Peter Buckman, Ampersand Agency
Handles literary and commercial fiction and non-fiction. Contemporary and historical novels, crime, thrillers, women’s fiction, memoirs, history, biography, cookery - anything as long as it's well written. No fantasy / sci-fi / horror though.

Julia Churchill, Greenhouse Literary Agency
The Greenhouse agency handles authors writing for children and young adults. The agency does not handle adult fiction or non-fiction.

Jamie Coleman, Toby Eady Associates
Jamie is an agent with Toby Eady Associates, where he is developing his own list of authors. He's interested in all genres, other than fantasy. The agency tends towards the literary, though with some thriller, crime and historical as well. Jamie is never sure how to describe what he’s looking for, but he knows it when he reads it

Barry Cunningham, The Chicken House
Barry is arguably the best known children's publisher in the world, whose authors have included Roald Dahl, JK Rowling, and countless other bestsellers. See the website for more info.

Jon Elek, AP Watt
Jon represents a wide range of authors, from music books and poetry to commercial fiction, popular philosophy, cookery and memoir. He is very keen to expand his commercial fiction list and would welcome proposals for romantic comedies, high-tech thrillers and crime novels.

Lucy Gilmour, Harlequin Mills & Boon
Lucy is interested to see commercial fiction over the full range published by Mills & Boon - which includes historical, crime and thrillers, as well as the traditional romance and erotica.

John Jarrold, John Jarrold Literary Agent
John specialises in representing sci-fi, fantasy and horror authors, writing for the adult market. He does not handle authors outside these genres.

Jane Johnson See personal website
Author of historical fiction (Crossed Bones / The Tenth Gift) and a tremendously successful publisher of fantasy fiction. Consultant to the Lord of the Rings film trilogy - and still works as Fiction Publishing Director for HarperCollins. Will look at historical fiction & fantasy.

Jane Judd, Jane Judd Literary Agency
Interested in full-length fiction (from literary to genre – in particular women’s fiction, crime, historical and young adult) and general non-fiction (self-help, popular history, film/TV subjects, memoirs, biography, travel, women's issues). Would love to find quirky and surprising subjects in both fiction and non-fiction. (Personal interests include cats, Spanish, scuba diving, ballet and classical music.)

Zöe King, Darley Anderson
Zöe is an Associate Agent for the Darley Anderson Literary, TV and Film Agency. Her non-fiction ranges from cookbooks to narrative non-fiction and miscellany. She will work with any person or theme she finds interesting and that has commercial appeal.

Meg Lewis, Harlequin Mills & Boon
Meg is interested to see commercial fiction over the full range published by Mills & Boon - which includes historical, crime and thrillers, as well as the traditional romance and erotica.

Andrew Lownie, Andrew Lownie Literary Agency
Andrew is one the UK's leading non-fiction agents, with a special interest in history and biography.

Oliver Munson, Blake Friedmann
Oliver has particular interests in commercial fiction, popular non-fiction and sports writing.

Lynne Patrick, Creme de la Crime Publishers
Creme de la Crime is set up to encourage and develop new crime writing talent. Lynne welcomes crime novels with elements of other genres: erotica, horror or historical, for example, or futurecrime

Genevieve Pegg, Orion Publishing
Part of the Hachette Group, the UK's biggest publisher, Orion is particularly known for its outstanding crime & thriller list, but do see the website for the full range. Genevieve herself has tastes ranging from the gothic to the nostalgic, and handles both fiction & non-fiction.

Claire Siemaszkiewicz, Total-E-Bound (Erotic Romance Publishers)
Seeking erotic, romantic fiction. See company website for more info about the current publishing catalogue.

David Smith, Annette Green Authors' Agents
David is a partner in the agency, and is looking for fiction and non-fiction of all kinds. His aim is to give excellence the exposure it deserves.  His only requirements are great subjects or stories, compelling characters and exceptional writing.

Simon Trewin, United Agents
Eclectic tastes, both fiction and non-fiction. Love the quirky, unconventional - and above all a challenge!

Jo Unwin, Conville & Walsh
Jo joined Conville and Walsh as an agent in 2008, leaving behind a successful career as a writer for children’s television and consultant for Aardman Features. Jo says "I’ll be starting at C & W with a completely clean slate, so please do send me your book projects! I’m looking to build a quality list of both British and international writers."

Isabel White, Isabel White Literary Agent
Eclectic tastes. Loves compelling, intelligent fiction and non-fiction projects from genuine experts. Prefers to avoid traditional romance & traditional fantasy.

The Book Doctors are in

The core skill of agents is in identifying and selling marketable work. Book doctors are professional authors who excel at identifying editorial issues and offering constructive advice on how to fix it. Most delegates to the Festival will do well to book a mixture of slots with agents and book doctors, to get an all-round view of their work.

Please note that when a book doctor identifies work that may be marketable, they will alert the Festival organisers, who will in turn pass that work to a suitable agent.


Imran Ahmad (info)
A master of biography, but will happy advise on any creative non-fiction

Kate Allan (info)
One of the moving forces behind the Festival, Kate is also a successful romantic novelist and represents a short list of authors as a literary agent.

Debi Alper (info)
Author of tough, urban comedies and a very experienced consultant with the Writers' Workshop.

Harry Bingham (info)
Novelist and non-fiction author with HarperCollins / 4th Estate. Also the MD of the Writers' Workshop. Also commissioned by A&C Black to write Getting Published, which will be a sister title to the Writers' & Artists' Yearbook.

Julie Cohen (info)
Julie writes fun, emotional, and sometimes quite strange romantic novels for Headline’s Little Black Dress imprint and for Harlequin Mills & Boon. She's also a reader for Cornerstones Literary Consultancy.

Emma Darwin (info)
A bestselling literary novelist, a course tutor for the Open University, and a hugely respected literary consultant for the Writers' Workshop.

Emily Diamand (info)
Prize winning children's fiction author with Chicken House.

Roger Ellory (info)
A limited number of book doctor slots are available with this bestselling, prize-winning thriller writer.

Toby Frost (info)
Sci-fi and fantasy author with Mymidon Books. Happy to advise on any sci-fi, fantasy or horror fiction.

Adèle Geras (info)
Adèle has written more than 90 books for adults, children and teenagers. Check out her website for more info.

Veronica Henry (info)
Successful novelist and scriptwriter. Specialises in broad canvas relationship dramas, including Just a Family Affair and Marriage and Other Games.

Linda Jones (info)
Author, journalist and owner of freelance media agency Passionate Media. Author of freelancers' bible, Freelance Writing. Works with all non-fiction, short or long.

Sue Moorcroft (info)
Author of romantic fiction. Also author of Love Writing: How to make money writing romantic or erotic fiction.

Fiona Shaw (info)
Author of a serious non-fiction autobiography and two literary historical novels. Also Royal Literary Fund fellow at York University.

Jeremy Sheldon (info)
Jeremy is the author of literary fiction, and is also a well-known book doctor and workshop leader. Jeremy also has extensive experience as script consultant to the UK film industry, so he will look at screenplays as well as novels.

Sally Spedding (info)
Writes haunting crime mysteries. Will look at crime, thrillers, horror ... anything creepy.

Val Tyler (info)
A prize-shortlisted children's author, and a very experienced consultant for the Writers' Workshop.