I joined LBA in 2018 and represent a broad list of commercial and book club fiction, and select non-fiction. My authors have been Sunday Times, USA Today and Kindle bestsellers, and have been shortlisted for the Val McDermid Debut Award, the YA Book Prize, the Waterstones Children’s Book Prize, the Books Are My Bag Readers Award, the Victor Crime Award in Germany, and several categories of the Romantic Novelists Association Awards.

I previously worked for a literary scout and in translation rights, and I grew up in Luxembourg, so I have a strong working knowledge of the global publishing market and always bring an international eye to my reading.

I have previously served on the Bridge Committee for early-career agents at the Association of Authors' Agents as a Careers and Development officer. Two years running, in 2022 and 2023, I was thrilled to win the Romantic Novelists Association Agent of the Year Award. I was also a winner of the Trailblazer Award 2023, which celebrates publishing professionals under 30 who are 'taking the industry by storm'.

What I’m looking for:

Across all the below genres, I particularly welcome submissions from writers from communities that have been underrepresented in mainstream publishing, including LGBTQ+ authors, disabled and neurodivergent authors, and authors of colour.

Please note that I’m not the right agent for children’s books, sci-fi or grisly horror, or a book without speechmarks. I am also not considering fantasy or romantasy submissions at this time (but will consider speculative takes on contemporary & historical!).

I’m eager to work with authors who, like me, are writing craft nerds – who create page-turning stories, but are also intrigued by the how behind that strange alchemy of words on a page. I’d also love to hear from fast, slick writers who are excited about commercial fiction opportunities in the digital space.

Fiction:

In fiction, my taste runs more commercial than literary, though some of my favourite novels sit in the sweet spot between the two, like Yaa Gyasi’s Transcendent Kingdom, Nussaibah Younis’s Fundamentally or anything by Curtis Sittenfeld. I gravitate towards books that are shot through with humour – if you’re pitching a romcom, I want there to be laughs; and I enjoy books with a dark or offbeat sense of humour too, like Margo’s Got Money Troubles.

I’m eagerly looking for juicy page-turners and highbrow beach reads, where low-stakes interpersonal drama – perhaps in a family, friend group, workplace or local community – feels incredibly high-stakes. Think: I Hope This Finds You Well by Natalie Sue or Bad Summer People by Emma Rosenblum. I’d also really love a sister story a la Three Wishes by Liane Moriarty.

I love love, and never get tired of finding a new couple to root for. I am so lucky to have a brilliant roster of clients writing romcoms so am particularly selective in this area; I’d want to find something that’s putting a new spin on the genre, or perhaps genre-blending. I’m especially on the hunt for a big-hearted love story that feels epic and perhaps spans many years or decades. I always want yearning: I can’t get enough of Haley Cass, Tia Williams and Carley Fortune so if you have something that could be a comp to these authors, please consider sending it my way.

I’m keen to find some genuinely different-feeling historical fiction or historical fantasy, especially if the setting is neither Britain nor America in the vein of The Familiar and The Warm Hands of Ghosts with incredibly immersive settings and rich evocation of the past.

In the darker side of fiction (thriller, mystery, suspense) my taste runs the gamut, but a clear and hooky premise will always stand out, and I tend to want my reads female-led. I’d love to see some sharp, relentlessly entertaining thrillers or mysteries – perhaps with a horror-lite twist – that have complex characters at their hearts, and a deep sense of place: Rachel Hawkins, S A Cosby and Megan Miranda are all favourites in this area. I'm particularly seeking mysteries and thrillers for a twenty-something audience.

I’m also want books which straddle suspense and book club, with strong women leads, that interrogate the world around us and what it means to be a woman in it (though I am not interested in excessive, on-page violence against women), like Bright Young Women by Jessica Knoll or The Lagos Wife by Vanessa Walters. I’m also drawn to antiheroines (with a righteous cause?!) like in Blood Sugar or The Lies I Tell.

YA was my first love in publishing, and forms a small and passionate part of my list. I’m excited to add more talent in that area, especially from the UK and Ireland. Top of my wishlist is a first love story for everyone rediscovering Jenny Han’s gorgeous summer romances, or anything which has the leap-off-the-page voice of Nina Kenwood’s It Sounded Better In My Head.

Non-fiction:

I’m very selective in this area, but please think of me for popular history, particularly areas that have been under-taught in western education or women’s/domestic/family/social history – I would always be delighted to hear from experts in those fields.

I also love deep dive explorations of niche areas of culture, in the vein of Alice Robb’s personal and sociological examination of ballet in Don’t Think, Dear. Got this for gymnastics, musical theatre, or choral music? Please send my way!

In narrative non-fiction, I wanted to be hooked by a story so outlandish it could be fiction, and am a big fan of non-murder-y true crime, especially with a strong character or cast to anchor the plot, like in the shows Dopesick and The Dropout.

If you think we could be a good match, please submit to me via the button below. Thank you to all authors who choose to do so – I’m looking forward to hearing from you!