11 literary agents at Peters Fraser + Dunlop in the UK seek new authors

We had to remove this post
by Hanna Bervoets, 
represented by PFD

Peters Fraser + Dunlop

55 New Oxford Street
London UK
WC1A BS

https://petersfraserdunlop.com/

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Also, if you're not yet on my newsletter list, send me an email, including your locale to: brianhenry@sympatico.ca ~Brian

Peters Fraser and Dunlop (PFD) has been in business since 1924. It’s one of the most well-established literary and talent agencies in London. Here’s what they have to say about themselves:

“We develop industry-leading work in the fields of literature, film, television, radio, audio, public speaking, digital platforms and journalism. We work closely with our clients to connect them with the right partners, across the media, while protecting their rights every step of the way. Our business is about creativity, enhancement, innovation and service. We believe in developing and nurturing talent over time, while also pursuing cutting-edge opportunities in a fast-paced and ever-changing market. Our list is a testament to almost a hundred years of long-term vision and creative excellence.”

PFD has 16 literary agents, who work in both adult and children’s books, fiction and nonfiction. Most of them are open to queries. Here are their three hungriest agents:

Daisy Chandley is an Associate Agent and assistant to Head of Books Tim Bates and Senior Agent Annabel Merullo. She’s the newest member of the team, and like all new agents, she needs authors. 

After graduating from the University of Oxford with a BA in Politics, Philosophy and Economics, she joined Peters, Fraser & Dunlop. She works alongside Tim Bates as the UK sub-agent for New Directions Publishing in the US.

“I’m actively building a list of both fiction and nonfiction authors across a range of genres,” says Daisy.

“On the nonfiction side, I’m looking for bold new insights and underrepresented voices on popular science, nature writing, relationships, social issues and politics, and am always especially interested in fresh, playful and exciting writing on pop culture, love and the internet. I’d also love to see illuminating narrative nonfiction, whether a beautiful and lyrical exploration, or an enthralling and explosive deep-dive.

“With fiction, my reading broadly falls into two main categories: sharp, witty and clever novels across a range of genres with just the right balance of emotion and edge, and things with a darker side, be it unputdownable thrillers, mysteries, or even a good old-fashioned ghost story. Whether it’s a delightfully fun and scandalous page-turner, or something more literary and experimental, if it’s stylish and smart, I’d love to see it. And I must admit – I’m an absolute sucker for a really good twist.

“I’m also definitely interested in literary speculative fiction, though I’m not generally looking for SFF. Across the board, I’m always looking for stories that explore sexuality, race, gender, and disability, and would love to hear from writers whose voices and experiences aren’t given enough space in publishing.

“Just a few(ish) of the writers whose work I love include Patricia Lockwood, Raven Leilani, Torrey Peters, Gillian Flynn, Shirley Jackson, Max Porter, Carmen Maria Machado, Virginia Woolf, Sayaka Murata, Kiley Reid, Laurie Colwin, Sally Rooney (sorry), George Saunders, Joan Didion, Amy Liptrot, Elif Batuman, Sarah Waters, Ottessa Moshfegh, Donna Tartt, Tana French, & Fernanda Melchor.

“I’m also very keen to see anything that shares themes or style with wonderful shows like Succession, The White Lotus, I May Destroy You, or Severance – anything that has you on the edge of your seat one minute (even if just from the world’s most awkward conversation), laughing the next, and feeling punched in the chest by the time the credits roll.

Query Daisy at: dchandley@pfd.co.uk

Include the first three chapters (or around fifty pages) of your novel, as well as a full synopsis and a covering letter, with a brief CV of your writing career, if appropriate. For nonfiction projects, please send a detailed proposal, alongside the covering letter and CV.

Laurie Robertson is an agent representing books and journalism. After completing a BA in English Literature and Creative Writing at the University of Westminster, she worked in the sales team at Dorling Kindersley before joining Peters Fraser + Dunlop in 2017 as assistant to CEO Caroline Michel. She began building her own list in 2020.

“I am actively looking for literary, bookclub and upmarket commercial fiction Strong, original voices, uplifting narratives and clever storytelling,” says Laurie. “I am drawn to fiction with strong emotional hooks and complex characters that become part of your life. Stories with beautiful prose, with sentences you can’t help but underline and write down in whatever paper or device available. Some fiction I have enjoyed recently includes Sorrow and Bliss by Meg Mason, Deesha Philyaw’s The Secret Lives of Church Ladies, Tomorrow, and Tomorrow, and Tomorrow by Gabrielle Zevin… anything from Curtis Sittenfeld or Elena Ferrante.

