Directors
Accepts full-length MSS, scripts for T.V and theatre; also novels, fiction and non-fiction. Represents screenwriters. Agents cover film, TV and theatre as well as literature.
Does not welcome unsolicited material but enquiries are accepted in writing.
No reading fee for synopsis, plays or screenplays, but a fee is charged for full-length MSS. Return postage required.
Commission:
Domestic: 12.5%
Overseas: 15%
Performance rights: 12.5%
Founded 1982.
Contacts
Full-length MSS. Literary and commercial fiction and non-fiction, children's, performance rights. Also handles adult literary and commercial fiction and non-fiction; 20% of list is for children's market.
Handles picture books, fiction for 5-8 and 9-12 year-olds, teenage fiction, series fiction, film/TV tie-ins and non-fiction.
No science fiction, screenplays, poetry or short stories except for established clients.
Agents in USA and all European countries and Japan. Fiction and non-fiction from age 5 to young adult.
Submission Guidelines:
Overseas associates in USA, Europe, South America, Japan and the Far East.
Clients include Prof. Christopher Andrew, Nadeem Aslam, Bella Bathurst, Anita Brookner, Prof. Kathleen Burk, Joseph Connolly, Stevie Davies, John Dougherty, Geoff Dyer, R.J. Ellory, Katie Fforde, Graham Hancock, Tobias Hill, Conn Iggulden, Marina Lewycka, Lucy Mangan, Hilary Mantel, Maggie O'Farrell, Tim Pears, Susan Price, Ben Richards, Clive Stafford Smith, Barbara Trapido.
Children's authors include Nicholas Allan, John Dougherty, Nick Gifford, Joanna Nadin, Susan Price, John Singleton, Rose Wilkins, Leslie Wilson, the Estates of Noel Streatfeild, Helen Cresswell and Joan Aiken.
Founded 1919.
Contact
Fiction, general non-fiction and children's (home 10%, overseas 20%).
Commission:
Not taking on any new clients at present.
Director:
We represent: fiction, non-fiction, children's books, and thrillers. There is no reading fee.
We work with sub agencies worldwide.
We represent: Scandinavian and German authors such as Lars Mytting, Fredrik Sjöberg, Lars Gustafsson, Liselotte Roll
The agency was founded in 1998.
Contacts
Agent
Accepts fiction and non-fiction. No plays or scripts.
Submission Guidelines:
Permissions:
All requests for permission to use copyright material by any of the clients of Aitken Alexander should contain the following information:
(i) Title and Author of book / material in which extract concerned appears;
(ii) Length (and page reference) of such extract;
(iii) Territories and Languages for which permission sought;
(iv) Title / Publisher / Price / Publication date and estimated first print-run of book / material in which extract will appear;
(v) All other relevant information.
Requests should be submitted to the Permissions Department in writing, by post or fax, or by email to: reception@aitkenalexander.co.uk
Gillon Aitken first founded Gillon Aitken Limited in 1976. In 1998, former Viking and Macmillan Publisher Clare Alexander joined the agency and in 2005 the name of the agency was changed to Aitken Alexander AssociatesAccepts fiction and non-fiction. No plays or scripts.. In 2008, Andrew Kidd, previously Publisher of Picador and Macmillan, joined as a director. From its inception, the agency has placed great emphasis on overseas rights, and Sally Riley heads up Aitken Alexander's highly respected Translation Rights department. In 2009 the agency opened an office in New York, under Anna Stein, and, in 2011, in New Delhi, under Shruti Debi. Both moves reflected Aitken Alexander's strong commitment to the best of international writing. In 2011, Lesley Thorne, who runs the company's Film, Theatre and TV department, was appointed to the board.
The focus of the agency remains on writers and writing and the company represents a wide range of prize-winning and bestselling fiction and non-fiction, including: Clare Allan, Jo Baker, Pat Barker, Jung Chang, Clare Clark, Sarah Dunant, Diana Evans, Sebastian Faulks, Helen Fielding, Rebecca Frayn, Germaine Greer, Julia Gregson, Mark Haddon, Mohammed Hanif, Oliver James, Liz Jensen, Lucy Kellaway, Pankaj Mishra, Thomas Penn, Jonathan Raban, Louise Rennison, Jennie Rooney, Edward St Aubyn, Maria Semple, Rory Stewart, Colin Thubron, Sara Wheeler, Amanda Vickery and Penny Vincenzi.
