alterean.

Zoë Plant

The Bent Agency

Submission status
Open
Submission route
Email
Response time
Assume no reply = no after 4 weeks
Last checked
2 days ago

About

Zoë is a literary agent at The Bent Agency, representing both children's and adult books across a variety of genres.

She joined the agency's London office in 2019, after five years working with publishers worldwide as a literary scout. Her client list includes New York Times and international bestsellers, with books that have won and been shortlisted for the Nero Book Award, the Barnes & Noble Children's Book Award, and the Waterstones Children's Book Prize. Across the board, her tastes lean towards commercial, entertaining, accessible books with clever hooks and something to say about the world.

Genres

Children's BooksCommercial FictionFantasyHorrorMiddle GradeMysteryScience FictionThrillerYoung Adult

Looking for

  • middle grade and young adult fiction of all genres
  • middle grade that combines a quirky voice or setting and a sense of fun with a strong emotional core
  • young adult fantasy that does something different in a very crowded market, with interesting settings, intricate worldbuilding and unusual magic systems
  • eye-opening science fiction and speculative fiction for teens
  • horror, particularly horror with a social conscience
  • deviously twisty thrillers
  • adult fantasy and science fiction with strong commercial appeal that break away from the traditional classics of these genres
  • general fiction with a strong, high concept hook, or a speculative or gothic edge
  • well-plotted murder mystery, the twistier the better
  • submissions from writers from traditionally underrepresented backgrounds

Not looking for

  • children's non-fiction
  • picture books
  • any fiction for an audience younger than middle grade
  • non-fiction

Agency submission guidelines

Writers should review the agency's agents' pages and decide which one to query; email the chosen agent using the address on their page or their QueryManager link if indicated. Writers should not simultaneously query multiple agents at the agency; submit to only one, and if that agent passes the writer may try another. The title of the project should be included in the subject line, with a brief note on who the writer is and what the book is about, then the first ten pages of the book pasted in the body of the email (not as an attachment). For picture books, the complete text should be included; for illustrations, also include a link to the writer's website if available, or two or three PDFs or JPEGs of the work. For graphic novels, the first ten pages of the script should be pasted in the body of the email, as well as the first five pages of the dummy; if the dummy isn't finished, up to three samples of finished work or a link to an online portfolio should be included. Writers should not send an exclusive query, as queries are meant to be shared with multiple agencies. The Bent Agency only accepts email or QueryManager queries; postal mail submissions will be recycled and not returned.

Links

Clients include

  • Annabel Campbell
  • Grace Curtis
  • Amy Dillmann
  • Victoria Henly
  • Jon Ingold
  • Kyla Jardine
  • Beth Lincoln
  • Hannah Mathewson
  • Alex Mullarky
  • Kristin Perrin
  • Holly Race
  • Jonathan Sims
  • Courtney Smyth

Other agents at The Bent Agency