LOOKING FOR: PICTURE BOOKS, CHAPTER BOOKS, MG, YA, CHILDREN'S NON-FICTION After a childhood buried in library books and Beanos, Lydia started her career in the editorial team at Egmont, where she commissioned books such as the Carnegie Medal-winning The Poet X. She joined the Darley Anderson team in 2018, and as well as building an engaging and diverse list of authors and illustrators, she was promoted to Director in March 2024. With experience on both sides of the commissioning desk, Lydia loves working editorially with her clients and developing ideas from an initial spark into a full manuscript. She represents clients across all age groups, including picture book, chapter book, middle grade and YA, and has a particular focus on non-fiction. Lydia reads and considers widely, and among other things she is looking for snort-inducing stories for younger readers, clever and contemporary teenage and YA fiction, and non-fiction projects that take big ideas and make them easily navigable, accessible and fun. No matter the story, Lydia is drawn to voice above anything else and will always be sucked in by a strong hook. Lydia represents clients including Soofiya, Gina Blaxill, Mark Bradley, Ryan Hammond, Alice Harman, Joyce Efia Harmer, Catherine Jacob, Hannah Moffatt, Rachel Morrisroe, Nick Sheridan, Rashmi Sirdeshpande and Eva Wong Nava. If you could sum up her tastes in three words, they would be curious, characterful and heartfelt, and in three books, they would be One of Us is Lying, Nevermoor and You Are Awesome. Lydia would like you to submit a covering letter, a 1 page synopsis and the first 3 chapters or 20 pages of your completed manuscript in a single word document. For Picture Books please submit a covering letter and texts for two completed stories. (In addition to the paid sessions, Lydia 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 16th January 2025
LOOKING FOR: ADULT FICTION, NON-FICTION Imogen Pelham has been at Marjacq since 2015, and has worked as a literary agent for more than a decade. She represents literary fiction and some upmarket commercial fiction, as well as a wide range of non-fiction. Imogen's looking for fiction with a strong premise, a surprise twist, or sharp humour. Recent favourites include Leave The World Behind by Rumaan Alam, Early Morning Riser by Katherine Heiny, and Sorrow & Bliss by Meg Mason. Her non-fiction list includes history, memoir, medicine and psychology. She is particularly interested in identity, the arts and investigative journalism. Imogen would like you to submit a covering letter, 1 - 2 page synopsis and the first 10,000 words of your manuscript in a single word document. (In addition to the paid sessions, Imogen 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 20th January 2025
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 20th January 2025
LOOKING FOR: ADULT FICTION, NON-FICTION Donald Winchester began his publishing career at Penguin Press – working on a variety of non-fiction titles – before moving to A P Watt, then the world’s oldest literary agency. There he worked for five years with a number of acclaimed and prize-winning authors and began building a list of fiction and non-fiction for adults. He joined Watson, Little as an agent in 2013. Donald is building his list and is interested in literary fiction and well-written commercial fiction, particularly debut authors, as well as memoir. He is particularly interested in literary fiction which maintains a high level of prose, pushes boundaries of style, while retaining emotional heart and a sense of plot. He’s also looking for upmarket fiction which builds a fully-formed plot with a satisfying emotional arc, whether that be historical or contemporary – and the mixing of tropes from genre fiction (crime, sci-fi, romance, etc) also interest him. In non-fiction, he is keen to see writing on history, popular science, social issues, nature, music, sport, film and technology. In all these areas he’s looking for experts in their fields who can convey their expertise and enthusiasm to a wide audience in an appealing way. Donald would like you to submit a covering letter, 1 - 2 page synopsis and the first three chapters of your manuscript in a single word document. (In addition to the paid sessions, Donald 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: Wednesday 22 January 2025
LOOKING FOR: ADULT FICTION, YA THRILLER Saskia Leach is an Agent's Assistant at Kate Nash Literary Agency and is currently training to become a Junior Agent. She graduated from Royal Holloway, University of London in 2020 with a BA degree in English and History, before joining Kate Nash Literary Agency in 2021. Saskia loves commercial fiction that features complex and dynamic characters and is fascinated by stories containing document inserts or written from multiple perspectives. Saskia enjoys commercial and book club fiction and is particularly looking for cosy crime from any period (whether contemporary like Janice Hallett and Richard Osman, traditional Golden Age murder mystery or historical), WW2 historical fiction in the vein of Heather Morris or Markus Zusak, twisty psychological thriller with a unique hook, LGBTQ+ romance, underrepresented voices and perspectives, YA thriller or romance, and locked-room thriller. Saskia would like you to submit a covering letter, 1 page synopsis and the first 2,500 words of your manuscript in a single word document. (In addition to the paid sessions, Saskia 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 to reach I Am In Print by the stated submission deadline and note that I Am In Print take no responsibility for the advice given in your Agent121. The submission deadline is: Tuesday 21 January 2025
