Book Submissions

Our Book Submission Process

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Introduction and Explanation

Dear new writer,

First, can we suggest you subscribe to myagentsecret – our Substack for writers keen to learn about the book industry here.

Second, please note that we are not currently taking on new children’s writers or children’s illustrators. Our submissions interests are detailed below. Don’t submit a book that doesn’t fit our interests. Your time will be better spent finding another agency. 

We’ve created our own book submissions process – a little different than most – which we need you to follow. It’s explained below.

The good news is that we are always looking for new talented writers.

We launch the careers of new authors constantly. We have, of course, an established roster of writers we represent, and the majority of our time is spent supporting those clients and promoting their interests. But we are also hunting for new novelists, new subject experts, new thought leaders and new storytellers. 

Our two agency principals, Ivan Mulcahy and Sallyanne Sweeney, are both originally from Dublin, so it’s no surprise that our list of Irish authors is exceptionally strong. Our agency is London-based meaning we are selling our books to UK publishers in most cases. We represent many well-known British public figures and authors and are equally interested in finding new British writers. 

Edwina de Charnacé, our newly-acquiring agent, is French-Korean, and is interested in writing from around the world. For this reason, we’ve recently added a submissions inbox aimed at writers in East and Southeast Asia. 

Now, to the problem: we receive a huge volume of book submissions. We try to give each new manuscript its due attention, but the sheer amount of them has – in the past – been overwhelming. 

This agency’s new submissions process is an innovative solution to this problem of too many books. It’s explained below. 

Most submissions are neither to our standards nor align with our taste. The quality issue is clear; a great many people submit books to agents that aren’t up to the publication standards of first-rate publishers. It’s clear that they have not sought independent editorial scrutiny and evaluation of their manuscript, by someone with a good eye for writing, before submitting to agents. On the other hand, “taste” is not a value judgement; it just means that we (the agents who read the submission) have not connected with the book; it doesn’t move or excite us. Another agent at a different agency could have a very different response.

If you are based in the US, Canada or continental Europe, seek representation in your home country and do not submit to us. A literary agent based in London is not best placed to offer you good support. 

We want to have a moment to absorb the essence of each writer’s work, to perceive a style, a tone, an originality, an energy or a freshness in the submission. This is why we ask for only a very short sample from your book. Because the submissions are short, we agents can more easily handle the big volume of manuscripts we are sent. When we come across one that excites us, we then ask to see more of the book.  

There are also submissions that display talent and potential, although the book submitted is not quite there. We want to have the time to give feedback to those writers, offering them advice about how their book could be redrafted and resubmitted to us in the future. . 

Let’s be clear though: never submit to an agent to get editorial feedback. There are writer’s groups everywhere, many offering free support. There are low-cost creative writing courses available. There are independent skilled readers to be found via your personal network of connections who can read your manuscript and give you their honest assessment. Use these and only submit to agencies when the book is ready. 

We also want to be certain you have thought about our agency, at least a little. We’re mid-sized; big enough to have all the people needed for foreign rights selling, TV/film rights opportunities, script development, author financial administration and author support. Yet we are small enough that each client matters. We take the time to find you success and we stay with you if that success is a long time in coming. On that, if you’re sending a submission to us, we’re inclined to think that you should have read at least one of our books by an author we represent in the same genre as your own book submission. This is not a strict rule. It’s just the way we think. 

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SUBMISSION GUIDELINES FOR POTENTIAL AUTHORS

In exchange for a fast response time on your manuscript (max. 4-6 weeks), we format our submissions differently from other agencies. 

We have separate inboxes for each book genre. IF YOU DON’T SEE YOUR GENRE LISTED THEN WE ARE NOT CURRENTLY SEEKING A BOOK LIKE YOURS. Please don’t submit. That changes though: we update our submissions interests every few months.

Consider these guidelines in three parts:

Part 1: Sending the email

1. Send to the correct submission email address for your genre (more below)
2. Subject Line of email as follows: [Book Title] – [Author Name]

 

Part 2: Book overview (in the first paragraph of your email)

1. Let us know what subgenre you are writing in (more below)
2. In a few words, what story elements/tropes does your book contain? 
3. Tell us a few comparative titles (‘comps’) for your book. What novels might readers of your book have enjoyed? What bestsellers indicate there is a potential readership for your book? Comps are not limited to books, and can include relevant references to comparable Films, TV Shows and Music.