Additionally, through the acquisition in 1984 of Hughes Massie Limited (among the earliest UK literary agencies and founded in 1905), the company continues to represent the British and Commonwealth rights in To Kill A Mockingbird by Harper Lee and the works of J. D. Salinger as well as the estate of authors such as Paul Gallico, Mary Norton and Slavomir Rawicz. Other literary estates represented by the agency include John Betjeman, Bruce Chatwin, Patrick Leigh Fermor, John Fowles, Ian Hamilton and Shiva Naipaul.
Proprietor
Full-length MSS in social sciences and humanities (commission varies according to market)
Indian books in Indian and foreign languages, foreign books into Indian languages.
Hot topics: Philosophy, Sociology, Anthropology, Economics.
Charges made if agency undertakes revision; reading fee.
Founded 1975. Also a publisher
Contact
Adult fiction and non-fiction, children's and young adult (15%).
No short stories, poetry, plays, screenplays or sci-fi/fantasy.
No reading fee.
Founded 1985.
Agent
Specialises in science fiction and fantasy; also children's literature, mainstream literature, crime and mystery and action/adventure fiction (15%-20%).
Non-fiction material may be considered if queried first.
Founded 1997.
Director
Full-length MSS. Biography, history, reference, current affairs, and packaging journalists and celebrities for the book market (worldwide 15%).
Submission Guidelines:
No reading fee; will suggest a revision.
Authors include Juliet Barker, the Joyce Cary Estate, Tom Devine, Duncan Falconer, Jonathan Fryer, Laurence Gardner, Cathy Glass, Timothy Good, David Hasselhoff, Lawrence James, Damien Lewis, Julian Maclaren-Ross Estate, Norma Major, Nick Pope, Martin Pugh, Desmond Seward, David Stafford, Daniel Tammet; The Oxford Classical Dictionary , The Cambridge Guide to Literature in English .
Founded 1988.
Association of Authors' AgentsThe association of UK agents. Their website (http://www.agentsassoc.co.uk/index.html) gives a Directory of Members and a code of practice, but no information about the agencies other than their names. The association refers visitors to the UK agent listings from The Writers' & Artists' Yearbook on the WritersServices site.
Contacts
Handles fiction, general non-fiction, children's books, film, T.V, theatre and radio scripts.
Affiliated to the Association of Authors' AgentsThe association of UK agents. Their website (http://www.agentsassoc.co.uk/index.html) gives a Directory of Members and a code of practice, but no information about the agencies other than their names. The association refers visitors to the UK agent listings from The Writers' & Artists' Yearbook on the WritersServices site. & Writers' Guild of Great Britain.
Submission guidelines:
Commission: home 15%, USA/Europe/translation 20%
No reading fee
Children's authors include Gina Douthwaite, Joe Hackett, Judith Heneghan, Shirley Isherwood, Kate Lennard, Jude Wisdom, Sarah Mussi, Savita Kalhan.
Founded 1975.
Association of Authors' Agents
Contact
This office covers Estonia, Latvia, Lithuania and Ukraine
Contact
China
Contacts
Sells rights internationally on behalf of UK/US agencies and publishers. Agent for UK and international authors, including children's writers. Fiction, non-fiction and children's fiction. Does not represent children's picture books, poetry or scripts for film, T.V, radio or theatre.
Submission Guidelines:
Founded 1977
Association of Authors' AgentsThe association of UK agents. Their website (http://www.agentsassoc.co.uk/index.html) gives a Directory of Members and a code of practice, but no information about the agencies other than their names. The association refers visitors to the UK agent listings from The Writers' & Artists' Yearbook on the WritersServices site.