LOOKING FOR: PICTURE BOOKS, MG, YA, ADULT FICTION Molly Jamieson has been working at United Agents Ltd since 2017, working across adult and children’s books, and before that she worked at Curtis Brown. She has recently started building her own client list which already includes million-copy selling authors and bestsellers. Molly has a particular interest in scifi and fantasy across both adult and children’s books. For a sense of her taste, she has recently read and enjoyed Sistersong by Lucy Holland, Gideon the Ninth by Tamsyn Muir, Uprooted by Naomi Novik, The Poppy War by R.F. Kuang, and Once Upon A Broken Heart by Stephanie Garber. She loves anything with high stakes, characters you would follow anywhere, big stories, expansive worldbuilding, breathless romance, and threads of adventure running throughout. She is also looking for commercial romantic fiction in all shapes and forms. She has a real soft spot for classic tropes, a great sense of humour, and anything with a clear pitch that makes you sit up and take notice, but in the end it all comes down to chemistry. In this area, she has recently read and loved The Hating Game by Sally Thorne, Book Lovers by Emily Henry, The Unhoneymooners by Christina Lauren, and The Love Hypothesis by Ali Hazelwood. She also represents children’s authors and illustrators in all genres, from picture books up to YA. In one single word document, Molly 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, whichever is shorter. For picture books, please submit a covering letter and 2 picture books in a single document. Please send EITHER picture books OR another genre, not both in one submission. (In addition to the paid sessions, Molly 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: Wednesday 22 January 2025
LOOKING FOR: ADULT FICTION Kate Barker has worked in publishing for over twenty years as an agent, commissioning editor and ghostwriter. Before setting up her own company, Kate Barker Literary Agency, she spent ten years at Penguin, where she was an Editorial Director for Viking, acquiring fiction and non-fiction. She has also worked for Orion, Curtis Brown and for digital publisher Bookouture. She is looking for commercial and reading group fiction for adults and would love to find an unputdownable thriller like Rosamund Lupton's Three Hours, a funny, heartbreaking contemporary novel like Queenie by Candice Carty-Williams or a romantic comedy with a unique premise like The Flatshare by Beth O'Leary. She also loves historical fiction and series crime. Kate would like you to submit a covering letter, one page synopsis and the first three chapters (Max 5,000 words) of your completed manuscript in a single word document. (In addition to the paid sessions, Kate 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: Wednesday 22 January 2025
Welcome to the Women's Voice Empowerment Programme. This is a female-designed, new, step-by-step guide, to teach you how you can truly activate and integrate some of the most essential Voicework tools to Free Your Voice and unleash your Creative Feminine Power.
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: Friday 24th January 2025
LOOKING FOR: MG, YA, ADULT FICTION / NON-FICTION Kesia Lupo joined Donald Maass Literary Agency in 2024 after 11 years working across the publishing industry. She started out as an editorial assistant at Pan Macmillan London in 2013, transitioning to children’s fiction in 2015 when she moved to Chicken House (a UK imprint of Scholastic), where she worked her way up from junior to senior editor. Here she acquired and edited bestselling, internationally successful and prize-winning fiction for middle grade (MG) and YA readers. In 2023 she transitioned over to the US and agenting, working with the Bindery Agency before finding a home with DMLA. At DMLA, Kesia is building a list leaning 60/40 towards MG and YA fiction, with the rest consisting of adult fiction and a smattering of adult non-fiction. She is especially, but not exclusively, interested in underrepresented voices, whether BIPOC, LGBTQ+, neurodivergent, disabled writers or other identities not listed here. Across all age-groups, she’s seeking: Fantasy/Science Fiction: High fantasy, low fantasy, cosy fantasy. Particularly interested in fantasy and SF inspired by underrepresented cultures with unique world-building. Romantasy is fine but the fantasy elements MUST be strong! Horror: Psychological and paranormal horror in particular but will consider slashers. Kesia loves gothic horror and is not generally fazed by gory content. Thrillers: Upmarket thrillers with a unique spin. Loves plot twists! Historical: Open to everything with a strong hook and informed by excellent research. Would love to find non-Eurocentric historical fiction. For adult fiction only, she’s seeking: Bookclub/women’s fiction: Voice-driven, high-concept novels across these categories. Romance: Upmarket romance with a great one-line pitch. Happy with spice. For adult non-fiction, she’s interested in accessible political, cultural or historical topics with broad appeal. Please don’t self-reject – if you are unsure about whether your story might be a good fit, Kesia would rather see it. In one single word document, Kesia 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, whichever is shorter. (In addition to the paid sessions, Kesia 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 27th January 2025