How to Hook An Agent (Children's & YA) 2025

Callen Martin (he/him) joined Bell Lomax Moreton in April 2023 to assist Lauren Gardner across her list. Between June 2024 – May 2025, Callen acted as Lauren's maternity cover and, before joining Bell Lomax Moreton, worked previously at another literary agency as an Agency Assistant & Partnerships Manager and, in the freelance space, as a manuscript assessor, sensitivity reader, and writing competition judge. He is actively building his own list of Children's (7+), YA and New Adult authors.

Callen grew up in foster care and graduated Bath Spa University’s MA in Writing for Young People in 2019, becoming the first care-experienced person in the history of East Sussex to study at Postgraduate level. As a queer, working class man, Callen is passionate about representation in publishing; especially that of the care system.

Areas of Interest:

Callen’s first bookish love will always be Children’s (for readers aged 7+), YA and New Adult / Crossover fiction, across all genres, in all formats (including graphic novels). He does not represent picture books. In these areas, he is swept away by diverse, heroic, fun, and captivating titles that balance their strong characterisation and emotional depth against plots that he, and young readers, just have to keep turning the pages of. He's drawn to stories that will leave kids desperate to read one more chapter before bedtime, begging their parents / guardians / carers to let them do just that.

“Though it’s definitely a book’s unique premise and hook that intrigues me, it’s the voice of the characters and their emotional depth – their heart – that I fall in love with. That's what I stick around for.”

Passionate about the editorial side of agenting, Callen is looking for potential, not polish. He is very happy to be surprised by the books submitted to him. For more guidance on his taste and a non-exclusive list of his current areas of interest, please see below:

A non-exclusive list of TV shows, Films, and Other Media that Callen would love to see in book form:

• The Age of Adaline (film) – Books that sit in that sweet spot where science and the speculative meet.
• Do Revenge (film) – Pacey and twisty Teen / YA / New Adult stories that take those tropes we all know and turn them on their heads.
• The Sea Beast (film) – Adventurous Middle Grade where the status quo is soon challenged and young children are shown to change the world for the better. Found family, determination, and real character heart, all wrapped up in compelling stories and worldbuilding.
• Damsel (film) – Children and Young Adults overcoming impossible odds by their sheer will and determination. Stories where the villain is shown to have heart too (the dragon, in this case) and the true villain is someone else entirely. The sibling relationship, the drive, the subversion of classic expectations such as the ‘damsel in distress’… YES.
• It's A Sin (TV show) – It's important to Callen that we don't shy away from our past or our history (especially our diverse history) and that we allow children and Young Adults a safe space to explore big topics. Books that manage to make him laugh on one page and cry on the next are exactly what he's after.
• Taylor Swift (music) – As an avid fan of Taylor Swift, Callen would LOVE to see anything that could be compared to a Taylor Swift song. By this he means her lyricism, emotive edge, and ability to feel both intimately personal and universal at the same time.

Callen's favourite books (in no particular order):

1. The Invisible Life of Addie LaRue by V.E.Schwab
2. There May Be a Castle by Peirs Torday
3. Malamander by Thomas Taylor
4. Shadowscent duology by P M Freestone
5. Deeplight by Frances Hardinge
6. The Rest of Us Just Live Here by Patrick Ness
7. The House on the Cerulean Sea by TJ Klune
8. The Hunger Games by Suzanne Collins (the best YA book series of all time, or so Callen says!)
9. Jayben and the Golden Torch by Thomas Leeds
10. Girl, Goddess, Queen by Bea Fitzgerald.

Alice Williams set up her agency - a specialist literary agency proudly representing writers and illustrators of picture books, young fiction, middle-grade, YA and non-fiction - in 2018 after representing children’s books for over ten years at David Higham Associates. She's a passionate champion of the writers and illustrators she works with, and she's frequently in awe of the beauty and sense of wonder (or absurdity) that her clients create!

Alice focuses on sensitive editorial/portfolio development, submitting and showcasing clients’ work widely, tenacious contract negotiation, and considered rights management. 