 

Part 3: Content (to be sent within one PDF or Word Document)

• Write a synopsis of your book that is two hundred (200) words or less. Convey the essence of your proposed book succinctly. If it’s a novel, we want to know its setting, its characters and its most distinctive quality (or ‘hook’). If it’s about a subject in which you are expert, what approach would you intend taking; what topics will you explore? 
• Include an author biography that is two hundred (200) words or less. If you are a novelist, you should summarise your key achievements as a writer. If you are producing a memoir, this is the moment to demonstrate why readers will be interested in your story. Experts should outline their relevant qualifications (whether academic or school-of-life or both). Tell us if you have created a following on social media, or a community that attends events hosted by you or have relationships with well-known people who will provide support for your book (including endorsements).
• Give us a short writing sample of no more than one thousand two hundred words (1200) that provides a taster of your writing. Experts who are not natural writers – please don’t be intimidated by this requirement. If you are a leader in your field with a strong book concept then we want to hear from you. Even better if you’ve got a substantial social media presence. We can pair you with a co-writer or ghost-writer. We’ve done this successfully for many famous people and high-achievers. Novelists are advised that it’s usually best to send us the book’s beginning. Memoirists might pick a particular incident for the extract. Academic experts might decide to select a critical section of the book. But often for both memoirists and academics it is still most straightforward to send us the book’s first 1200 words.
• Please include a very brief statement, fifty to one hundred words (50-100), on why you’re interested in being represented by this agency. Is there an author we represent you admire? Have you heard something of our work? Is there something in the agency’s style that appeals? It may be something as minor as liking the look of our website. The agent-writer relationship demands working closely together, with trust on both sides and professionalism, of course. We are sensitive that there can be a lot personally at stake for a writer at each stage of their career development. We seek to take on new authors with whom we make a connection and can envisage working with for a long time. 

If you have written much or all of your book already, please do not be concerned that we are judging its merits based on such a short sample. First, we review your submission through this process. Then, if we admire what we read, we will ask you to send more of the writing. You will be contacted by one of the agents. 

N.B: We accept that you may want to submit to us and a few other literary agents at the same time. But if you are sending your submission to many agents simultaneously then we would rather not be included. 

If your submission doesn’t follow our guidelines here, it cannot be considered.

We have introduced these changes and specific guidelines to streamline the process and get back to writers as quickly and thoughtfully as we can. This is to avoid things getting lost in a ‘slush pile’, which is as unappealing as it sounds. Our aim is to help you get well published.

We’ve also changed our submission process to reflect our interest in connecting with writers from around the world. We previously only took on writers based in England or Ireland, but are now keen for a growing roster of international clients. However, if you are based in the USA, Canada, or Australia, we are NOT the agency for you. There are plenty of capable agents in those territories better suited to representing you and your book. 

SUBMISSION EMAILS

In order to direct your submission to the right person, we have designated inboxes for each genre of book. If there is no email category for your particular genre, then we are not representing that type of book at the moment. Please do not submit your book anyway into the wrong genre category. However, our submissions inboxes change regularly. To keep up to date with what kinds of manuscripts we are looking for, you can connect with our Substack.

Genre distinctions exist to help readers find what they want to read, to help publishers market your book and therefore to help agents present your book to publishers. 

What genre are you writing? What sub-genre does your book fall under?  Are you writing a cross-genre title? Are you unsure of the answer?  Check the genre list below to see how agents/readers/publishers probably categorise your book.

If you are submitting Non-Fiction, skip now to the Non-Fiction section below. The rest of this here is not relevant to you. 

If you are submitting Fiction, the first decision you must make now is whether your book is essentially Literary or Genre Fiction. This can get confusing and the topic is a fun one for endless debate. Let’s try to keep it simple. 

For us Literary Fiction makes you think. Genre Fiction ideally loses you in the story and its world but doesn’t make you feel differently about your life afterwards. Genre Fiction pulls you into an immersive story with great characters in order to offer you an escape from your day and your world. Literary Fiction can do the same thing but also causes you to think about your own outlook, to see the world a bit differently, to question your own values, to be deliberately taken from your comfort zone and be forced to confront the way we live. 

