Agency submission guidelines
Submissions are accepted by post only; the agency never considers submissions sent by email, and it only replies by post, so UK writers must enclose a stamped self-addressed envelope. Work should be polished to a very high standard before submitting: the agency takes on very few new writers each year, sometimes only one, and asks that you do not submit work already widely rejected by other agents.
Fiction: finished, polished novels only. Send a covering letter (the title, what the novel is really about beyond the story line, why it is of publishable standard, your ideal publishers, its writing history and your own appraisal of it, plus the word count and number of drafts), a full CV, a three-sentence pitch, a detailed synopsis, and the first fifty pages of the novel plus the last ten.
Non-fiction: strongest for experts with something fresh and original to say to a general audience. Send a covering letter (title, subject, audience, your qualifications, what makes it original, its impact and length), a full CV, and a proposal with a chapter by chapter synopsis, sources, readership, markets and the competition, ideally supported by the first two or three chapters, around fifty pages. Rarely covered: autobiography and memoir, children's books, educational textbooks, self-help, true crime and similar.
Presentation matters: 1.5 spacing, wide margins, single-sided printing, indented paragraphs and a carefully chosen font; the agency's pages set out the full requirements.
Response: aims to reply within three weeks. UK writers hear by post; overseas writers hear by email only if the agency is interested, and sample material is not returned.