She offers the personal support that gives her clients confidence to concentrate on their creative work, and the editorial and industry expertise that paves the way to commercial success.

Alice lives and works in London and has an extensive network of industry contacts in the UK and abroad. She attends the Bologna and London Book Fairs each Spring, as well as writers’ conferences throughout the year.

Alice actively scouts for talent.  She's keen to consider playful, funny books for all ages, and is always on the lookout for beautifully written, empowering stories with strong hooks.

Mysteries, thrillers, fantasy, magic, rom coms, friendship stories, animal stories, social issues…  these are just a few examples of the genres and themes that make Alice smile when they arrive in her inbox. Especially if they have an unexpected twist or a fresh perspective.

Children's books should be inclusive, and Alice particularly welcomes submissions from writers and artists from communities currently under-represented.

Jenny Savill joined Andrew Nurnberg Associates in 2002. She represents authors writing for both children and adults.

On the children’s side, she’s always on the look-out for new voices in 7+, Middle Grade and Young Adult writing. Her authors include author of the NYT bestselling DRAGON RIDER and INKWORLD series, Cornelia Funke, graphic novelist and artist/adaptor of TO KILL A MOCKINGBIRD and A WIZARD OF EARTHSEA, Fred Fordham, award-winning author of funny books for 7-9’s, Matt Brown, middle grade authors Hana Tooke, Sophie Cleverly and Yarrow Townsend, and bestselling YA author, L A Weatherly.

On the adult side, she’s looking for literary fiction, literary and commercial women’s fiction, psychological suspense, gothic thrillers and stories with a touch of creeping horror, ghost stories, and historical fiction. High fantasy is not her thing, though she is partial to a story with a speculative thread running through it. Her roster of adult authors includes internationally bestselling novelist Natasha Pulley, Shirley-Jackson winner Catriona Ward, and writer of the darkly comic Sweetpea series (now a Sky TV series) C J Skuse. 

She looks particularly for originality, depth, and the ability to move and surprise across both adult and children’s writing. She is especially interested to hear from writers chronically underrepresented on the shelves.

I'm a big YA and children's reader and started out my publishing career as a Waterstones Children's Bookseller. I worked at literary scouting agency before joining Curtis Brown, where I worked for four years on a variety of lists before focusing on the children's list. I've done maternity covers at a number of agencies, including David Higham Associates and have been lucky to work on some amazing authors such as Roald Dahl, Dianna Wynne Jones, Sabaa Tahir, and Tomi Adeyemi. I handle rights in Germany, France, Italy, Portugal, Brazil, Spain, Scandinavia, and Asia for a number of our clients. I am a Translation Rights Agent but am also building my own primary list.

I'm a broad reader but my heartland is YA. I grew up on Twilight, Vampire Academy, Soul Screamers, Hunger Games, and Shadowhunters. I'm a sucker for a court system, anything with a competition, and of course everyone's beloved trope, enemies to lovers. In the YA and Crossover space I'm specifically looking for :

• Speculative stories. A world with an interesting and engaging twist or a different approach to a topic. I'm a big fan of magical realism and high concept worlds
• Dystopia - twisted society and life and death perils.
• Epic Romance
• Teen stories
• Rom-com
   

One of my all-time favourite stories is Howl's Moving Castle, and a good indicator of my taste. I like adventures that are fun and fast paced with a protagonist that we're rooting for. Hoot is another beloved story, humour and heart are something that I love. I do like a dark undertone and something sinister lurking is always compelling. In the MG space, I'm specifically looking for:

• Adventure - something to get swept along with
• Fantasy - interesting new worlds
• Illustrated fiction

I'm voice led and want to feel connected to the characters, for that I'd be willing to jump into any world. I really enjoy SSF/fantasy/romantasy and exploring something new. I have a real soft spot for slice of life and would love to find this in the fantasy space. I also like contemporary stories and looking for a strong and unique voice in the space or a fresh approach.

Above all I'm looking for shorter books. While I know that some books are epics and need the big word counts, I'm afraid that I don't think I'd be your best champion for these. Ideally I'm looking for MG around 40,000 words and lower and YA around 60,000-70,000 words and lower.