Contacts
This office covers the Czech Republic, Slovak Republic and Slovenia
Head office
Contacts
Partners
Full-length MSS (home 15%, overseas 20%). Literary and general fiction and non-fiction, popular culture, history, science, teenage fiction. No dramatic scripts, poetry, science fiction or fantasy. No reading fee. Preliminary letter, synopsis, between 5,000 and 10,000 words, ideally the opening chapters and S.A.E essential.
Submission Guidelines:
Send or email a short covering letter, a brief synopsis, and between 5,000 and 10,000 words from your book: ideally the opening chapters. If you are submitting material to other agencies at the same time please tell us in your letter. If you are sending hard copy please also includea stamped self addressed envelopefor our reply and for anything you need returned. If you do not include an s.a.e. or an email address we will be unable to reply. Submissions should be addressed simply to the agency, not to individuals.
Authors include Andrew Baker, Bill Broady, Meg Cabot, Simon Conway, Fiona Gibson, Justin Hill, Maria McCann, Adam MacQueen, Ian Marchant, Lembit Opik MP, Prof Charles Pasternak, Kirsty Scott, Peter Shapiro, Bernadette Strachan, Elizabeth Woodcraft. Children's authors include Meg Cabot, Mary Hogan.
Founded 1998.
Proprietor
Accepts fiction and non-fiction. No plays or scripts.
No reading fee.
Submission Guidelines:
Permissions:
All requests for permission to use copyright material by any of the clients of Aitken Alexander should contain the following information:
(i) Title and Author of book / material in which extract concerned appears;
(ii) Length (and page reference) of such extract;
(iii) Territories and Languages for which permission sought;
(iv) Title / Publisher / Price / Publication date and estimated first print-run of book / material in which extract will appear;
(v) All other relevant information.
Requests should be submitted to the Permissions Department in writing, by post or fax, or by email to: reception@aitkenalexander.co.uk
Authors include Caroline Alexander, John Fowles, John Keegan, Patrick Leigh-Fermor, Robert Wilson.
Contacts
Fiction and non-fiction in every genre and category except for screenwriting and poetry.
Terms of business include commission at 15% on all contracts for British Commonwealth rights and 20% on all contracts for American and translation rights.
Commission on all contracts for film and/or television rights is 10-15%, subject to the involvement of sub-agents and associated agencies. Full details of terms of business are agreed with authors when they become clients.
Submission Guidelines:
If you wish to submit your work for consideration, send a brief outline by email. If you want to post your material please be sure to enclose an S.A.E or the cost of return postage. Make sure that you keep a copy of all material you send as no liability for the loss or damage of any material received is accepted.
Will suggest revision. No reading fee.
Clients include Amanda Craig, Louise Doughty, Peter F. Hamilton, Alan Hollinghurst, A.L. Kennedy, Douglas Kennedy, Dorothy Koomson, Chris Manby, George Monbiot, Garth Nix, Tim Parks. Children's authors include Garth Nix.
Founded 2000.
Contact
Novels, thrillers, faction, non-fiction, graphic novels, and children's books, and graphic and illustrated media edutainment concepts (home 15%, overseas/translations 20%, advertising/sales promotion one-third).
Pitches to publishers and producers. Send first chapter, scene or section, and graphics samples (if any), plus a half to one page plot or topic outline together with sae. No reading fee.
Founded 1997.
Contacts
Founded 1992. Handles literary fiction, narrative and general non-fiction. No scripts, genre fiction, romance, horror, science fiction or children's books. Send covering letter with first three chapters or e-mail query in the first instance. No reading fee.
Commission Home 15; Foreign/Translation 10%
Overseas associates Abner Stein and The Marsh Agency, UK
Owner
Fiction and non-fiction, children's.
No phone calls. Send query letter first.
Founded 1980.
Contact
Internet site for new writers and poets to display their work to publishers.
Submission Guidelines:
Prefers on-line submissions.
If you need to submit your work by regular mail please note that all postal submissions should be accompanied with a completed application form which may be downloaded from the website.
1500 words are ideal for your web page. If you exceed this figure the print size may be reduced to a point where readers may find it difficult to read your work. Most of their writers prefer to use the first 200 words for a synopsis and the remainder as a sample of their work.
