9 Established Agents Actively Seeking Kidlit, Historical Fiction, Genre Fiction, Narrative Nonfiction, Memoir and?more

Here are nine established literary agents actively seeking clients. All of them work with respected literary agencies and have good track records. They are looking for all genres of fiction as well as nonfiction.

Always check the agency website and agent bio before submitting. Agents can switch agencies or close their lists, and submission requirements can change.

NOTE: Don’t submit to several agents at the same agency simultaneously. If one rejects you, you may then submit to another. (Some small agencies share. Be alert to a notice that “a no from one is a no from all.”)

You can find a full list of agents actively seeking new clients here: Agents Seeking Clients.

Ms. Sabhbh Curran of Curtis Brown Group, Ltd. (UK)

Before joining Curtis Brown in 2018, I was the Literary Assistant at Sheil Land Associates. Prior to that I studied for a Masters in Renaissance literature at Cambridge.

What she is seeking: In non-fiction, I’m particularly keen to hear from chefs, mixologists and food writers but I am also interested in narrative non-fiction, history, travel writing, current affairs, popular science, psychology, MBS, fashion and popular culture. I would like to hear from non-fiction writers, journalists and activists. I have a real soft spot for anything related to art or art history, whatever the genre.

In fiction, what I look for is well-crafted and stylish prose, complex characterisations and probably at least a hint of darkness: obsessive friendships and relationships; loneliness; trauma; dysfunctional families; the strangeness of urban life. I’m also drawn to beautifully written, researched and evoked historical fiction.

How to submit: Please email a short synopsis and a three-chapter excerpt for fiction, or a concise proposal for non-fiction to [email protected].

Zoe Sandler of Sanford J. Greenburger Associates

Prior to joining SJGA, Zoe spent over 11 years at ICM (now CAA), first as a royalties assistant, then after apprenticing with a literary agent, she began representing her own author clients. She started her career in publishing at an academic press in North Carolina after graduating from McGill University with a joint BA in English Literature and Hispanic Studies. Born in England, raised in California, Zoe is delighted to call New York home, where she and her family split their time between Upper Manhattan and the Catskills.

What she is seeking: Zoe represents a mix of adult fiction that could be classified as commercial yet unconventional (she especially loves when a novel takes her by surprise), and narrative nonfiction largely by female journalists who specialize in fields such as science, the environment, medicine, and untold women’s history. Within children’s, Zoe specializes in voice-driven middle grade that leans more literary, and the occasional picture book, especially those that have a strong message.

How to submit: To submit your work: please email [email protected]

Ms. Monica MacSwan of Aitken Alexander Associates (UK)

I started my career in publishing at Felicity Bryan Associates and Profile Books, and then went on to work in translation rights at United Agents and Aitken Alexander. Since 2020, I’ve worked in the books department as Emma Paterson’s assistant, as well as previously with Chris Wellbelove too. In my role, I have worked alongside them editorially on their books, including Assembly by Natasha Brown and Hungry Ghosts by Kevin Jared Hosein.

What she is seeking: In fiction, I’m drawn to tightly-plotted literary novels that have a clear intent and a command of form, such as Anna Burns’ Milkman, Jennifer Egan’s A Visit from the Goon Squad, Blindness by José Saramago or any book by Tayari Jones, Emily St John Mandel, Brit Bennett or Yaa Gyasi. I also admire novels that are funny and use wit to make sense of their frustrations with the world like Detransition, Baby by Torrey Peters, The Topeka School by Ben Lerner, Happy Hour by Marlowe Granados, Chilean Poet by Alejandro Zambra and Fuccboi by Sean Thor Conroe.

In non-fiction, I like to read books by academics, critics and journalists who want to shift public discourse by putting forward a new framework for their subject of expertise. Good examples are Putin’s People by Catherine Belton, The Spirit Level by Richard G. Wilkinson and Kate Pickett, Empire of Pain by Patrick Radden Keefe, Revolting Prostitutes by Molly Smith and Juno Mac, The Body Keeps the Score by Bessel Van der Kolk and The Windrush Betrayal by Amelia Gentleman. I also enjoy reading non-fiction that mines the uniquely personal to reflect on much larger structures of power, such as In the Dream House by Carmen Maria Machado, Minor Feelings by Cathy Park Hong, Free by Lea Ypi and Afropean by Johny Pitts.

How to submit: Please follow submission guidelines HERE.

Ms. Gaia Banks of Sheil Land Associates Ltd

I’ve worked in publishing for over 20 years: in translation rights at John Murray, then joining Sheil Land as an agent in 2004. For 17 years I looked after the translation interests of Sheil Land Associates’ extensive and varied list of authors, and also acted as a primary agent. I became a primary agent full-time at the start of 2022. I take on one or two new writers a year, and when doing so look for projects with wide international appeal.

Clients include; Neil Chapman, MacKenzie Common, Catherine cooper, Rachel Elliott, Michelle Frances, Jane Fraser, Kate Goldbeck, Janice Hallett, Felicity Hayes-McCoy, Charlie Hodges, Ann Featherstone, Julia Lee, Cas Lester, Robert J Lloyd, Jane Lythell, The Brothers McLeod, Paterson Joseph, Robert Rigby, Catherine Robertson, Eva Schloss, Sarah Sigal, Julie Soto, Fenella Smith, Sarah Steele, Laura Summers and Sue Teddern.

What she is seeking: I represent writing across the spectrum of fiction and non-fiction: at the moment I’m particularity interested in fiction and memoir which will ignite reading group discussions, and I’ll always have a soft spot for a good romance.