If your book has elements of Genre Fiction but is at core Literary (see paragraph above), then submit it to our Literary Submissions inbox. EG: A horror story with a literary heart or a book with fantasy tropes that is at root Literary, should be submitted to our Literary inbox. 

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NON-FICTION SUBMISSIONS

Non-Fiction includes all books that aren’t fiction. 

Non-Fiction subgenres we are most interested in are: 

Subject-led Non-Fiction i.e. History, Economics, Politics, Society and Social Change, Science, Psychology, Art History, Literary Criticism as well as Self-Help and Personal Development.

We are not seeking autobiography by people without a public profile. We can recommend private publishers to produce and market such books but they are rarely of interest to mainstream publishers. Of course, it’s not that simple. There can be a personal memoir dimension to a subject-led book where we learn a bit about the author and their relationship with the subject as well as the subject itself. 

We enjoy delving into new areas of knowledge. If you are an established subject-expert with a positive reputation and an original message to convey, we want to hear from you. It’s a joy for us to learn about new subjects; our authors teach us their expertise and we help them convert their knowledge into a book (or books) that will excite readers and capture the attention of leading publishers. 

Writers who already have a significant platform/public persona have an advantage that we are expert in maximising.

We help non-fiction clients with moderate but growing social followings increase their engagement as their book ideas develop. If you have a strong vision, a new way of approaching a topic, have made a start building a following and are savvy enough to build your community alongside your budding book proposal, you’re an apt candidate for representation.

We’ve built a strong list of authors in the Self-Help/Personal Development genre. This is a consistently expanding genre in the book market internationally. In this field we are looking for writers who are EXPERTS first and INFLUENCERS second. 

Please send your four-part submission, as outlined above to: nonfiction@mmbcreative.com 

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FICTION SUBMISSIONS

Literary Fiction

We regularly take on new authors submitted to this literary fiction inbox. They come in many stripes and styles.

Literary fiction is a broad church. But the writing must be exceptionally good. For us, the book could range from a highly accessible, easy to read, largely escapist story, to something more original and distinctive in terms of writing style and approach to capturing the reader’s interest. Do not submit to this inbox if your book neatly belongs on a genre shelf in a bookshop i.e. if it is essentially ‘crime’, ‘romance’, ‘fantasy’ etc. If your story is page-turning and escapist but contains ideas and subjects that are designed to stay in the reader’s mind and leave them to reflect, you can submit here. These kinds of books, thoughtful but engrossing, are typically labelled ‘bookclub’ in the publishing industry. Examples include SORROW AND BLISS by Meg Mason, PACHINKO by Min Jin Lee and LONG ISLAND by Colm Tóibín.

In case you’re sceptical about how often we find new writers in this inbox, here are some recent examples of books submitted here. Recently, we took on a slightly surreal, darkly humorous short novel narrated by a young woman who feels alienated from her family on account of being the first person to get a university degree (in the arts, of all things). Moments of hilarious bewilderment include attending her brother’s American girlfriend’s Pride and Prejudice-themed gender reveal party. Also, we signed up a dual-timeline gothic historical novel about life-size wax dolls that come alive at night to exact revenge on men who’ve in some way harmed or objectified them. Both have successfully been sold to publishers.

The right author with the right book can be assured close scrutiny of their submission here.  At the risk of repeating, we only require a short sample as part of the 4 specific submission signposts to check whether the book matches our interests. We like to give rapid but intentional attention and a quick response to every submission. We continue to find this near-impossible because of the number of submissions we receive that do not meet the brief. We understand you are all desperately searching for the right agent. But if you are sending us a book that does not match what we are looking for, you are only wasting your time, our time, and stealing time from books that align with our current interests. PLEASE take this seriously. Note too, that our interests do change, so you can check our website every few months and see whether we’re now looking for your type of book. But DO NOT submit in the hope of changing our minds. We delete irrelevant submissions without responding.

To be honest, when we see you sending a book that doesn’t fit our explicitly detailed criteria, we judge you not to be good at listening. Our successful authors are great listeners who don’t necessarily agree with our suggestions, but always think closely about them.

