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Here are five UK literary agents seeking clients. Rebecca Carter is looking for ground-breaking new literary fiction writers, as well as writers of upmarket crime and thrillers, and some children’s and YA authors. In non-fiction, she works mainly in the fields of history, politics, social and cultural commentary, design and technology, the environment and travel, often mixed together with memoir, and with a strong emphasis on quality of writing and storytelling.
Liz Dennis is looking for middle grade and YA which challenge the stereotypes, the mysterious where things are not always as they seem, and where the ordinary becomes extraordinary. Zoe Plant is looking for commercial, exciting middle-grade, young adult and adult fiction, including science fiction, fantasy and horror of all types.
Claudia Young is interested in all types of writing, in particular cooking and food journalism, comedy and travel writing, literary fiction, contemporary as well as historical novels, crime fiction and thrillers. Matthew Marland is seeking nonfiction, crime, thrillers, historical fiction, literary and commercial fiction.
IMPORTANT: Always read the agency website and agent bio before submitting!
You can find a full list of agents actively seeking new clients here: Agents Seeking Clients
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Zoe Plant of The Bent Agency
"A Londoner by birth, I studied for my degree in Russian and Spanish at Cambridge and lived in Moscow for a year before making my way back to the UK to start my publishing career. I started out as an intern at the Bent Agency in 2014 and went on to spend five years working as a literary scout, scouring the UK market for the very best children’s and adult books to recommend to international publishers. I was named as one of the ’30 under 30′ publishing professionals to watch on the London Book Fair Trailblazer Awards shortlist in 2018. As an agent, I am delighted to now have the opportunity to work with talented authors to bring their books into the world, and I welcome submissions from authors based anywhere."
What she is seeking: "I am looking for commercial, exciting middle-grade, young adult and adult fiction. Across all age ranges, my favourite books are full of pace and plot, but have something quirky and fresh about them: a speculative or high-concept setting, an unusual twist or a voice that changes how I see the world. I particularly love fantasy, science fiction and horror, so am looking for these genres across both adult and children’s.
For middle grade and young adult fiction, I am on the hunt for action, adventure and worlds that I can fall in love with, no matter the genre. Whether it’s about spies, astronauts, zombies, or just an odd day at school, if it has a strong voice and a compelling setting I would love to read it.
On the adult side, as well as science fiction, fantasy and horror of all types, I’m looking for commercial crime and thrillers. I am open to anything—cosy or gritty, speculative, historical or contemporary, as long as it has a good hook and an inventive plot."
How to submit: Send your query to plantqueries@thebentagency.com Include the title of your project in the subject line of your email. Then paste the first ten pages of your book in the body of your email (not as an attachment, please).
_________________
Rebecca Carter of Janklow and Nesbit (UK)
Rebecca Carter joined Janklow & Nesbit in 2012, after fifteen years as a Commissioning Editor at the Random House imprints Chatto & Windus and Harvill Secker.
What she is seeking: In fiction, she is looking for ground-breaking new literary fiction writers, as well as writers of upmarket crime and thrillers, and some children’s and YA authors. She has very varied taste in fiction, enjoying the spare and the dark as well as the rich and linguistically playful; the big family drama alongside the smaller prose poem; the bitingly contemporary as well as the reflectively historical; novels set in worlds already familiar, as well as those opening up different, distant lives and places. In non-fiction, her curiosity and tastes are similarly broad but she works mainly in the fields of history, politics, social and cultural commentary, design and technology, the environment and travel, often mixed together with memoir, and with a strong emphasis on quality of writing and storytelling.
How to submit: Please send your submission to submissions@janklow.co.uk, including your name, the title of your work and the name of the agent you wish to submit to in the subject line. Address your submission to Rebecca Carter. If you are submitting fiction, attach the first three chapters or the first fifty pages in Word format or as PDFs. If you are submitting non-fiction, submit a full outline setting out the aims of each chapter, and if possible a sample chapter. Please title all documents and your email with your full name and the title of your work for ease of reference. Your submission should be double-spaced, size 12 and in a reasonable font.