How to submit: All book submissions should be sent via email to [email protected]. See details HERE.

Mr. Piers Blofeld of Sheil Land Associates Ltd (UK)

I am a literary agent based in London with a wide range of clients writing fiction and non-fiction, literary and commercial. I am also a columnist for Writing Magazine, for a better sense of who I am check out my youtube channel.

Clients include Nadine Dorries, Professor Sir Graham Thorneycroft, Mungi Ngomane, Pizza Express, Cate Quinn, Paul Magrs, Tanya Sarne, Ingrid Seward, Robert Verkaik, The Secret Accountant, Charlie Hertzog Young, Jamie Thomson, Peter Stanford, the Rev’d Rachel Mann, Macer Gifford, Francesco Dimitri, Geraint Anderson and many others.

What he is seeking: Fiction: In fiction my first love is story. I love really strong commercial genre fiction that understands the expectations of the genre and delivers that in spades. In particular I love a good noir-ish thriller, spy fiction, gritty crime but also saga, romance and romantic comedy. At the less genre, more reading group end of the market, I love stories that take me out of myself and feel like something I have never read before.

Non-fiction: In non-fiction I am looking for strong narrative voices in memoir and history that help connect and root us to the world we live in as well a big ideas and smart thinking to make us feel less confused about the extraordinary times we live in.

How to submit: All book submissions should be sent via email to [email protected]. See details HERE.

Alex Kane of William Morris Endeavor

Alex joined WME in 2017. He represents bestselling and award-winning nonfiction and fiction. His clients have been published in The New Yorker, The New York Times, The Washington Post, The Guardian, New York Magazine, The Paris Review, Harper’s, n+1, and The Baffler among others. He is based in Los Angeles.

What he is seeking: Nonfiction and fiction, and he is especially drawn to stories that have a strong social or political conscience.

How to submit: To query Alex with fiction, please send your query letter (including a bio) and the first ten pages of your manuscript in the body of the email. For nonfiction, please send your query letter. See his bio for contact information.

Mr. Charlie Brotherstone of Aevitas Creative Management

Charlie founded BCM in 2017 after working closely with Ed Victor, where he ran the film/tv and speakers departments as well expanding the roster of authors he’d been building at A.M Heath. Charlie’s list includes many New York Times and Sunday Times bestsellers, from musicians and celebrities to political scientists and food writers. As well as being an NYT bestseller, Joanne Molinaro’s The Korean Vegan Cookbook also won a James Beard Award, with fellow agency author Hannah Che’s The Chinese Vegan Kitchen winning in the same category the following year. Other clients include Farah Karim-Cooper, author of The Great White Bard (Viking US; Oneworld UK), screenwriter and novelist Nathan Newman (Viking US; Little, Brown UK), Stephen Bayley, Dan Hicks, George the Poet and Jessie Ware.

What he is seeking: Charlie Brotherstone represents adult fiction and nonfiction.

How to submit: Use his querymanager HERE.

Ms. Ariella Feiner of United Agents, LLP (UK)

I started working at PFD in 2006 before moving to United Agents, and I now represent many bestselling, critically acclaimed, and award-winning authors across fiction and non-fiction, including Sunday Times bestsellers, Richard and Judy book club picks, and New York Times bestselling authors. In 2017, The Bookseller named me as a Rising Star.

I am always open to submissions and have found many hugely exciting authors that way. I adore the rush of being the first to discover new voices and the strategy of working with authors to shape their careers in the long-term.

What she is seeking: In fiction, do send me books with an exciting or unusual hook, an unexpected voice, uplifting novels which will make readers feel good in these uncertain times, those with a speculative or magical element, multi-generational novels, book club titles which explore big issues or have memorable characters at their heart, or where secrets come to the fore, stand-out twisty thrillers and crime novels including cosy crime. I would also love an epic tale such as Great Circle, historical fiction which reflects something of the world we live in now and a love story or commercial romance with a memorable concept or stand-out writing. I am very much on the lookout for more diverse voices and books which open conversations around important topics.

Recent fiction I’ve adored includes The Maid, Wrong Place Wrong Time, Great Circle, The Vanishing Half, Notes on an Execution, The List of Suspicious Things, Happy Place, Girl A, Lessons in Chemistry, How to Kill Your Family, Weyward, Tomorrow and Tomorrow and Tomorrow, the Ruth Galloway series and everything by Taylor Jenkins-Reid.

Please do not send me sci-fi, YA, erotica, conspiracy thrillers or spy / army novels.

On the non-fiction front, do be in touch with exciting proposals showcasing expert-led ideas (such as Ultra-Processed People or Entangled Life), narrative memoir, nature writing, mouth-watering cook books and books with ground-breaking or unusual historical insights. Non-fiction which has stayed with me includes English Pastoral, Wild, Educated, Somebody I Used to Know, Wilding, The Salt Path and I Am Not Your Baby Mother.

How to submit: For submissions please email a synopsis together with either the first three chapters of a novel or a proposal for a non-fiction book to [email protected].

Sophie Scard of United Agents, LLP (UK)

Sophie Scard worked in Rights at Penguin Books before joining United Agents in 2013.

What she is seeking: She is actively building her client list, and is looking for excellent writing of all types, fiction or nonfiction.

How to submit: For submissions please email a brief cover letter along with a biographical note and the first 10,000 words of your text to [email protected]

Like this article? For more articles about the publishing world, useful tips on how to get an agent, agents who are looking for clients, how to market and promote your work, building your online platform, how to get reviews, self-publishing, as well as publishers accepting manuscripts directly from writers (no agent required) visit Publishing and Other Forms of Insanity.