There’s a particular affinity for Ireland. Largely because the agency’s two principals grew up in Dublin at different times, both moving to London after university. Both are regularly in Ireland and represent many Irish authors based there. We’re always eager to find exceptional Irish writers for any of the genres that interest us.

Our tastes are our tastes, no matter who you are, where you live and whatever tribe with which you identify. Yet we are always searching for new Irish voices. A distinctive Irish talent excites us greatly. Check out our Irish books page here.

In your book pitch, please clearly state which of the criteria below you’re hitting. It doesn’t need to be all these things and can be a mash up. But there needs to be evidence of at least one of the qualities we’ve highlighted.

We are not making a judgment here. Nor are we positioning ourselves as arbiters of good taste and culture. There is no doubt, that out there is a fabulous novel being submitted to agents that is not meeting our criteria. We accept that. It is our loss. We still don’t want to see it.

We are neither offended nor vexed by enraged emails from new writers furious that our criteria don’t match their book. There are plenty of other agents out there. Go in peace.

To make it super clear, let’s start with the literary book proposals we DON’T want.

We’re currently NOT looking for:

• Allegorical novels: ones largely operating on a metaphorical and/or metaphysical plane.
  • Example: BLUETS by Maggie Nelson. We are huge admirers of Maggie Nelson. One of us even wrote part of their dissertation on THE ARGONAUTS. BLUETS is another fine example of Nelson’s exquisite mastery of language and the power of suggestion. But in order to find someone of that calibre who can convincingly, arrestingly, write a novella-length meditation on their monomaniacal quest for the colour blue, we’d have to sift through 1000 submissions, at least. And we simply don’t have the time to do so.

• Low stakes autofiction or metafiction (very interior, with prolonged philosophical musings on anything, most especially the meaning of life. You wouldn’t believe how many of these we receive). 
• • Example: MY STRUGGLE series by Karl Ove Knausgard. Note the above explanation. Again, this isn’t to say we don’t appreciate this kind of writing. Someone else at the agency derived huge enjoyment from reading 2 of the books in the series. That doesn’t change the reality of choice. We can’t justify the time it would take to find the next breakout 500-page long fictionalised autobiography that readers will read, let alone buy. Maybe a bigger agency can. Business is about choices. The creative business more than any other industry. This is a choice we’re willing to forsake.

• Pure satire or comedic novels: we are open to writing that has elements of satire or moments of comedy. Making the reader laugh is an undeniable challenge for any writer. It’s all about tone. So to commit to comedy and/or satire from beginning to end is a tall order. One we’ve rarely seen well-executed. To avoid misdirection and disappointment, we’re sticking to sprinklings of humour. 

 

We’d love to find:

• Exceptional campus novels : ones that have something else going for them besides comings of age and journeys of personal growth/self-actualisation. These are interesting themes but nowhere near sufficient on their own. Everyone who leaves the nest/ goes to university and transitions from young adulthood to Adulthood is in some way transformed. What about your novel will make the reader CARE? 

• • Example: DISORIENTATION by Elaine Hsieh Chou

• Historical fiction: 

• • Genre crossover with horror, the gothic or the supernatural
  • Bold, irreverent but informative retellings/reimaginings of known or lost historical and fictional figures

• • • Example: JOAN by Katherine J. Chen and JAMES by Percival Everett

• Literary writing NOT set in capital or big cities (especially London) 

• • Example: THE OUTRUN by Amy Liptrot, HUMAN ACTS by Han Kang (tr. Deborah Smith), THE TOPEKA SCHOOL by Ben Lerner

• Absurd/weird storylines and characters: especially writing providing a fresh perspective on subjects that feel tired or taboo 

• • Example: Melissa Broder’s books

• For bookclub fiction, we are especially interested in multi-generational family sagas with a contemporary setting and robust arcs for each character

• • Example: LONG ISLAND COMPROMISE by Taffy Brodesser-Akner, FRESH WATER FOR FLOWERS by Valérie Perrin (tr. Hildegarde Serle)
  • Note that for bookclub submissions, you should highlight 3 possible talking points with some detail. We’re not interested in generic descriptors like ‘family dynamics’, ‘generational trauma’, and the like devoid of specific evidence. 