No unsolicited MSS. First contact: send sae or email.
Founded 1997.
London-based literary agency which handles adult fiction & non-fiction only - memoir, travel, popular culture, multicultural writing - commission: home 12% overseas & radio 20% TV, film & electronic 20%
Film, TV and radio rights mainly sold in works by existing clients. Does not represent screen writers for Film & TV and stage plays, or children's books. Editorial advice given to own authors. Initiates in-house projects.
Not taking on any new clients at present.
Founded 1997
Contact
Represents fiction and general non-fiction, children's books, scripts for film, television and theatre. Does not represent poetry, short stories, academic or text books.
(Home 15%, Overseas 20%).
Submission Guidelines: Not currently accepting new submissions. Please refer to our website for
updates.
Association of Authors' AgentsThe association of UK agents. Their website (http://www.agentsassoc.co.uk/index.html) gives a Directory of Members and a code of practice, but no information about the agencies other than their names. The association refers visitors to the UK agent listings from The Writers' & Artists' Yearbook on the WritersServices site.
Contact
General fiction and non-fiction (home 15%, overseas 20%).
Select young adult projects. Works in conjunction with foreign agents.
Will suggest revision; no reading fee.
Founded 1971.
Association of Authors' Representatives The website of the American agents’ association (http://www.aar-online.org) offers a list of members, suggested points to raise with an agent who offers to represent you, and some further guidance on the author/agent relationship.
Contact
Represents writers operating in all media: print, film, TV, radio, the stage and electronic derivatives; specialises in representation of book writers. Query first before sending unsolicited MSS.
Not accepting until further notice.
Associates
Founded 1977. Psychology, popular history, biography, pop culture, general non-fiction; fiction.
Works in conjunction with foreign agents. No reading fee.
See submission page on their website
Contact
Handles novels and non-fiction of high quality, including reference works (12.5%). Does not represent children's books, crime, erotica, fantasy, murder mysteries, occult, science fiction or thrillers.
Submission Guidelines:
Send the first 50 and last 10 pages of your novel.
A three-sentence description of it (such as might appear in a preview of new novels in 'The Bookseller' magazine)
A detailed synopsis
Your full-length c.v. or resume
A covering letter giving:
practical details about your book (current word count, the date you started, the number of drafts so far)
the history of your novel to date (explain what first prompted you to write it and when; its writing history; who has read it at different stages and their reactions; which elements derive from your own personal experience; which required research, and your own appraisal of its current state).
No email submissions
Include stamped S.A.E for the return of your material
Authors include Peter Barham, Nigel Barlow, Andrew Beatty, Andrew Dalby, Emma Donoghue, Chris Greenhalgh, Tom Jaine, Huon Mallalieu, Simon Unwin, Caroline Williams.
Founded 1988.
Association of Authors' AgentsThe association of UK agents. Their website (http://www.agentsassoc.co.uk/index.html) gives a Directory of Members and a code of practice, but no information about the agencies other than their names. The association refers visitors to the UK agent listings from The Writers' & Artists' Yearbook on the WritersServices site.
Contacts
Special interests: fiction - all fiction for women, sagas, suspense, contemporary, chick lit, historical fiction, fantasy and comic novels; non-fiction
Submission Guidelines:
Please use SUBMISSION/TITLE/AUTHOR NAME in the subject line to avoid spam filters
http://www.carolinesheldon.co.uk/submissions/
Please date your letter and remember to include all contact information.
Permissions:
Requests to pennyholroyde@carolinesheldon.co.uk
Directors:
A small agency handling illustrated non-fiction work only. Clients come mainly from personal recommendation and the agency is not actively seeking clients but will consider original work - although not travel, domestic tragedies or academic books. Submissions require synopsis, two sample chapters and SAE. We can also consider e-mail enquiries without attachments. Please do not telephone. No reading fee. Works with The Elaine Markson Agency
Clients include George Carter, Leslie Geddes-Brown, Lucinda Lambton, and Eve Pollard.
Commission: Home 15%; US & Europe 20%