This event is now sold out. Please email events@writersandartists.co.uk if you would like to be added to the waiting list
Are you writing a book for publication but unsure of how to find an agent? Get the inside track on the submission process from leading UK literary agents at this intimate half-day event in the heart of literary London
Held in the historic surrounds of Bloomsbury Publishing, home to authors including Margaret Atwood, Kamila Shamsie, Benjamin Myers and Sarah J. Maas, 'How to Hook an Agent' is your chance to meet and work with UK literary agents, who will help develop your pitch and offer all of the guidance you and your book need to have the best possible chance of success.
This inimitable event returns after a two-year hiatus and is designed for writers preparing to embark upon the process of seeking representation, or those looking for pointers after having already queried a number of agents.
Attendees can expect to be placed in small workshop groups, with all agents invited on the day spending time with each group to discuss the role that the agent plays for the writer, trends within the current publishing marketplace, and also offer plenty of practical guidance on how to grab the attention of a prospective agent via the submission package (covering letter, synopsis and opening three chapters).
All writers in attendance will enjoy a ten-minute 'speed-dating' session with an agent, while there will also be opportunities throughout to network with their writing peers.
Schedule
09.00-09.30: Registration and welcome breakfast
09.30-10.15: Seminar 1 - The role of a literary agent
10.20-11.05: Seminar 2 - The covering letter and how to pitch your book
11.15-12.00: Seminar 3 - Is my book ready? The synopsis and opening chapters
12.20-13.30: Agent one-to-one sessions
Gyamfia has a BA in Ancient History from the University of Exeter. She began her career in publishing working as a Bookseller at Waterstones, before joining Caskie Mushens as Literary Assistant to Juliet Mushens and Robert Caskie. She returned to the U.K. after living in Amsterdam for two years, where she managed international sales for The Pepin Press and held the role of Editor for Plural Magazine. She has been building her list at TGLA since early 2021, focusing primarily on commercial women’s fiction, genre fiction, cultural history and contemporary Children’s books.
Gyamfia believes that the books on our shelves should represent the streets that we walk down, and so is extremely passionate about finding new and diverse talent. Her favourite books include If I Don’t Have You by Sareeta Domingo, Captain Corelli’s Mandolin by Louis de Bernières, Grown Ups by Marian Keyes, Get a Life, Chloe Brown by Talia Hibbert, Magpie Murders by Anthony Horowitz and Brit(ish) by Afua Hirsch.
For more information and further contact details, visit her agency website page.
Laura joined Greene & Heaton as an agent in 2018. She worked at Peters Fraser and Dunlop from 2011, after completing a degree in Classics at Oxford.
She is actively building a fiction list and a small non-fiction list. She is currently looking for literary fiction, edgy commercial fiction, psychological thrillers and high-concept contemporary young adult, as well as narrative non-fiction of all types. Her taste is quite dark, and she loves gothic, ghost stories, horror and anything sinister. She also loves books that make her cry, from big love stories to intense family dramas.
For more information and further contact details, visit her agency website page.
Eli started his publishing career at Curtis Brown before joining United Agents as Sarah Ballard's assistant in 2016. Now an associate literary agent, he continues to work on Sarah's list while actively building his own. Before Eli started working in books, he was a research scientist designing and synthesising novel drugs (white coat and everything), and science books remain a particular passion. He's also looking for LGBT-themed books in both fiction and non-fiction.
In non-fiction, he is particularly interested in expert-led smart and engaging popular science. While his own background is in chemistry, he's happy to look at any non-fiction that grips, be that science, cultural history or something unexpected. Eli enjoys books by writers completely obsessed with a niche subject who are skilled enough communicators to make the rest of the world fall in love with their passion too, whatever that passion might be.
In fiction, Eli is happy to look at commercial, literary and anything in between across genres. In commercial fiction, he's interested in crime/thriller and domestic suspense with a strong hook and addictive storytelling. Eli loves mysteries and whodunnits, and is also open to uplifting general fiction. He is happy to look at historical fiction with a contemporary outlook. In literary fiction, Eli is looking for books with plot and pace that set out to achieve something, change the way he sees the world, challenge him, and subvert his expectations. Eli doesn't typically work with science-fiction or fantasy, but is open to some grounded speculative fiction and magical realism. He does not work with holocaust novels.
Eli does not represent authors for children's and YA literature.
For more information and further contact details, visit his agency website page.
Jemima joined David Higham in 2016 having previously been Senior Commissioning Editor at Orion Publishing Group. She is looking for commercial and upmarket fiction, including accessible literary fiction, crime and thrillers, historical, psychological suspense, women’s fiction and speculative/high-concept novels.
Jemima loves distinctive narrative voices, well-paced plots with a great hook, and complex female characters. Her favourite books of recent years include Queenie, Sorrow and Bliss, The Familiars and anything by Maggie O’Farrell, Margaret Atwood or Curtis Sittenfeld.
In non-fiction, she is looking for innovative lifestyle, cookery and popular-culture projects, unique personal stories and humour. Recent favourites include Everything I Know About Love by Dolly Alderton, How To Murder Your Life by Cat Marnell and Help Me! by Marianne Power.
In both fiction and non-fiction, Jemima is actively seeking diverse voices and books with a strong feminist angle.
For more information and further contact details, visit her agency website page.
This event is now sold out. Please email events@writersandartists.co.uk if you would like to be added to the waiting list
This event is priced at £175 (incl. VAT). This fee is payable in full online, though please note that payment instalment plans are available for all W&A events, writing courses and editing services. Contact W&A Admin on events@writersandartists.co.uk so that we can find a payment schedule that works for you.
If this event is Sold Out, please look out for more How to Hook an Agent dates by visiting our Events homepage. If you would like to be added to the waiting list for this particular event, please email events@writersandartists.co.uk and we'll get back to you as soon as we can.
To view our event refund and cancellation policy, please click here.
Accessible to All
It’s of real importance to Writers & Artists that our events and courses remain accessible to all.
-
As part of our accessibility scheme, one bursary place is available for this event. Please visit our bursaries page for further information about how to apply for future bursaries.
-
This event will take place at the offices of Bloomsbury Publishing, which is fully accessible. If you’d like to attend but have any questions or concerns regarding accessibility, then please email AccessWA@bloomsbury.com
-
Joining instructions and full guidance will be circulated by W&A Admin in the days leading up to the date of the event.
-
Supplementary materials will be made available to all participants on the day of the event. This will include written text and visuals. Please contact us in advance so that we can make arrangements to be sure all documents appear in a format that works for you.
-
There will be no recording of this event, so please be sure to bring a notebook or laptop to make the notes you need.
-
Food will be provided at this event. Please be sure to respond to the joining instruction emails from W&A Admin if you have any dietary requirements
