firstwriter.com's database of literary agents includes details of 2,447 English language literary agents and agencies that don't charge reading fees. The database is continually updated: there have been 9 listings added or updated in the last month. With over a dozen different ways to narrow your search you can find the right literary agent for your book, fast.
News
Sphere’s Ed Wood is joining The Blair Partnership as fiction agent and director of fiction development.
Wood joins from publisher Little, Brown, where he was Sphere fiction publishing director for brands and creative partnerships and Little, Brown IP director.
The news follows Emily Barrett and Liane-Louise Smith joining The Blair Partnership as agents from Little, Brown and the Madeleine Milburn Literary Agency, respectively, in 2023.
In his role as fiction agent, Wood will be responsible for finding the best in new writing talent, continuing his specialism in crime and thrillers, while as director of fiction development he will have a broader remit to uncover and nurture IP opportunities across publishing, as well as in film and TV, brand licensing and other areas.
Full-service marketing agency, Agent, has donated over £50,000 worth of children’s books since launching All You Read is Love in 2020 and is hoping 2024 will be the campaign’s biggest year yet.
Agent, which has studios in Liverpool and Manchester, launched its All You Read is Love campaign in 2020 and has donated brand-new books to underprivileged children across the region over the last four years, including works from well-known authors, emerging talent and voices from BAME and LGBTQ+ communities.
Ex-Hodder & Stoughton managing director Oliver Malcolm has launched his own consultancy, Oliver Malcolm Publishing Transformation.
Designed to empower publishers, agents and authors, the consultancy “aims to help navigate the rapidly changing world of publishing” and includes free support for neurodiverse individuals.
The announcement follows news of Malcolm’s departure from Hodder & Stoughton after two years as managing director.
The sizzling trend across the British Isles for this autumn/winter? No, it’s not wide shoulders or the return of boho—though we are absolutely here for both of those—it is agents from established larger firms going out on their own.
The exhaustive list of new companies springing up includes (but is not limited to) United Agents duo Seren Adams and Kat Aitken starting up Lexington Literary (see their Frankfurt profile); ex-Darley Anderson colleagues Tanera Simons and Laura Heathfield opening Greenstone Literary; The Marsh Agency joint m.d. Jemma McDonagh kickstarting Jemma McDonagh Associates; Kemi Ogunsanwo launching Seventh Agency after leaving The Good Literary Agency; three-time British Book Awards Literary Agent of the Year shortlistee Amanda Harris announcing she would depart YMU at the beginning of 2025 to start an as-yet-unnamed new company; and Marilia Savvides stepping out from the 42 M&P umbrella to found The Plot Agency.
The trend is so red-hot, other publishing professionals have jumped on board: former HarperCollins Ireland boss Conor Nagle set up The Nagle Agency at the beginning of the year, while just two weeks ago ex-David Fickling and Usborne publicist Carolyn May McGlone launched her Oxfordshire-based May Literary Agency.
Articles
James R. Larson recently acquired an agent using firstwriter.com's database of literary agencies. We asked him about his writing, and how he found success.
Adrienne Schwartz recently acquired an agent using firstwriter.com's database of literary agencies. We asked her about her writing, and how she found success.
firstwriter.com
For as long as there have been writers eager to get published, there have been con artists ready to prey upon them for a quick buck. Nowadays, the internet is rife with phony literary agencies offering writers false hope in return for a small (or not-so-small) sum of money. In this article I'll look at some of the ways you can spot a dodgy agency, and avoid your time, money, and aspirations being abused. While none of the points below guarantee by themselves that an agency is dubious, together they can make a compelling case, and they should all make you tread a little more cautiously.
In 2006, Robert W. Morgan acquired an agent using firstwriter.com's database of literary agencies. Eighteen months on, he's repeated the same success by placing his latest work with another agent, again found through firstwriter.com. We asked him about his writing, and how he found success.
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