Caroline Madden
Looking for literary agents in the UK? Then you’ve come to the right place! I’ve put together a list of UK-based agents who are open to submissions or, better still, actively searching for new writers…
Before I got my current agent, Kesia Lupo (who is from the UK but is now US-based), I queried a few of the agents listed below. And although they rejected me, they rejected me politely, speedily and professionally. It’s amazing what a difference that makes!
Personally, I would recommend focussing on the more junior agents, rather than shooting for the stars with agency owners or directors. Associate or ‘baby’ agents (as they seem to be called on Twitter/X!) won’t be as swamped (yet) as the top agents, they’re likely to be taking on more writers, and they’ll have more time for you and your manuscript.
Of course, you could do both: submit to junior agents and top agents. Just remember not to query more than one person at any one agency at a time… so for example, you wouldn’t want to query Juliet Mushens and Rachel Neely at the same time.
Good luck!
This post is all about top literary agents UK
Juliet Mushens
Twitter/X: @mushenska
What agency does she work for? Mushens Entertainment
What is she looking for? Crime, thriller, psychological novels, reading group fiction, gothic novels, historical fiction, and SFF.
How can you submit to her? Email submissions@mushens-entertainment.com
Extra info: More than a dozen of Juliet’s clients are Sunday Times bestsellers. Her clients include Jessie Burton, Richard Osman and the brilliant Irish author Louise O’Neill.
You can find loads of really helpful submission advice from the Mushens Agency here:
The Perfect Cover Letter — Mushens Entertainment (mushens-entertainment.com)
The Dreaded Synopsis — Mushens Entertainment (mushens-entertainment.com)
Pitch Perfect — Mushens Entertainment (mushens-entertainment.com)
Rachel Neely
Twitter/X: @Rachel_Neely_.
What agency does she work for? Rachel is an agent at Mushens Entertainment
In August 2023, she was promoted to literary agent after securing a series of six-figure deals for her clients. Rachel is actively growing her list!
What is Rachel looking for? Dark academia, reading group fiction, historical fiction, tragic love stories, rom-coms, accessible literary fiction, crime and thrillers.
I generally prefer darker stories; my favourite books often centre characters with tragic fates, dark pasts or buried trauma.
Rachel Neely (Mushens)
Rachel recently tweeted that she is hoping to start 2024 with a new signing!
These are the three specific things she’s looking for at the moment:
1. A twisty psych thriller in the vein of Lucy Foley, Ruth Ware or Jo Spain…
2. Something inspired by the Talented Mr Ripley
3. A dark academia gem
How can you submit to her? submissions@mushens-entertainment.com
Extra info: I submitted a novel to Rachel back in 2022. I got a response (a polite ‘no’!) just two weeks later. So although she didn’t take me on, I was really impressed with the speed of her response.
Also, Rachel is a former commissioning editor at Hachette, which means she has great experience and contacts.
She was recently asked if she’s exclusively open to just UK writers, and she replied to say not at all, she has multiple international writers on her list already.
Kiya Evans
Twitter/X: @kiyarosevans
What agency does she work for? Mushens Entertainment
What is she looking for? Historical, reading group, literary, upmarket contemporary, romcoms, grounded SFF, and thrillers/psychological fiction.
How can you submit to her? Email submissions@mushens-entertainment.com
Extra info? Kiya was promoted to associate agent in September 2023. She is actively building her own list of authors.
You can find more info here: All We Want For Christmas — Mushens Entertainment (mushens-entertainment.com)
Clare Conville
Twitter/X: @C_Conville
What agency does she work for? Clare is one of the founders of Conville & Walsh
What is she looking for? Clare is passionate about finding original voices and loves working with new writers. She looks for strong, unique perspectives and dark humour across both fiction and non-fiction.
How can you submit to her? According to the C&C website, Clare reopened to submissions on January 8th. If you’re interested in submitting to Clare, please email her assistant Lizzie at elizabeth.milne@cwagency.co.uk.
Who are her clients? Clare has a stellar client roster that includes Dolly Alderton, SJ Watson and Matt Haig.
Extra info: I was lucky enough to interview Clare’s client SJ Watson for this blog a few years ago. Here’s what he had to say about going out on submission with Clare as his agent:
Clare sent the manuscript out and told me to be patient. She said she’d give it a week and then start chasing, so for the first time in months I relaxed and tried to forget about the book. Then the next day she called to tell me a German publisher had read it overnight and was going to make an offer that afternoon, and I should buckle my seatbelt! It was a wild, crazy time…
SJ Watson (Before I go to Sleep)
Alexander Cochran
Twitter/X: @CWAgencyUK
What agency does he work for? C&W
What is he looking for?
I’m actively building my list and am always on the lookout for new writers of speculative fiction, literary fiction, crime and thriller and serious non-fiction.
Alexander Cochrane (C&W)
You can find more information on Alexander’s C&W page
How can you submit to him? Please send all submissions to alexander.submissions@cwagency.co.uk
Eve White Agency
There are two agents in this agency: Eve White and Ludo Cinelli. However, they request that you don’t email them directly with submissions unless they’ve specifically requested them. Instead, you should submit your MS to the agency’s submission email addresses (given below)
Twitter/X: @EveWhiteAgency
What is this agency looking for? They are now accepting all fiction, non-fiction and children’s submissions, excluding children’s picture books.
We always welcome new clients at Eve White Literary Agency and are looking for a variety of books. We consider everything that comes in and aim to reply to all submissions within one week.
How can you submit to this agency? Please send adult submissions to fiction@evewhite.co.uk and children’s submissions to childrens@evewhite.co.uk.
You can find very helpful information on submitting to the agency here: Submissions | Eve White Literary Agency
Extra info: What I like best about the Eve White Agency is how quickly they respond to queries – they aim to reply to all submissions within one week which is very unusual.
In my experience, they deliver on this aim.
I submitted a novel to them way back in 2019 and they responded two days later. It was a ‘no’, but I really appreciated the speed of their response.
Here’s part of their reply to me:
“We realise that our fast reply may seem harsh. However, rest assured that we read submissions as and when they come in, and this enables us to respond quickly both to writers we want to take further and those we don’t.”
Camille Burns
Twitter/X: @CameeCamille
What agency does she work for? She’s a junior agent building her list at Diamond Kahn and Woods Literary Agency
What is she looking for? Camille is looking for MG, YA and a select few adult fiction projects. You can find lots of detailed information here: Submissions – DKW Literary Agency (dkwlitagency.co.uk)
Here’s what she says on Query Manager:
As I’m in the early stages of building my list and refining my taste, I’m keen to see lots of variety and to not be too prescriptive in what I do and don’t want to see.
Camille Burns (DKW Literary Agency)
How can you submit to her? Through Query Manager here: Query Submission (querymanager.com)
This post was all about literary agents in the UK
