Kat Lenahan

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

About

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.

What they represent

Looking for

character-led stories from middle grade through young adult, crossover and new adult
middle grade epic adventure with friendship at its heart
ragtag bands on a secret mission
kid detectives, heists and mystery balanced with humour, in the vein of The Swifts and Montgomery Bonbon
contemporary middle grade adventure that treats life's challenges with empathy and humour
voicey contemporary books for tween girls in the post-Lottie Brooks space
young adult with flawed, real heroes worth rooting for
strong atmosphere and setting, from gothic boarding schools to high-stakes trials and spy academies
darker young adult and speculative horror exploring the dark side of girlhood
writing that plays with dialect, particularly from an Irish author
young adult romance that gives all the feels, Emily Henry for a young adult audience

Not looking for

text-only picture book submissions

Clients include

Síne Quinn

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

Becca Langton
Darley Anderson Children’s Book Agency
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.
Genres:Children's Books · Fantasy · Graphic Novels · Horror · Middle Grade +2 more
Open
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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
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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
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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
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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
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