Zoe Plant joins the Bent literary agency, seeks commercial middle-grade, young adult, and adult fiction

The Skylarks' War by Hilary McKay
represented by the Bent Agency

The Bent Agency

19 West 21^st Street,
Suite 201
Brooklyn, NY 10010

And

21 Melliss Avenue

Richmond TW9 4BQ

http://www.thebentagency.com/

Note: Don't ever miss a post on Quick Brown Fox. Add your email to the Follow Brian by Email box to the right under my bio, and get each post delivered to your Inbox.

Since Jenny Bent left Trident Media in 2009, the Bent Agency has grown into a mid-size trans-Atlantic agency with a dozen agents. But it’s still a young agency, and most of the agents there are very actively looking for authors. They represent all sorts of nonfiction and fiction for all ages.

 

Zoe Plant is the newest member of the team, having recently joined the UK office, and like all new agents, she needs authors and welcome submissions from authors based anywhere.

Born in London, Zoe studied for her degree in Russian and Spanish at Cambridge and lived in Moscow for a year before making her way back to the UK to start her publishing career. She started out as an intern at the Bent Agency in 2014 and went on to spend five years working as a literary scout at Daniela Schlingmann Literary Scouting, scouring the UK market for the best children’s and adult books to recommend to international publishers. She Tweets here.

Zoe is looking for commercial, exciting middle-grade, young adult and adult fiction. Across all age ranges, her favourite books are full of pace and plot, but have something quirky and fresh about them: a speculative or high-concept setting, an unusual twist or a voice that changes how she sees the world. She particularly loves fantasy, science fiction and horror, and is seeking these genres for both adults and children.

For middle grade and young adult fiction, Zoe is on the hunt for action, adventure and worlds she can fall in love with, no matter the genre. Whether it’s about spies, astronauts, zombies, or just an odd day at school, if it has a strong voice and a compelling setting she would love to read it.

On the adult side, as well as science fiction, fantasy and horror of all types, Zoe is looking for commercial crime and thrillers. She is open to anything – cosy or gritty, speculative, historical or contemporary, as long as it has a good hook and an inventive plot.

Query Zoe at: plantqueries@thebentagency.com

Include the title of your project in the subject line of your email. Then paste the first ten pages of your book in the body of your email (not as an attachment). Full submission guidelines here. 

 

New York Times #1 bestselling author
Kelley Armstrong will the be the guest speaker
at the How to Write a Bestseller Workshop
Saturday, March 2. See here.

The best way to grow as a writer is with a weekly course. Two of the courses starting this month, still have space. (Note: details of all five winter courses here):

Exploring Creative Writing, Thursday afternoons, January 24 – April 5 (no class March 14), in Burlington. Details here. 

Writing Kid Lit, Thursday evenings, Jan 24 – March 28 (no class March 14), in Oakville. Details here.

Also coming soon: Writing and Revising, Sat, Jan 26, in Caledon at the Bolton Library (see here), Writing with Style, Saturday, Feb 23, in Waterloo (see here) and Saturday, March 16, in Mississauga (see here), and How to Write a Bestseller, with New York Times #1 bestselling author Kelley Armstrong, Saturday, March 2 (see here).

A weekend writing retreat:

Algonquin Writing Retreat, Friday, May 31 – Monday, June 3, 2019: four days in the luxurious isolation of Arowhon Pines Resort to get down to some real creative growth. Details here.

Spring courses:

Burlington: Welcome to Creative Writing, Thursday afternoons, April 18 – June 20 (No class May 30). Details here.

Toronto: Welcome to Creative Writing, Friday afternoons, April 26 – June 28 (No class May 31). Details here.

Oakville Central Library: Writing Personal Stories, Thursday evenings, April 18 – June 27 (No class  May 30). Details here.

Burlington: Intensive Creative Writing, Tuesday afternoons, 12:30 – 2:45; April 16 – June 25 (No class June 4). Details here.

Burlington: Intensive Creative Writing, Wednesday afternoons, 12:30 – 2:45; April 17 – June 19. Details here.

Georgetown: Intensive Creative Writing, Wednesday evenings, 6:45 – 9:00; April 17 – June 19. Details here.

Toronto: Intensive Creative Writing, Friday mornings, 10:15 – 12:30 / 12: 45, April 26 – June 28. (No class May 31). Details here.

To reserve a spot in any upcoming weekly course, weekend retreat, or Saturday workshop, email Brian at: brianhenry@sympatico.ca

Read reviews of Brian’s courses, retreats, and workshops here.

See Brian’s complete current schedule here, including Saturday writing workshops, weekly writing classes, and weekend retreats in Algonquin Park, Alliston, Bolton, Barrie, Brampton, Burlington, Caledon, Collingwood, Georgetown, Georgina, Guelph, Hamilton, Jackson’s Point, Kitchener-Waterloo, London, Midland, Mississauga, New Tecumseth, Oakville, Ottawa, Peterborough, St. Catharines, Sudbury, Toronto, Windsor, Woodstock, Halton, Muskoka, Peel, Simcoe, York Region, the GTA, Ontario and beyond.

Navigation tips: Always check out the Labels underneath a post; they’ll lead you to various distinct collections of postings. If you're searching for more interviews with literary agents or a literary agent who represents a particular type of book, check out this post.