“On the nonfiction side, I am looking for stories that surprise you and challenge you, and narratives that make you laugh as well as make you think. I also represent cookery and am looking for food writers that can transport you, whether that be to a place or a feeling, celebrating food and the joy of eating.

“I am always looking for feminist narratives both in fiction and in nonfiction, and I’m particularly interested in voices from underrepresented backgrounds.”

Query Laurie at: lrobertson@pfd.co.uk

Lucy Irvine is an Agent working primarily on children’s books, but also science fiction and fantasy for adults. After graduating from University College London with an MA in Issues in Modern Culture in 2017, she interned at Agora Books, PFD’s publishing arm, before becoming assistant to CEO Caroline Michel. She began building her own list in 2019 and was promoted to Agent in June 2021.

Alongside building her own list of clients, Lucy sells foreign rights in children’s and YA titles in Eastern Europe, Russia, Portugal, Indonesia, and Brazil, and handles audio narration rights for the agency.

“My taste is generally very broad,” says Lucy. “I represent anything that falls under the Childrens umbrella, from picture books to YA, as well as Science Fiction and Fantasy in the Adult market.

“I’m being very selective with the picture books I take on at the moment, but am particularly looking here for funny stories with returnable potential and unexpected twists on popular themes.

“My taste in middle-grade books veers towards the commercial; I’m drawn to quick-paced, adventurous narratives with series potential. I love stories set in worlds that pull you in and stay with you long after you’ve finished reading, and am particularly keen to see original worldbuilding and hooky, plot driven narratives. I would love to find something in the vein of Maria Kuznair’s The Ship of Shadows or B.B. Alston’s Amari and the Night Brothers. I’m also very drawn to reimagined folktales, myths, and legends, especially from voices traditionally less represented within publishing. Some middle-grade books I grew up on and adored include The Roman Mysteries, the Chronicles of Ancient Darkness, and the Percy Jackson series.

On the YA side, I love all kinds of genre fiction, from fantasy to historical to romance to thriller. I’m drawn to romances with a twist, and am particularly looking here for diverse voices and protagonists. SFF wise I’m keen to see original world-building, and love anything that genre bends or offers a fresh take on traditional themes. A few YA books I’ve recently loved include Hani and Ishu’s Guide to Fake Dating, The Upper World, and (belatedly!) Aristotle and Dante Discover the Secrets of the Universe. I am a perpetual fan of enemies/rivals to lovers, fake-dating, found-family, unexpected friendships, and platonic love stories.

“Adult wise, I accept submissions in anything that falls under the SFF umbrella, from urban to epic fantasy, from space opera to steampunk, but am not the right person for anything too grimdark, or anything with graphic sexual violence. I would love to find something with the ambition and wit of Gideon the Ninth, or the scope and narrative-weaving of The Priory of the Orange Tree.

“I am always looking for diverse writers and protagonists across race, sexuality, gender, and disability.

“Across the board, I’d love to find stories with casts of characters that make me feel as much as the Stranger Things characters make me feel (which is, to say, a lot).”

Query Lucy at: lirvine@pfd.co.uk

See PFD’s submissions page here.

Literary ageng Olga Filina will be 
guest speaker for the July 30, 2023
"How to Get Published" workshop

If you’re interested in meeting an agent and in getting published, don’t miss our upcoming How to Get Published workshop. Details here.

If you're interested in writing for children or for young adults, join us for a weekly class this summer (see here) or in the fall (see here).

And don't miss upcoming one-day Kid Lit workshops with an editor from a children's publisher. See here.

Check out upcoming writing retreats here {and scroll down - because there's usually more than one)

See all of Brian’s upcoming weekly writing classes, one-day workshops, and weekend retreats here.

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 interviews with literary agents or a literary agent who represents a particular type of book, check out this post.

Lots of places to send your long and short fiction, nonfiction, and poetry

Note: You can hang out and chat with quick brown foxes and vixens on my Facebook page (here). Just send a friend request to Brian Henry.

Also, if you’re not yet on my newsletter, send me an email, including your locale, to: brianhenry@sympatico.ca ~ Brian

 

34 Orchard – a literary journal that takes you dark places. Seeks fiction 1,000 – 5,000 words and poetry. "We like dark, intense pieces that speak to a deeper truth. We’re not genre-specific; we just like scary, disturbing, unsettling, and sad." Pays $50. 

