Lydia Silver

About

Lydia is Head of the Children's and Young Adult department at The Soho Agency, which she joined in 2025 after over a decade in the industry across editorial and agenting.

Her clients have been number one Sunday Times and New York Times bestsellers, chosen as Waterstones, Blackwells and Indies Books of the Month, and won prizes including the Carnegie Medal Shadowers' Choice and the Diverse Book Award. She was a Bookseller Rising Star in 2022. Lydia represents everything from picture books to the top end of crossover young adult, and enjoys working with author-illustrator talent, including graphic novelists. She is drawn to voice above all and to a strong hook, and actively welcomes submissions from under-represented writers.

Genres

Agency submission guidelines

Submissions are by email only. General submissions go to sohoagencysubmissions@gmail.com; children's, young adult and artwork to sohoagencychildrenssubmissions@gmail.com. Address your work to the agent you feel is the best fit, or to The Soho Agency Submissions if you are unsure. What to send: the first three chapters or first thirty pages, or the complete text if it is for young children and under 1,000 words, ideally in Word format. Include a synopsis with spoilers and a covering letter that pitches the book. Worth knowing: physical submissions are not accepted. The agency does not represent poetry or textbooks, and champions human creativity only. Given the volume received, it replies only to submissions it wishes to pursue.

Agency AI policy

The agency says it only champions human creativity, representing work shaped by authentic imagination, craft and dedication.

Links

Clients include

• Alice Harman
• Catherine Jacob
• Danielle Brown
• Ellie Robinson
• Eva Wong Nava
• Jane Riordan
• Kate Foster
• Laura Noakes
• Lucas Maxwell
• Mimi Thebo
• Rachel Morrisroe
• Rashmi Sirdeshpande
• Sarah Bowie
• Sophie Kirtley
• S. F. Williamson

Other agents at The Soho Agency

• Alice Saunders

  The Soho Agency

  Alice loves storytelling in all its forms, whether fiction or narrative non-fiction, and works across literary, audio, live audience, film and television representation. She is actively looking for new talent in crime, thrillers, epic family sagas, book club literary fiction and memoir, in fact everything apart from science fiction and fantasy. As head of the agency's speaker business, she also matches talent to corporate, industry and public sector events.

  Genres:Commercial Fiction · Contemporary Fiction · Crime · Literary Fiction · Memoir +2 more

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  Last checked 19 days ago

• Araminta Whitley

  The Soho Agency

  Araminta represents a wide range of fiction and non-fiction. Her clients are Sunday Times and New York Times bestsellers and have won awards including the CWA Gold Crime Dagger, the RNA Awards, the John Creasy Award, the Andre Simon Memorial Prize and the PEN Pinter Prize, with titles longlisted for the Wellcome and Baillie Gifford Prizes and chosen as Richard and Judy and Zoella book club picks.

  Genres:Business · Commercial Fiction · Crime · Food & Drink · Health & Wellness +6 more

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  Last checked 19 days ago

• Ben Clark

  The Soho Agency

  Ben Clark is well into his second decade of agenting and represents bestselling and award-winning authors across fiction and non-fiction. He is a passionate advocate for non-fiction in all its forms, from narrative-driven storytelling and prescriptive guides to self-help and beautifully illustrated works, with interests spanning cookery, history, philosophy, economics, memoir, technology, science, business and nature writing, and a focus on books that deepen our understanding of the world. In fiction he is a devoted fan of science fiction, horror and fantasy, always on the lookout for original worlds, tightly woven plots and voices from traditionally under-represented backgrounds. He also collaborates with brands, television producers and magazines to develop intellectual property across platforms.

  Genres:Commercial Fiction · Fantasy · Horror · Romance · Science Fiction

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  Last checked 19 days ago

• Eleanor Lawlor

  The Soho Agency

  Eleanor is an Associate Agent at The Soho Agency, which she joined in 2021. She works alongside Rowan Lawton and Lydia Silver across their lists, from commercial women's fiction, book club and narrative non-fiction to picture books, middle grade, young adult and graphic novels, and is building her own list.

  Genres:Fantasy · Horror · Mystery · Paranormal Romance · Romance +3 more

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  Last checked 19 days ago

• Julian Alexander

  The Soho Agency

  Julian has been an agent his entire professional life. He represents an eclectic list that includes bestselling fiction and non-fiction of all kinds, from history and medicine through heart-warming memoir and illustrated books to edgy detective novels and fast-paced thrillers. He also handles the book output for a number of high-profile creators of intellectual property and helps develop and package projects for his clients, planning long-term careers.

  Genres:Commercial Fiction · Health & Wellness · Historical (Non-Fiction) · Memoir · Mystery +2 more

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  Last checked 19 days ago

• Marina de Pass

  The Soho Agency

  Marina joined The Soho Agency in 2016 after working for several years in the editorial departments of Little, Brown and HarperCollins. She works with number one New York Times and Sunday Times bestselling authors, and number one Kindle and Audible bestsellers. Her clients' books have been selected as Waterstones and WHSmith Books of the Month and for the BBC Radio 2 Book Club. In 2023 she was named a Bookseller Rising Star. She is building a list of authors writing upmarket commercial, reading group and accessible literary fiction, alongside a select and eclectic children's, young adult and non-fiction list, and gravitates towards stories told through a female lens.

  Genres:Children's Books · Commercial Fiction · Contemporary Fiction · Crime · Historical Fiction +10 more

  Closed* (conditions apply)

  Last checked 19 days ago

• Mark Lucas

  The Soho Agency

  Mark began his professional life in the editorial department at Futura in Camberwell before becoming a director at Fraser & Dunlop Scripts, later part of The Peters Fraser & Dunlop Group. In 1996 he co-founded LAW with Julian Alexander and Araminta Whitley. His grounding came in the art of mass-market paperback design and from a New York-based mentor who taught that 'we should aim to publish the gleam in the author's eye'. Over the years he has represented a diverse range of national and international bestsellers, and is interested in romance, thriller, memoir, historical non-fiction and edgy humour, always prioritising story above all else.

  Genres:Historical (Non-Fiction) · Memoir · Romance · Thriller

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  Last checked 19 days ago

• Rowan Lawton

  The Soho Agency

  Rowan joined The Soho Agency in 2019 after almost two decades in the industry. She started her agenting career at WME and latterly ran Furniss Lawton, the literary division of YMU. Her authors are Sunday Times, Kindle, Apple and Audible number one bestsellers, and have been awarded and shortlisted for prizes including the British Book Awards, the Crime Writers' Association Daggers, the Irish Book Awards, the Sunday Times Sports Book Award and Romantic Novel of the Year. She has judged fiction prizes including Richard & Judy Search for a Bestseller, the Bristol Short Story Prize and the Blue Pencil First Novel Award, and was a Bookseller Rising Star in 2012.

  Genres:Commercial Fiction · Contemporary Fiction · Crime · Historical Fiction · Literary Fiction +5 more

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  Last checked 14 days ago

• Sarah Stamp

  The Soho Agency

  Sarah is an Associate Agent at The Soho Agency, where she has worked for almost five years. She began as an assistant to Julian Alexander and Ben Clark, supporting their roster of bestselling non-fiction authors and commercial novelists, and is now building her own list.

  Genres:Commercial Fiction · Food & Drink · Historical (Non-Fiction) · Historical Fiction · Literary Fiction +5 more

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  Last checked yesterday