Submission status
Open
Submission route
QueryTracker
Response time
Aims to reply within 12 weeks
Last checked
14 days ago

About

Becca is a Senior Literary Agent at the Darley Anderson Children's Book Agency, with a focus on North American rights.

She joined in 2021 after ten years in IP development, editorial consultancy and scouting, and has spent four years building a children's, illustration, young adult and crossover to new adult list with a focus on the North American market. Recent deals include USA Today and New York Times bestsellers and YALSA Award winners, with sales across the Big Five publishers and independent houses. Becca is an editorial agent who likes to work closely with authors and illustrators from concept to finished manuscript, and is particularly interested in creators writing from marginalised perspectives.

Looking for

  • stories suited to the US market with epic, ambitious scale
  • young adult and crossover in the speculative, fantasy, horror and romance spaces
  • stories structured for pace and plot
  • romance that leans into the tropes
  • cosy fantasy and cosy romance
  • humour with bite and a touch of the absurd
  • speculative or fantasy stories built around a trial or competition
  • stories centring LGBTQ+ characters and relationships, both contemporary and fantasy
  • big middle grade fantasy and speculative adventure
  • transition stories for the ambitious middle grade reader and the younger young adult reader
  • mythology, folklore or historical angles from marginalised perspectives
  • a select number of picture book authors
  • author-illustrators at every age range, from picture book to young adult.

Clients include

  • Aileen Iaccino
  • Alexandria Rogers
  • Christen Randall
  • Danielle Brown
  • E. L. Massey
  • Kate Foster
  • Leia Ham
  • Mara Bergman
  • Frankie Gritton

Agency submission guidelines

Submissions are by email, to one agent only; the agency discusses promising submissions internally, so there is no need to approach more than one, and submitting to several separately just earns you several replies. Send your covering letter in the body of the email, with attachments as Word documents or PDFs. If unsure who suits your work, email the children's submission inbox addressed to the agency. Novels: the first three chapters or first twenty pages, with a one-page synopsis, spoilers included. Picture books: text-only picture book queries go to Lorna Hemingway, each text as a separate attachment, without pictures unless you are also submitting as an illustrator. Illustrators and author-illustrators should apply through the agency's illustration website. Non-fiction: a proposal, a full chapter list and up to three sample chapters, which need not be consecutive. Who to contact: Clare, Lorna, Lucy and Kat take submissions directly by email; Becca takes submissions only through her Query Manager page. Kat asks for a covering letter, a one-page synopsis and the first three chapters (up to 5,000 words) in a single Word document. Under-represented writers are encouraged to add the hashtag #diversevoices to the email subject line. Worth knowing: receipt is not acknowledged, replies aim for eight to twelve weeks, and individual feedback is not possible. The agency never asks for money at any stage; genuine messages come only from verified company addresses.

Other agents at Darley Anderson Children’s Book Agency

  • Chloe Davis

    Darley Anderson Children’s Book Agency

    Chloe is the agency's Associate Agent, having joined as an assistant in 2019. Following a post-university stint as a bookseller at Waterstones and time in the rights team at Macmillan Children's Books, she decided she wanted a taste of life on the other side of publishing and is now actively building her own list, alongside supporting Clare Wallace and her list of clients. Being of mixed heritage herself, she is keen to hear from authors from under-represented backgrounds.

    Genres:Children's Books · Fantasy · Middle Grade · Mystery · Young Adult

    Closed
    Last checked 14 days ago
  • Clare Wallace

    Darley Anderson Children’s Book Agency

    Clare has been working with Darley Anderson since 2011 and is Managing Director and a literary agent at the Darley Anderson Children's Book Agency. Her clients have been Sunday Times and New York Times bestsellers and Irish Book Award winners, shortlisted for the Waterstones Children's Book Prize, picked as Waterstones Children's Book of the Month, shortlisted for the Branford Boase, and nominated, longlisted and shortlisted for the Carnegie, with many titles adapted for or in development for the screen. In 2024 she was shortlisted for Agent of the Year by the British Book Awards. Before joining Darley Anderson she proof-listened to audio books, took a Masters in Creative Writing, coached international students, worked as a research assistant, assisted at a specialist non-fiction agency, waitressed and bartended for years, cherry-picked for months in Gumeracha, and worked one night in a casino emptying ashtrays. Working closely with her clients she is in it for the long term, and she loves creative discussions and developing ideas as much as the satisfying polish of a last line edit. She represents everything from picture books through to young adult, alongside a boutique list of adult fiction, and is always led by standout voices and characters. She is passionate about inclusivity and keen to read submissions from under-represented writers.

    Genres:Children's Books · Contemporary Fiction · Fantasy · Graphic Novels · Historical Non-Fiction +7 more

    Open
    Last checked 14 days ago
  • Kat Lenahan

    Darley Anderson Children’s Book Agency

    Kat is a Junior Agent and Agency Assistant at the Darley Anderson Children's Book Agency, building her own list, and she also handles audio rights for the agency. Before joining, she worked in production in visual effects on The Witcher and The Wheel of Time, then completed an MA in Creative and Critical Writing. She is drawn to the editorial side of agenting and keen to work with authors she can help grow and develop.

