her list of clients Jade is building her own list of suspense, thriller and horror with distinct voices and setting. Across these genres Jade looks for powerful female narratives and dynamic characterisation. She wants female characters like Shiv Roy (Succession), Emily Gilmore (Gilmore Girls), Annalise Keating (How to Get Away with Murder), Buffy Summers (Buffy), Ellen Ripley (Alien), Dana Scully (The X Files), Detective Kima Greggs (The Wire). Jade would love something with a big book club hook that readers devour in one sitting. Setting and atmosphere are of huge appeal. She wants stories with a vivid sense of place and to be immersed in the world of the characters. Jade wants detail down to what shade of lipstick or colour of the lamp on their bedside table and the nature and landscape around them. She loves luxury settings she can get excited about reading and descriptions to lose herself in. Jade also loves dark twists on glamorous concepts and settings. Think The Devil Wears Prada meets Killing Eve, or Real Housewives or Succession meets How to Kill My Family or something akin to White Lotus.  Across the spectrum of horror and speculative fiction, Jade is looking for haunting stories filled with slow build darkness and characters with heart. Think 28 Days Later and The Last of Us. She really wants a dark witchy story… or on the cozier side a fresh take on something like Practical Magic or Charmed. Jade wants heroes to root for, and villains that terrify and enrage her in equal measure. One of Jade's favourite TV shows is Orphan Black; she'd love to see a book series like this. As a proud member of the Twilight generation, (Team Edward forever!) she’d also love to read a modern vampire novel. Show her American Psycho meets Dracula. Give her 2023 Carlisle Cullen in a thriller or a new take on Buffy. Whilst not actively looking for sci-fi novels, Jade would love to see A Scully and Mulder for the 2020s!  Notably, Jade looks for voices from all walks of life. She is incredibly passionate about bringing working-class voices into the commercial fiction space. She would love to hear from new exciting talent, telling stories about everyday people with relatable voices, people she grew up with, people she can imagine. Jade would like you to submit a covering letter, 1 -2 page synopsis and the first 5,000 words of your completed manuscript in a single word document. (In addition to the paid sessions, Jade is kindly offering one free session for low income/under-represented writers. Please email agent121@iaminprint.co.uk to apply, outlining your case for this option which is offered at the discretion of I Am In Print).  By booking you understand you need to conduct an internet connection test with I Am In Print prior to the event. You also agree to email your material in one document to reach I Am In Print by the stated submission deadline and note that I Am In Print take no responsibility for the advice received during your agent meeting. The submission deadline is: Tuesday 10 December 2024

LOOKING FOR: PICTURE BOOKS, MG, YA, ADULT FICTION Clare Wallace joined the Darley Anderson Agency in January 2011 and is building both the Darley Anderson Children’s Agency and the Darley Anderson Illustration Agency lists as well as taking on adult fiction for debut authors. Clare is particularly looking for funny chapter books for younger readers at the moment, as well as contemporary MG, YA fantasy, romance, and rom coms, especially with underrepresented protagonists. For picture books she has the widest taste, from daft to lyrical, rhyming to prose. As well as being busy with the children’s and illustration agencies, Clare is open to debut adult fiction submissions that could be described as book club, rom-com, romance, saga, reading group, fantasy or historical fiction. She often doesn’t know what she’s looking for until she finds it (although she is not the person for steampunk or space opera). She represents picture books, middle-grade, teenage and YA and debut adult fiction. The clients Clare represents include Perdita & Honor Cargill, Caroline Crowe, Tom Ellen, Martyn Ford, Stewart Foster, Olivia Hope, A M Howell, Polly Ho-Yen, Rachel Ip, Beth Reekles, J.P. Rose, Lindsay Galvin, Dave Rudden, Deirdre Sullivan and Efua Traoré. Whatever the age range, Clare loves a big hook, a lot of heart, and a standout voice. She loves to discover memorable new characters, bold and unique voices, strong concepts and gripping storytelling. This list gives a good indication of Clare's taste but if your submission doesn’t fit a description here, it doesn’t mean Clare doesn’t want to receive it. Clare would like you to send a covering letter, a one page synopsis and the first three chapters (Max 5000 words) of your manuscript. For picture books, please submit a covering letter and up to three completed texts. Please send EITHER picture books OR another genre, not both in one submission. (In addition to the paid sessions, Clare is kindly offering one free session for low income/underrepresented writers. Please email agent121@iaminprint.co.uk to apply, outlining your case for this option which is offered at the discretion of I Am In Print).  By booking you understand you need to conduct an internet connection test with I Am In Print prior to the event. You also agree to email your material in one document to reach I Am In Print by the stated submission deadline and note that I Am In Print take no responsibility for the advice received during your agent meeting. The submission deadline is: Thursday 12 December 2024