• Writing that is experimental or playful in form 

• • Especially if formal invention is used to upend or subvert the sometimes predictable or formulaic elements of genre writing. For instance, an urban fantasy written in the style of an internet novel, or an unreliably narrated horror, or a literary thriller pieced together from archival footage 
  • Example: I’M A FAN by Sheena Patel, BOY PARTS by Eliza Clark, FINGERSMITH by Sarah Waters

Please send your four-part submission, as outlined above to: literaryfiction@mmbcreative.com 

Genre Fiction

WE ARE CURRENTLY NOT LOOKING FOR SCIENCE FICTION, HISTORICAL FICTION OR ROMANCE.

HOWEVER, if your book is literary fiction with a science fiction/romance/historical element that meets the criteria outlined in our literary fiction inbox brief (above), please submit to that inbox.

DO NOT SEND books that don’t fit our brief. Once again, you’re wasting our time, your time and taking time away from authors submitting books that fit our brief.

Fantasy

Fantasy books flout the ‘rules’ of reality and scientific fact. They feature magical and supernatural elements that don’t exist in the real world, as opposed to relying on concepts that might exist under different technological or scientific circumstances, as in Sci-Fi. There are levels to this. Harder fantasy usually involves a great deal of world-building, with entire imaginary universes and ecosystems created. Lighter fantasy typically introduces fantastical elements to a recognisable setting. Our wishlist includes books similar to Tahereh Mafi’s SHATTER ME series and Emily McIntire’s HOOKED. We’re less keen on things reminiscent of Percy Jackson or Twilight. 

Sub-genres we’re most interested in:

Romantasy, Light Fantasy, Fairytale fantasy, Portal Fantasy, Dark Fantasy, Magical Realism.

We aren’t interested in:

Dystopian fantasy, Superhero Fantasy, YA Fantasy, Urban Fantasy, Steampunk Fantasy, Science Fantasy.

Please send your four-part submission, as outlined above to: fantasy@mmbcreative.com 

Horror 

By Horror, we mean novels that creep us out – and horrify us. Take this widely. As well as being interested in manuscripts that remind us of mainstream horror lit such as KING, we also mean books that disgust, like LAPVONA by Ottessa Moshfegh, or books that take you into a horrifying perspective like TAMPA by Alissa Nutting or BOY PARTS by Eliza Clark. We are also interested in receiving manuscripts that might be borderline horror, but have a distinctly dark edge; think GONE GIRL by Gillian Flynn.

Our agent Edwina, who is half-Korean, is especially interested in Korean Horror. If you’re a Korean writer or are based in Korea, please send your horror submission to asiansubmissions@mmbcreative.com. Horror crossovers like Mona Awad’s BUNNY are very welcome, as are horror-adjacent storylines like Netflix’s Beef. Horror short story collections with metaphorical or fairytale elements will be looked upon favourably. Comparative books would be Angela Carter’s novels in this genre and Bora Chung’s CURSED BUNNY.

Please take note of what we are not seeking. Always remember, this is not a judgement against those genres or your book. Our preferences are our taste, the kind of books we enjoy selling and our insight into what publishers are looking for and what we’re confident we can sell well.

We are NOT interested in: Slashers, Gore, Gratuitous Violence, Comic Horror, Science Fiction Horror

We are interested in: Dark Fiction, Fairytale Horror, Gothic, Psychological, Domestic Horror.

Please send your four-part submission, as outlined above, to: horror@mmbcreative.com 

Sub-genres we’re most interested in:

Dark Fiction, Fairytale Horror, Comic Horror, Gothic, Psychological, Domestic Horror, Sci-Fi Horror.

We aren’t interested in:

Slashers, Gore, Gratuitous Violence.

Please send your four-part submission, as outlined above to: horror@mmbcreative.com 

Writers from East and Southeast Asia

For writing from East and Southeast Asia, we are prioritising authors with an Asian background (people with Asian ancestry or those who have lived in Asia long enough to be meaningfully immersed in the culture). If you’re a caucasian bloke called Bob who still can’t use chopsticks after a decade living in Hong Kong, it’s probably best you submit elsewhere. 

For this inbox, we are exclusively interested in:

Memoir, Essay Collections, Family Sagas, Short Stories, Campus Novels, Romantasy, Contemporary Romance, Light Fantasy and Horror.

Please send your four-part submission, as outlined above to: asiansubmissions@mmbcreative.com 

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