    Genres:Children's Books · Contemporary Fiction · Horror · Middle Grade · Mystery +2 more

    Open
    Last checked 14 days ago
  • Lorna Hemingway

    Darley Anderson Children’s Book Agency

    Lorna is a Literary and Illustration Agent at the Darley Anderson Children's Book Agency. She started agenting in 2019 at Bell Lomax Moreton and moved to Darley Anderson in 2025, where she represents award-winning and Sunday Times bestselling authors and illustrators. Her list has won or been shortlisted for awards including the Klaus Flugge Prize, the Inclusive Books for Children Award, the Indie Book Awards, the BookTrust Storytime Prize and the World Illustration Awards, with work featured in The Observer, The Sunday Times, The Guardian and Waterstones best books of 2023 and 2025.

    Genres:Children's Books · Graphic Novels · Middle Grade · Other Non-Fiction · Young Adult

    Open
    Last checked 14 days ago
  • Lucy Irvine

    Darley Anderson Children’s Book Agency

    Lucy joined the Darley Anderson Children's Book Agency as a literary agent in November 2025, after eight years at PFD. Her authors have been Sunday Times and instant bestsellers and Books of the Month at Waterstones and Easons, and have won, been shortlisted or nominated for awards including the Carnegie Medal for Writing and Illustration, the Week Junior Book Awards, the Branford Boase Awards, the ALCS Educational Writers' Award, the School Library Association's IBA Award, and the British Book Awards. Lucy is building her list with a focus on middle grade, young adult, new adult and fantasy fiction.

    Genres:Contemporary Fiction · Fantasy · Historical Fiction · Horror · Middle Grade +5 more

    Open
    Last checked 14 days ago

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  • John Ash

    CAA Publishing

    John Ash is a literary agent at CAA Publishing, representing literary fiction, upmarket general fiction and serious nonfiction. He began his career at PEW Literary, where he spent six and a half years before joining CAA in 2023. His fiction interests range from literary fiction and epic fantasy to upmarket general fiction, while his nonfiction interests include history, memoir and reportage.

    Genres:Commercial Fiction · Contemporary Fiction · Fantasy · Historical Non-Fiction · Literary Fiction +3 more

    Open
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  • Rachel Neely

    Mushens Entertainment

    Rachel is a literary agent at Mushens Entertainment, representing both literary and commercial fiction with a preference for darker stories. She began her publishing career at HarperCollins before working as an editor at Hachette for six years, most recently as a Commissioning Editor at Orion. She joined Mushens Entertainment in 2022 and became a Literary Agent in 2023 after covering Juliet Mushens' maternity leave.

    Genres:Commercial Fiction · Contemporary Fiction · Crime · Fantasy · Horror +7 more

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  • Laura Bennett

    The Liverpool Literary Agency

    Laura is an associate literary agent at the Liverpool Literary Agency. She studied Writing at Liverpool John Moores University, gaining a BA and later an MA, after an early career in teaching that included working with young adults with special needs and in further education. She moved into editing after her teaching career and also works as a freelance writer, having written for a video game and several roleplaying games.

    Genres:Commercial Fiction · Contemporary Fiction · Cosy Mystery · Crime · Fantasy +12 more

    Open
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  • Sarah Harvey

    CAA Publishing

    Sarah is a literary agent at CAA who builds a list of commercial to reading-group fiction and commercial non-fiction for the UK market. Sarah joined CAA in 2022, having previously worked at HarperCollins, Hachette, Pan Macmillan, The Curtis Brown Agency, and David Higham Associates. Their background is in translation rights, and they also represent US and translated authors in the UK.

    Genres:Commercial Fiction · Contemporary Fiction · Fantasy · Historical Fiction · Historical Non-Fiction +11 more

    Open
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  • Alice Caprio

    Peters Fraser + Dunlop

    Alice is a Literary Agent at Peters Fraser + Dunlop, working primarily on the children's list. After an MA in Publishing from UAL she spent five years as a scout at London Literary Scouting, specialising in children's, young adult and science fiction and fantasy across all ages and working with publishers and media companies around the world. She joined the agency in 2026 from Felicity Bryan Associates, where she was a literary agent. Alongside building her own list she sells foreign rights in the agency's children's and young adult titles across many territories.

    Genres:Children's Books · Fantasy · Horror · Middle Grade · Mystery +5 more

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  • Daisy Chandley

    Peters Fraser + Dunlop

    Daisy is an agent in the books department at PFD, and works with Tim Bates as the United Kingdom sub-agent for New Directions Publishing in the United States. She joined the company in 2019 after graduating from the University of Oxford with a degree in politics, philosophy and economics.

    Genres:Contemporary Fiction · Fantasy · Food & Drink · Horror · Literary Fiction +8 more

    Open
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