_________________
Liz Dennis of Johnson & Alcock Ltd
Liz Dennis joined Johnson & Alcock in 2015. She is the agency’s office manager and is developing a children’s list. Inspired at an early age by a teacher who invited an author to school, Liz has always loved working in children’s fiction – and Philippa Pearce's Tom’s Midnight Garden remains a huge favourite to this day. Drawn to children's books long after she supposedly grew up, her university dissertation was on gender images in children's fiction. After 12 years selling foreign rights for major publishing houses, including Orion, HarperCollins Children's and Orchard, she took time out to read books to her own children.
What she is seeking: Liz is looking for middle grade and YA which challenge the stereotypes, the mysterious where things are not always as they seem, and where the ordinary becomes extraordinary. Above all she wants to be transported to another world and still loves a time slip fantasy.
How to submit: Please email your query to liz@johnsonandalcock.co.uk and attach a synopsis and the first three chapters (approximately 50 pages) to the email.
_________________
Claudia Young of Greene & Heaton Ltd
Claudia Young joined the agency in 2009. Claudia also works closely with radio and television production companies, and the speakers and presenters side of the agency.
What she is seeking: Claudia is interested in all types of writing, in particular cooking and food journalism, comedy and travel writing. Claudia loves literary fiction, contemporary as well as historical novels, crime fiction and thrillers.
How to submit: Submissions should be sent by email to submissions@greeneheaton.co.uk. Please attach a synopsis and the first three chapters (or about fifty pages) in Microsoft Word or PDF format. Mention the name of your preferred agent in the subject line of your email. Children’s or YA submissions should also be clearly marked in the subject line.
_________________
Matthew Marland of Rogers, Coleridge & White
Matthew Marland joined Rogers, Coleridge & White in 2016 after working at Conville & Walsh. He has a BA and MA in English Literature. Matthew works closely with Natasha Fairweather, Peter Robinson, and Peter Straus, and is also building his own list.
What he is seeking: Nonfiction, crime, thrillers, historical fiction, literary and commercial fiction.
How to submit: Send a query to matthewm@rcwlitagency.comubmissions For fiction send the first three chapters or approximately the first fifty pages of the work to a natural break, and a brief synopsis. Non-fiction submissions should take the form of a proposal up to twenty pages in length explaining what the work is about and why you are best placed to write it.
Liz Dennis is looking for middle grade and YA which challenge the stereotypes, the mysterious where things are not always as they seem, and where the ordinary becomes extraordinary. Zoe Plant is looking for commercial, exciting middle-grade, young adult and adult fiction, including science fiction, fantasy and horror of all types.
Claudia Young is interested in all types of writing, in particular cooking and food journalism, comedy and travel writing, literary fiction, contemporary as well as historical novels, crime fiction and thrillers. Matthew Marland is seeking nonfiction, crime, thrillers, historical fiction, literary and commercial fiction.
IMPORTANT: Always read the agency website and agent bio before submitting!
You can find a full list of agents actively seeking new clients here: Agents Seeking Clients
_________________
Zoe Plant of The Bent Agency
"A Londoner by birth, I studied for my degree in Russian and Spanish at Cambridge and lived in Moscow for a year before making my way back to the UK to start my publishing career. I started out as an intern at the Bent Agency in 2014 and went on to spend five years working as a literary scout, scouring the UK market for the very best children’s and adult books to recommend to international publishers. I was named as one of the ’30 under 30′ publishing professionals to watch on the London Book Fair Trailblazer Awards shortlist in 2018. As an agent, I am delighted to now have the opportunity to work with talented authors to bring their books into the world, and I welcome submissions from authors based anywhere."
What she is seeking: "I am looking for commercial, exciting middle-grade, young adult and adult fiction. Across all age ranges, my favourite books are full of pace and plot, but have something quirky and fresh about them: a speculative or high-concept setting, an unusual twist or a voice that changes how I see the world. I particularly love fantasy, science fiction and horror, so am looking for these genres across both adult and children’s.
For middle grade and young adult fiction, I am on the hunt for action, adventure and worlds that I can fall in love with, no matter the genre. Whether it’s about spies, astronauts, zombies, or just an odd day at school, if it has a strong voice and a compelling setting I would love to read it.
