SOLD OUT! 17 April Callen Martin #Agent121. Looking for: MG, YA, NA and ADULT SFF FICTION

Description

LOOKING FOR: MG, YA, NA AND ADULT SCI-FI / FANTASY

Callen Martin is a Literary Agent specialising in accessible Middle Grade (7+), YA, New Adult (NA) and Science Fiction / Fantasy (SFF) fiction with an action and adventure focus.

Callen joined Madeleine Milburn Agency (MMA) in January 2026 from Bell Lomax Moreton where he worked previously, first as an assistant and then as maternity cover for a senior agent’s list, before building a Children’s, YA and New Adult list of his own.

As someone who grew up in foster care, Callen graduated Bath Spa University’s MA in Writing for Young People in 2019, becoming the first care experienced person in the history of East Sussex to study at Postgraduate Level. He began his publishing career with internships and work experience placements at Chicken House, Walker Books, and Penguin Michael Joseph before working freelance across the industry as a publisher’s submission reader, writing competition judge, sensitivity reader and manuscript assessor.

In 2026, Callen was confirmed as the agent judge for the Times / Chicken House Children’s Fiction Competition’s titular prize.

Callen seeks accessible storytelling; diverse authors; shorter Middle Grade; anything that feels like it could be turned into or compared with a game / blockbuster (think Pokémon, Fortnite, or Jurassic Park); action and adventure; the underdog; hybrid format MG where prose is interspersed with graphic novel panels, etc; boy-sy stories; high-concept, low-access points for reluctant readers; m/m romances; genre-led Middle Grade, Genre-hybrid YA and New Adult SFF; emotional heart; anti-heroes; retellings, reimaginings and twists on the stories we all know and love for a modern audience; and anything that’ll leave young people (and adults) desperate to read one more chapter before bedtime.

What Callen is looking for (the full version!):

With 2026 being the Year of Reading, Callen is prioritising Middle Grade that’ll get children – especially boys – back into books and the escapist world of stories. With so much vying for a child’s attention nowadays (gaming, social media, tv and film) he wants stories that can compete, capturing the thrill of gaming or adventure or the laughs of a social media trend on the page. Big adventures, brilliant worlds, pacey stories for readers aged 7+ in any genre that are told in accessible ways – ideally with a shorter word count and a sense of real returnability – with a clear, emotional heart. Stories Callen has enjoyed recently include A Box Full of Mysteries, the Skandar series, Inkbound: Meticulous Jones and the Skull Tattoo, Isaac Turner Investigates: The Clockwork Conspiracy, and Grumpfort.

In Middle Grade, he will always have a soft spot for an underdog, those with a human/animal or human/magical-creature bond such as in The Last Bear or Skandar, soft boys, and stories where our hero was supposed to be a villain like in Villains Academy or His Royal Hopeless.

In YA, he is drawn to high concepts, a strong sense of voice, and clear emotional depth. Callen loves stories where the author makes him, the reader, feel what it is that their characters are feeling or experiencing, and worlds that make the real one fade away. He is particularly looking for thrillers with a twist he doesn't see coming, smart dystopian stories, anti-heroes, and young adult protagonists who don’t set out to change the world, only save something that means a lot to them, not taking NO as an answer to achieving it, unintentionally changing their world for the better in the process. Think of how Katniss initially set out only to save Prim in The Hunger Games before ultimately saving all of Panem.

In SFF, Callen is looking for unique but accessible magic systems (think King of Dead Things) that isn’t just controlling the elements, and worldbuilding or magic that he can get gleefully nerdy about, such as A Language of Dragons with its fantastical story being one tied up in decoding, etymology and linguistics. As the SFF market is so competitive, Callen will always appreciate stories with clear comparative titles that take the established elements of the genre just that one step further or books that can be summarised with a one-line, laser focused pitch such as A Language of Dragons –Bletchley Park with dragons!

Across everything, be it contemporary or speculative, he will never say no to a love story and leg-kicking romance (especially diverse or queer) but am excited to see books that explore the opposite. For example, a young person’s first heartbreak (through either a breakup or other means of separation) such as in History is All You Left Me or relationship betrayal like shown in the brilliant twisty and funny film, Do Revenge (Netflix).

His evergreen dream projects or elements of story that he would always like to see – these could either be in MG, YA or NA (surprise him!) – include something that could be compared to The Last Unicorn (film); a 21st Century Jacqueline Wilson or Goosebumps; anything that reads like a Taylor Swift song; locked-vicinity magic like that in The Night Circus or locked-vicinity fantasy like The Prison Healer; a queer YA or New Adult spin on iconic 00s films (think The Devil Wears Prada, The Princess Diaries); an m/m version of The Invisible Life of Addie LaRue; music magic; anything with a monster / creature system similar to Pokémon; gaming / RPG; and logical bonkers-ness as seen in stories like Malamander.

Above all else, Callen is an editorially minded agent and is excited to be surprised by the books submitted to him. He looks for potential, not polish, in everything and lives by the motto that to edit is to play detective, asking down which alleyway and through which window is the best version of a story. So if you think Callen might be a good fit for you or your manuscript, please do book an appointment here or submit to him directly. He is excited to read . . . Metaphorical deer stalker hat at the ready!

Ten of My Favourite Books:

1. A Language of Dragons by S. F. Williamson

2. Malamander by Thomas Taylor

3. Glasgow Boys by Margaret McDonald

4. Deeplight by Frances Hardinge

5. Loki series by Louie Stowell

6. The Romantic Confessions of a Drama King by Harry Trevaldwyn

7. Percy Jackson series by Rick Riordan

8. King of Dead Things by Nevin Holness

9. Beth is Dead by Katie Bernet

10. The Last Bear by Hannah Gold

Callen 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, Callen 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 2 April 2026 by 12 noon UK BST *
Please note this deadline is earlier than usual due to the Easter holidays. Thank you.