Submissions open July 1. Deadline: July 15, 2023. Next submission window will be Jan 1 – 15. Full guidelines here.

 

Griffith Review publishes fiction and nonfiction. The current call-out is for nonfiction pieces on the theme of animal magic: “Whether it’s man’s best friend or the king of the jungle, animals occupy a central place in our social, emotional and cultural lives.

“This edition of Griffith Review visits habitats near and far, wild and domestic – the backyard and the dog park, the jungle and the desert, the field and the farm – to examine our complex interactions with creatures furry or scaled, four-legged or eight-limbed, winged or feathered.” 

Pieces should be less than 4,000 words – they can be much shorter.

Deadline: July 9, 2023. The Griffith Review will be issuing a call-out for poetry on July 24, and expect the next call-out after that to be for short fiction. Full guidelines here.

 

Mslexia publishes fiction, poetry, and nonfiction written by women.  There are 17 ways to submit, from a four-line poem to a 3,000-word lead article, from a 300-word bedtime story to a 700-word memoir performance piece – so there’s bound to be something to suit your kind of writing. Including big-name commissions and as-yet-undiscovered newcomers, we publish over 60 women in every issue. Pays £30.

Deadline: July 10, 2023. Full guidelines here.

 

Able Muse Press seeks book-length fiction, nonfiction, and poetry collections. Pays Royalties. 

Deadline: July 15, 2023. Full guidelines here.

 

Sasee is “looking for new, unpublished, first-person, nonfiction material that is for or about women. Essays, humor, satire, personal experience, and features on topics relating to women are our primary editorial focus. Diversity of subjects that reflect all age groups and variety of writing styles are invited.”

Articles should be 500 to 1,000 words.

Each month has a different theme:

“Wonder-fur World” deadline July 15, 2023

“Fight, Like a girl” deadline August 15, 2023

“Serve with a purpose” deadline Sept 15, 2023

Payment variable, not a fixed amount. 

Full guidelines here.

 

Quick Brown Fox welcomes your short stories, poems, and essays about reading, writing, favourite books, and libraries. Read a few essays on the blog to get a taste of what other writers have done (see here and scroll down).

Quick Brown Fox also welcomes reviews of any kind and of anything, anywhere or anybody. If you want to review your favourite coffee shops or libraries, babysitters or lovers (no real names please), go for it. See examples of book reviews here (and scroll down); other reviews here (and scroll down).

Submit to: brianhenry@sympatico.ca

Include a short bio at the end of your piece and attach a photo of yourself.

See Brian Henry’s upcoming weekly writing classes, one-day workshops, and weekend retreats here.

 

Two online Intensive Creative Writing courses this summer: Wednesday evenings and Thursday afternoons – your choice

Intensive Creative Writing

 ~ Grow as a writer

Offered at two different times:

Online: Wednesday evenings, 6:30 – 9:00 p.m.
July 5 – Aug 23, 2023
first readings sent June 28

And

Online: Thursday afternoons, 12:30 – 3:00 p.m.
July 6 – Aug 24, 2023
First readings emailed June 29

Note: “Exploring Creative Writing” and “Writing Little Kid Lit” are also on offer this summer. See details of all summer classes here.

Intensive Creative Writing isn't for beginners; it's for people who have been writing for a while or who have done a course or two before and are working on their own projects. You’ll be asked to bring in four pieces of your writing for detailed feedback, including two long pieces. All your pieces may be from the same work, such as a novel in progress, or they may be stand-alone pieces. You bring whatever you want to work on. 

Besides critiquing pieces, the instructor will give short lectures addressing the needs of the group, and in addition to learning how to critique your own work and receiving constructive suggestions about your writing, you’ll discover that the greatest benefits come from seeing how your classmates approach and critique a piece of writing and how they write and re-write. This is a challenging course, but extremely rewarding.

Fee: $238.05 + hst = $269

To reserve your spot, email: brianhenry@sympatico.ca 

Instructor Brian Henry has been a book editor and creative writing instructor for more than 25 years. He publishes Quick Brown Fox, Canada's most popular blog for writers, taught creative writing at Ryerson University (now Toronto Metropolitan University) and has led workshops everywhere from Boston to Buffalo and from Sarnia to Saint John. Brian is the author of a children's version of Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde (Tribute Publishing). But his proudest boast is that he has helped many of his students get published.  