On the adult side, as well as science fiction, fantasy and horror of all types, I’m looking for commercial crime and thrillers. I am open to anything—cosy or gritty, speculative, historical or contemporary, as long as it has a good hook and an inventive plot."
How to submit: Send your query to plantqueries@thebentagency.com Include the title of your project in the subject line of your email. Then paste the first ten pages of your book in the body of your email (not as an attachment, please).
_________________
Rebecca Carter of Janklow and Nesbit (UK)
Rebecca Carter joined Janklow & Nesbit in 2012, after fifteen years as a Commissioning Editor at the Random House imprints Chatto & Windus and Harvill Secker.
What she is seeking: In fiction, she is looking for ground-breaking new literary fiction writers, as well as writers of upmarket crime and thrillers, and some children’s and YA authors. She has very varied taste in fiction, enjoying the spare and the dark as well as the rich and linguistically playful; the big family drama alongside the smaller prose poem; the bitingly contemporary as well as the reflectively historical; novels set in worlds already familiar, as well as those opening up different, distant lives and places. In non-fiction, her curiosity and tastes are similarly broad but she works mainly in the fields of history, politics, social and cultural commentary, design and technology, the environment and travel, often mixed together with memoir, and with a strong emphasis on quality of writing and storytelling.
How to submit: Please send your submission to submissions@janklow.co.uk, including your name, the title of your work and the name of the agent you wish to submit to in the subject line. Address your submission to Rebecca Carter. If you are submitting fiction, attach the first three chapters or the first fifty pages in Word format or as PDFs. If you are submitting non-fiction, submit a full outline setting out the aims of each chapter, and if possible a sample chapter. Please title all documents and your email with your full name and the title of your work for ease of reference. Your submission should be double-spaced, size 12 and in a reasonable font.
_________________
Liz Dennis of Johnson & Alcock Ltd
Liz Dennis joined Johnson & Alcock in 2015. She is the agency’s office manager and is developing a children’s list. Inspired at an early age by a teacher who invited an author to school, Liz has always loved working in children’s fiction – and Philippa Pearce's Tom’s Midnight Garden remains a huge favourite to this day. Drawn to children's books long after she supposedly grew up, her university dissertation was on gender images in children's fiction. After 12 years selling foreign rights for major publishing houses, including Orion, HarperCollins Children's and Orchard, she took time out to read books to her own children.
What she is seeking: Liz is looking for middle grade and YA which challenge the stereotypes, the mysterious where things are not always as they seem, and where the ordinary becomes extraordinary. Above all she wants to be transported to another world and still loves a time slip fantasy.
How to submit: Please email your query to liz@johnsonandalcock.co.uk and attach a synopsis and the first three chapters (approximately 50 pages) to the email.
_________________
Claudia Young of Greene & Heaton Ltd
Claudia Young joined the agency in 2009. Claudia also works closely with radio and television production companies, and the speakers and presenters side of the agency.
What she is seeking: Claudia is interested in all types of writing, in particular cooking and food journalism, comedy and travel writing. Claudia loves literary fiction, contemporary as well as historical novels, crime fiction and thrillers.
How to submit: Submissions should be sent by email to submissions@greeneheaton.co.uk. Please attach a synopsis and the first three chapters (or about fifty pages) in Microsoft Word or PDF format. Mention the name of your preferred agent in the subject line of your email. Children’s or YA submissions should also be clearly marked in the subject line.
_________________
Matthew Marland of Rogers, Coleridge & White
Matthew Marland joined Rogers, Coleridge & White in 2016 after working at Conville & Walsh. He has a BA and MA in English Literature. Matthew works closely with Natasha Fairweather, Peter Robinson, and Peter Straus, and is also building his own list.
What he is seeking: Nonfiction, crime, thrillers, historical fiction, literary and commercial fiction.
How to submit: Send a query to matthewm@rcwlitagency.comubmissions For fiction send the first three chapters or approximately the first fifty pages of the work to a natural break, and a brief synopsis. Non-fiction submissions should take the form of a proposal up to twenty pages in length explaining what the work is about and why you are best placed to write it.
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