This masterclass isn’t about writing craft, it's about how to give you and your children's book the best possible chance when it comes to approaching literary agents.
Join two leading children's and YA fiction literary agents for this two-hour online masterclass in which you'll receive how-to advice on how to produce a covering letter, guidance on producing an attention-grabbing pitch, tips on writing a synopsis, and general insight into the role literary agents play for their authors.
Please note that picture books won't be covered in this session, but all other forms of writing for children and YA fiction.
Thirty minutes will be made available for a Q&A, while all attendees have the opportunity to submit their covering letter to receive feedback from one of the participating agents.
Submitting Your Covering Letter
This is an optional extra, and must be submitted to writersandartists@bloomsbury.com by midnight 25th November. Please attach as a Word.doc or PDF and use the subject line 'Manuscript Submission Masterclass: Children's & YA'. Expect to receive feedback within 10 working days of the deadline.
Testimonials
"The two agents that attended the event were such positive and honest voices, which was so reassuring. I've often found there's a doom and gloom aspect when approaching writing as a career, so it was great to hear from professional voices that it's achievable if you're smart about it. I came away feeling hopeful and positive about writing a children's book - which is the best feeling you could hope for when approaching a mammoth project." Grace Ball
"Really fantastic speakers who shared some very useful nuggets of information […] It made me feel less alone, and it was incredibly useful to get the covering letter feedback as well!" Brittany Golob
"Both speakers were engaging and informative, managing to be both frank and friendly. It was so useful to have the review of the query letter too - that kind of feedback you'd never get when you start submitting, so better to get it before!" Nick Martlew
"It was great. Really insightful and informative […] The opportunity for cover letter feedback from an agent is invaluable." Joely
"It was so informative and it was good to hear two different voices. There was no repetition, it stuck to time and, for me, I got a lot of useful information plus ideas about how to decide who to send my manuscript to." Karen S
‘"A fantastic interactive event that is a must for anyone working on current manuscripts or who want begin their writing journey. It provides a great interactive platform with clear guidelines on how improve the craft." Nysha
"Very good value for money. Two bona fide agents spilling the beans for 50 pounds." Narinder Kasi
"This online session was truly inclusive in that location and travel were no longer a barrier. […] packed full of tips and insights that both educated and inspired." Alison Mitchell
Schedule
18:00- 18:45: A how-to session on knowing when your novel is ready, finding the right agent and what to include in a submission package.
18:45-19:30: Advice on how to pitch your novel
7.30-8:00: Q&A
After a childhood buried in library books and Beanos, Lydia started her career in the editorial team at Egmont, where she commissioned books such as the Carnegie Medal-winning The Poet X. She joined the Darley Anderson team in 2018, and is building an engaging and diverse list of authors and illustrators. With experience on both sides of the commissioning desk, Lydia loves working editorially with her clients and developing ideas from an initial spark into a full manuscript. She represents clients across all age groups, including picture book, chapter book, middle grade and YA, and has a particular focus on non-fiction. Lydia reads and considers widely, and among other things she is looking for snort-inducing stories for younger readers, clever and contemporary teenage and YA fiction, and non-fiction projects that take big ideas and make them easily navigable, accessible and fun. No matter the story, Lydia is drawn to voice above anything else and will always be sucked in by a strong hook.
Lydia represents clients including Soofiya, Gina Blaxill, Mark Bradley, Ryan Hammond, Alice Harman, Joyce Efia Harmer, Catherine Jacob, Hannah Moffatt, Rachel Morrisroe, Nick Sheridan, Rashmi Sirdeshpande and Eva Wong Nava. If you could sum up her tastes in three words, they would be curious, characterful and heartfelt, and in three books, they would be One of Us is Lying, Nevermoor and You Are Awesome.
Zoë grew up in London, studied for her degree in Russian and Spanish at Cambridge and lived in Moscow for a year, before making her way back to the UK to begin my publishing career. She 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. She 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, she is 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.
She is looking for middle grade and young adult fiction across all genres, as well as adult science-fiction, fantasy, horror and speculative fiction. Her tastes lean towards the commercial, and she is particularly interested in seeing submissions from writers from traditionally underrepresented backgrounds. She loves middle grade of all types, but her favourite books are those that combine a quirky voice or setting and a sense of fun with a strong emotional core. She's not afraid of a little darkness, but for this age group she prefers books that have a spark of joy to temper it. That said, she loves horror and is very open to stories with a spooky edge.
She adores YA fantasy and is on the hunt for books that can do something different with the genre in a very crowded market. Other things that she would like to find in YA include: scary books for teens, twisty thrillers, grounded sci-fi and fiery, feminist contemporary in the vein of Holly Bourne.
The workshop fee of £50 (incl. VAT) is payable in full online.
This is a live online event which will be presented using video conferencing software. Joining instructions and full guidance will be provided by the W&A Team a week before the event start-date.
Event materials will be made available to attendees for a time-limited period after the event at the speaker's discretion.
Please note that payment instalment plans are available for all W&A events, writing courses and editing services. Contact W&A Admin on writersandartists@bloomsbury.com so that we can find a payment schedule that works for you.
Accessible to All
It’s of real importance to Writers & Artists that our events and courses remain accessible to all.
- Writers & Artists has made up to five bursary places available for this event as part of our accessibility scheme. Please visit our bursaries page for further information about how to apply. All bursary applications must have been submitted for consideration by Sunday 24th October.
- At the speaker's discretion, event materials will be made available to attendees after the masterclass.
- A link to a recording of the masterclass will be circulated after the event. This will be made available to event attendees only, and for a time-limited period.
- This event 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.
- If you’d like to attend but have any questions or concerns regarding accessibility, then please email AccessWA@bloomsbury.com