Read reviews of Brian's various courses and workshops here (and scroll down).

See all of Brian’s upcoming weekly writing classes, one-day workshops, and weekend retreats here. 

 

Kudos to Corinne, John and Dave on their news book and to Susan and Pearl for their recognition in writing contests

Hi, Brian.

I recently finished writing a novel coauthored by Canadian master of horror David Demchuk! We have written the untold story of Mrs. Lovett, noted pie-baker and helpmate to the notorious Sweeney Todd. It's a Victorian Gothic thriller, now out on submission with our agent Barbara Berson {of the Helen Heller Agency}. 

A young female journalist in Victorian London engages in an increasingly menacing correspondence with an older woman who might be the titular pie-baking murderess. The story uses the ever-popular Sweeney Todd legend as a jumping off point, but the focus is on Mrs. Lovett. It was a lot of fun to write!

I will keep you posted as to any developments.

All the best,

Corinne Clark

For information on submitting to the Helen Heller Agency, see here.  

 

Hi, Brian.

I want to send a note thanking you for sharing with us writing competitions that we might not know about. I entered the Seniors' Literary Competition because I saw it in your newsletter, and I found out today that I came in second in the short story competition – which made my day.

Thank you for everything you do!

Best,

Susan Cross 

You can find occasional listings of writing contests and literary journals looking for your short pieces here {and scroll down}.

 

Hi, Brian.

I saw your post about the Canadian Legion Literary Contest at least a couple days after you posted it; I wrote to the contest organizers for guidelines … and then the night before the deadline, I sat down very late to write a personal essay, writing into the wee hours of the morning and editing the next day. I submitted the piece the evening of April 30, which was the deadline. I also submitted a poem in a different category.

The poem did not get recognized for any awards, but I was notified today that the essay won an Honorable Mention.

I hadn’t previously entered any writing contests in years, but am so glad I came across your listing for this contest, and was moved enough to write something, albeit very quickly.

Thanks, Brian.

Pearl Adler Saban

 

Hi, Brian.

Thought I would let you know my self-published book, Dancing in the Blue Room, is on Amazon here.

All the best,

John Sargent

 And very appropriate it's available for Pride Month!

Great news, Brian! 

My just-completed third novel, Sparkles and Karim, has been accepted by Middleroad Publishers and is going through the editing process. First and foremost it’s the story of a perilous quest, but one that is character-driven and touches on the realities of the human condition and the roles of belief and duty in the context of armed insurrection.

As you can tell, it’s nothing like my first two published novels, but then they weren’t much like each other, either. Something I’ve learned as a writer, especially in the case of Sparkles and Karim, is how much you learn doing research, kind of a side-benefit.

The story unfolds in Iraq in 2014. ISIS is on a roll. The protagonists are Major Michelle Wilson, age 32, callsign Sparkles, a US fighter pilot, and Karim Hamid, age 21, callsign Black Flag, a US soldier of Iraqi descent, raised in the US and planted inside ISIS by the CIA.

Both break away from their assigned duties and commit serious infractions, albeit for reasons readers will applaud. To escape punishment, they find themselves forced to team up on a perilous mission from Baghdad to Mosul – a city already taken by ISIS – posing as an ISIS couple. He’s an impulsive risk-taker with little sense of fear, she’s a driven, uptight perfectionist. They’re skeptical of each other initially, but as they face betrayal and the barbarity of jihad, they learn to value each other and become a team in ways they had never imagined.

While this story displays an authenticity born of diligent research, it’s important to note that it is not an indictment of Islam.

As for the title Sparkles and Karim, it’s not final yet and my writing buddies are evenly split. If people don’t like it, I’m open to suggestions!

All the best,

Dave

Dave Moores has previously published two books: Windward Legs,  a novel for adults, featuring fast and frisky action both on and off the water. Read an excerpt here,  and it’s available here. And Attitude, a young adult novel available here, both from Middleroad Publishers.

***

If you’ve had a story (or a book!) published, if you’ve won or placed in a writing contest, if you’ve gotten yourself an agent, or if you have any other news, send me an email so I can share your success. As writers, we’re all in this together, and your good news gives us all a boost. 

Also, be sure to let know if you're looking for a writers' group or beta readers; a notice in Quick Brown Fox, will help you find them. 

Email me at: brianhenry@sympatico.ca

See Brian Henry’s upcoming weekly writing classes, one-day workshops, and weekend retreats here.