Siân Ellis-Martin
- Submission status
- Open
- Submission route
- Response time
- Assume no reply = no after 8 weeks
- Last checked
- 10 days ago
About
Siân represents authors across a range of fiction and non-fiction, from commercial to the accessible end of the literary spectrum, at Blake Friedmann Literary Agency.
She is keen to hear from authors whose voices are underrepresented in publishing. It matters to her to work with authors from a wide variety of backgrounds.
Genres
Looking for
- a love story, whether it's a big 'made-for-each-other' romance like One Day by David Nicholls, or a quieter depiction of desire like The Safekeep by Yael van der Wouden
- rom-coms with interesting backdrops or with a focus on queer love
- a sweeping friendship or family saga, think Tom Lake, The Dutch House and Pachinko
- commercial crime and thriller, truly unputdownable standalone books with twists you don't see coming or mysteries that get the cogs of your brain turning
- upmarket crime that focuses on the psychology of the characters at the same time as providing pacey plot, like Notes on an Execution or Three Hours
- historical fiction based on real events or people or with a gothic or darker feel like Sarah Waters
- historical fiction that looks at the lives of people we don't hear so much about in periods of time we already know well, like In Memoriam by Alice Winn
- non-fiction that reads like fiction and/or draws you into a topic you never expected to be interested in
- informative non-fiction that makes complicated topics accessible or shines a light on something new, like Unwell Women or Doppelganger
- literary true crime, like This House of Grief by Helen Garner
- untold histories, like The Five by Hallie Rubenhold
- cookery and food writing, delicious food and uncomplicated recipes
Not looking for
- young adult
- children's
- poetry
- fantasy
- romantasy
- science fiction
- diet
- business projects
Agency submission guidelines
Submissions are accepted by email only; postal submissions are not accepted. Submit to only one agent at a time; agents will pass work to a colleague if it seems better suited. Children's books are not represented. Send an introductory email with a synopsis and writing sample as Microsoft Word (.doc or.docx) attachments (no PDFs, Pages or external links such as Google Docs); include the book title and author's name in the subject line, and a covering letter as the body of the email introducing the book (genre, comparative titles, blurb, relevant experience). For fiction: attach a full synopsis of 250-300 words covering the whole story including the ending, plus the first three chapters or first 10,000 words (not later chapters). For non-fiction: attach an introductory email with a proposal including a synopsis of up to 500 words, a chapter plan for the entire work with a paragraph on each chapter, and two sample chapters (one being the introduction/opening chapter); the total proposal is often around 10,000 words.
Agency AI policy
AI-originated, written or edited material (including cover letters or synopses) is not accepted.
Clients include
- Shani Akilah
- Ros Anderson
- Emily Chudy
- Alex Clark
- Jenny Glanfield
- Sammy Hyde
- Letitia Jarrett
- Leeanne O'Donnell
- Jacob Stokoe
- Cristina Wolf
Other agents at Blake Friedmann Literary Agency
Finlay Charlesworth
Finlay is an Associate Agent at Blake Friedmann, building a list of non-fiction and select fiction. Finlay joined the agency in 2022 after completing an MA in Publishing at University College London. Finlay works closely with Juliet Pickering and Isobel Dixon, and has worked with the Estates of Gilbert Adair, Tatamkhulu Afrika and K. Sello Duiker.
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Isobel Dixon
Isobel is MD and Head of Books at Blake Friedmann Literary Agency, where she represents writers from around the world, including bestsellers and international prize winners. Her clients' work spans contemporary, historical and literary fiction, crime and thrillers, memoir, biography and narrative history. She was born and educated in South Africa and in Edinburgh, where she completed master's degrees in English Literature and Applied Linguistics.
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Julian Friedmann
Julian represents script writers and book writers across a broad range of genres and formats. He started as an editor for two academic publishers in the early 1970s before setting up his own publishing company. He set up a literary agency in 1976, later merging with Carole Blake to form Blake Friedmann. He has lectured worldwide on the business of scriptwriting and published two books on the subject.
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Juliet Pickering
Juliet is a director at Blake Friedmann Literary Agency, representing fiction and non-fiction writers. She worked at Waterstones before joining A P Watt in 2003, then moved to Blake Friedmann in 2013, becoming Vice Head of the Book Department in 2017 and a Director in 2020. In 2021 she won the Romantic Novelists' Association Agent of the Year Award.
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Kate Burke
Kate is a literary agent at Blake Friedmann representing crime, thriller and women's fiction writers. She was previously an editor for ten years, publishing fiction at Penguin, HarperCollins and Random House. Over the past ten years as an agent, she has built up a wide-ranging list of prize-winning and bestselling crime and thriller writers, and authors of contemporary and historical women's fiction. Her editorial background gives her a hands-on approach, editing and developing authors' work with a view to building long-term writing careers.
Genres:Crime · Historical Fiction · Thriller · Women's Fiction
OpenLast checked 10 days ago