Updated 9/18/23
Here are five agents seeking books for children in all genres, from picture books, to middle grade, up to books for young adults. Always check the agency website and agent bio before submitting. Agents can switch agencies or close their lists, and submission requirements can change.
You can find a full list of agents actively seeking new clients here: Agents Seeking Clients.
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Ms. Lucy Irvine of Peters Fraser & Dunlop (UK)
Lucy Irvine is an Associate Agent, working with Silvia Molteni on PFD’s children’s list. 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 her new role in June 2019.
What she is seeking: She is actively building her own list, and is looking particularly for commercial Middle Grade and YA – both fiction and non-fiction – along with picture books, illustrated fiction for younger readers, and graphic novels.
How to submit: Please send the first three chapters of your novel or non-fiction project, as well as a full synopsis along with your query to: lirvine@pfd.co.uk
Tori Sharp joined The Jennifer De Chiara Literary Agency as an Associate Literary Agent in 2020 after interning for two years. Tori has a BFA in Sequential Art from the Savannah College of Art and Design, and her graphic memoir, JUST PRETEND, is forthcoming from Little, Brown in spring 2021. When she’s not reading, writing, or making comics, she can be found swing and blues dancing, playing tabletop games, or exploring coffee shops in beautiful Seattle, WA.
What she is seeking: Children's literature: graphic novels, MG, YA (especially SFF).
How to submit: Please email a one-page query letter to querytori.jdlit@gmail.com. Please include “Query” and the title of your project in the subject line and paste the first twenty pages of your manuscript below your query letter. Graphic novelists should paste a one- to two-page synopsis and five to ten finished sample pages in the body of the email. Please include a full link to your online portfolio in your query. Please do not use link shorteners like bit.ly. Graphic novelists do not need a full script or thumbnail draft in order to query, but have a thorough synopsis available upon request.
Ms. Joyce Sweeney of The Seymour Agency
Joyce Sweeney has worn a lot of hats. She is the author of fourteen novels for young adults, and two chapbooks of poetry. She created and managed a local theater company in South Florida for ten years, mentoring local playwrights, producing and directing their plays. For the past twenty-five years, she has taught creative writing, both in person and online, and has mentored over sixty of her students to traditional publishing contracts. She has edited countless manuscripts and will be the quintessential ‘editorial agent’.
What she is seeking: In Picture Books: Fiction or non-fiction. I am drawn to lyrical voices, fun syntax and offbeat concepts. I like unusual characters, and plots that make me cry or laugh out loud. Illustrator/authors welcome and rhyme (if you REALLY know how to do it) is fine. Diversity, please. Most of all, be unique. In Middle Grade: I am especially drawn to humor, fantasy and sci-fi, but a realistic novel that makes me cry will work too. Actively looking for graphic novels. Advocate of books for boys. Would love to see more LGBTQ as well.
How to submit: For queries, send an email to joyce@theseymouragency.com.
Ms. Jas Perry of KT Literary
Lucy Irvine is an Associate Agent, working with Silvia Molteni on PFD’s children’s list. 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 her new role in June 2019.
What she is seeking: She is actively building her own list, and is looking particularly for commercial Middle Grade and YA – both fiction and non-fiction – along with picture books, illustrated fiction for younger readers, and graphic novels.
How to submit: Please send the first three chapters of your novel or non-fiction project, as well as a full synopsis along with your query to: lirvine@pfd.co.uk
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Tori Sharp joined The Jennifer De Chiara Literary Agency as an Associate Literary Agent in 2020 after interning for two years. Tori has a BFA in Sequential Art from the Savannah College of Art and Design, and her graphic memoir, JUST PRETEND, is forthcoming from Little, Brown in spring 2021. When she’s not reading, writing, or making comics, she can be found swing and blues dancing, playing tabletop games, or exploring coffee shops in beautiful Seattle, WA.
What she is seeking: Children's literature: graphic novels, MG, YA (especially SFF).
How to submit: Please email a one-page query letter to querytori.jdlit@gmail.com. Please include “Query” and the title of your project in the subject line and paste the first twenty pages of your manuscript below your query letter. Graphic novelists should paste a one- to two-page synopsis and five to ten finished sample pages in the body of the email. Please include a full link to your online portfolio in your query. Please do not use link shorteners like bit.ly. Graphic novelists do not need a full script or thumbnail draft in order to query, but have a thorough synopsis available upon request.
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Ms. Kelly Dyksterhouse of The Tobias Literary Agency
"I graduated from Vermont College of Fine Arts in 2014 with an MFA in Writing and have not looked back. My stories and articles have been published in magazines and my YA story, Match Point, was a finalist for the Katherine Patterson Award. I have interned for several literary agencies and have acted as editorial reader for Hunger Mountain Literary Magazine’s Katherine Paterson Prize. I enjoy speaking and teaching on writing craft and leading writing workshops. Over the years, I’ve seen over 20 projects, from picture books to novels, evolve from rough manuscripts to polished books on store shelves."
What she is seeking: Books for children and young adults.
How to submit: Use her submission form HERE.
"I graduated from Vermont College of Fine Arts in 2014 with an MFA in Writing and have not looked back. My stories and articles have been published in magazines and my YA story, Match Point, was a finalist for the Katherine Patterson Award. I have interned for several literary agencies and have acted as editorial reader for Hunger Mountain Literary Magazine’s Katherine Paterson Prize. I enjoy speaking and teaching on writing craft and leading writing workshops. Over the years, I’ve seen over 20 projects, from picture books to novels, evolve from rough manuscripts to polished books on store shelves."
What she is seeking: Books for children and young adults.
How to submit: Use her submission form HERE.
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Joyce Sweeney has worn a lot of hats. She is the author of fourteen novels for young adults, and two chapbooks of poetry. She created and managed a local theater company in South Florida for ten years, mentoring local playwrights, producing and directing their plays. For the past twenty-five years, she has taught creative writing, both in person and online, and has mentored over sixty of her students to traditional publishing contracts. She has edited countless manuscripts and will be the quintessential ‘editorial agent’.
What she is seeking: In Picture Books: Fiction or non-fiction. I am drawn to lyrical voices, fun syntax and offbeat concepts. I like unusual characters, and plots that make me cry or laugh out loud. Illustrator/authors welcome and rhyme (if you REALLY know how to do it) is fine. Diversity, please. Most of all, be unique. In Middle Grade: I am especially drawn to humor, fantasy and sci-fi, but a realistic novel that makes me cry will work too. Actively looking for graphic novels. Advocate of books for boys. Would love to see more LGBTQ as well.
How to submit: For queries, send an email to joyce@theseymouragency.com.
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TEMPORARILY CLOSED TO QUERIES
Jas Perry is a freelance editor and Manhattan-based associate agent with kt literary. She attended New York University in Florence and London before graduating with a degree in English from CUNY Hunter College. She was awarded the We Need Diverse Books Internship Grant and held several editorial intern positions with Levine Querido and Scholastic’s Arthur A. Levine Books, where she assisted on titles by Kelly Yang, Varian Johnson, Daniel José Older, Eric Gansworth, A.S. King, Francisco X Stork, and Cherie Priest, among others. Jas is Black American/Japanese and interested in representing a diverse range of strong voices — especially by disabled and/or QTPOC creators. She particularly enjoys dark contemporary fiction, offbeat humor, (Alondra Nelson-defined) Afrofuturism, and bold SFF that makes her think.
What she is seeking: Jas is seeking middle grade and young adult fiction from BIPOC creators only.
How to submit: Please email your query letter and the first three pages of your manuscript in the body of the email to Jas at jasquery@ktliterary.com.
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