Hayley Steed
- Submission status
- Open
- Submission route
- Website
- Response time
- Assume no reply = no after 8 weeks
- Last checked
- 4 days ago
About
Hayley is a literary agent primarily representing writers of fiction.
She spent seven years at Madeleine Milburn Literary Agency before joining Janklow & Nesbit in September 2023, where she is now a Director. Before working in publishing she worked in book PR, having completed a degree in English.
Genres
Looking for
- commercial and book club fiction across all genres
- books that cross genres, or which feel a little different
- dystopian novels
- an elevated love story, epic, contemporary, or with an edge of the speculative, against any setting or backdrop
- a love story with a speculative edge, where the magic is part of the plot, but set in a real, or grounded, world
- elevated sci-fi
- space, or light sci-fi, as a setting
- general fiction books that feature love within another story
- a coming-of-age but later in life
- novels celebrating platonic love, like love between sisters, mothers and daughters, and friends
- book club novels that explore romantic storylines alongside a mystery
- stories that centre around a very specific job or skill
- historical novels, usually as a setting to a bigger story or theme
- stories that explore family in all its forms, whether that's family secrets, emotional drama, or the family we make around us in our friends and communities
- the dark and creepy, be that a tense relationship between a couple, siblings, or friends, or a locked room mystery in a brilliant setting
- domestic suspense, like Frieda McFadden or Claire Douglas
- crime driven by the protagonists and the atmospheric setting
- a novel that keeps her on her toes and changes the way we expect stories to work
- a cinematic high concept
- a break-out thriller that explores the dark side of human nature with a killer one-line pitch and twist
- horror, from great concepts to more classic horror with big houses and plenty of atmosphere
- horror that serves as a commentary on social issues, whether that's body horror and femininity, or place and colonialism
- horror that skews into more of a crossover space
- dystopia, or sci-fi, that has a similar vibe to romance and romantasy
- general fiction with a dark edge and an unexpected twist
- a novel that fits the dark academia genre
- anything that feels unpredictable with intrigue that keeps her turning the page
- something soapy
- anything that reflects, examines or satirizes the world we're living in, addressing our wider culture with a genre
- women's fiction, thriller, dystopia or a general fiction novel with a brilliant lead character
- novels with complex characters and nuance, which are happy to explore the grey areas
- female voices and underrepresented talent and experiences whose voices aren't being heard in the mainstream
Not looking for
- high literary fiction
Agency submission guidelines
Postal submissions are not accepted, and screenwriters or scripts are not considered. Submissions should be titled (document and email) with full name and title of work. Sample material should be in size 12, reasonable font, double-spaced. Fiction submissions should include a covering letter, synopsis, and either the first three chapters or the first fifty pages (whichever the writer feels is appropriate); the covering letter and synopsis should ideally be no longer than a page each. Non-fiction submissions should include a covering letter (ideally no longer than a page), a full outline setting out the aims of each chapter, and if possible a sample chapter. Poetry submissions should include a covering letter (ideally no longer than a page), a short pitch and a small sample of 3-5 poems. The covering letter should be included in the body of the email, with other components as attachments; Word attachments are preferred, though PDFs are also acceptable. External links in emails cannot be opened for security reasons, so work must be attached directly to the email. Submissions should be sent to submissions@janklow.co.uk, including name, title of work and the name of the agent the writer wishes to submit to in the subject line. Work should be submitted to only one agent at the agency. Writers should notify the agency if they receive full manuscript requests elsewhere, by replying to the initial submission email, ideally with submission materials attached.
Links
Clients include
- Yomi Adegoke
- Clare Pooley
- Heather Marshall
- Kehinde Fadipe
- Sara Nisha Adams
- Leah Hazard
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