UK literary agents who specialise in science fiction and fantasy

Hi. just noticed that Christopher Little has a new agent who is now accepting submissions, though it says on their site no sci fi. Maybe they're sick of magic by now...
 
Their site says no science fiction; it doesn't say they won't look at fantasy.

So maybe they aren't sick of magic.
 
I probably should have posted this sooner, but it never occurred to me.

I had come across this website a while back that has a fairly comprehensive list of literary agents. You can search by name, by genre etc. You can also search by author, i.e. I wonder who represents Joe Abercrombie? There is also quite a bit of information about the individual agencies. Are they accepting unsolicited manuscripts? Email or snail mail? How many queries did they have last year? How many were accepted? As I said, the site's quite comprehensive. It seems to have a pretty vast listing (they claim to have over 1200), but I suppose not 'all' agencies would be mentioned.

In any case, here's the link:
Free Database of Literary Agents and Publishers - Query Letter Statistics - QueryTracker.net

Enjoy!

NB:- Please note that this website seems to be based in US, so it's possible their database of UK-based agents might be limited. But still, something's better than nothing, right?

*EDIT* Okay, that was a bad example; looks like Joe Abercrombie isn't listed. So let's go with China Mieville, who the site tells me is represented by a Simon Kavanagh, of Mic Cheetham Literary Agency; a company that, unlike most other agents, seems to have spent more than 17 minutes designing their website.
 
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I said:
UK literary agents who specialise in science fiction and fantasy

You'll notice that not many are listed here. Although other agencies will work with science fiction and fantasy manuscripts, they are not many, and many more actively state that they will not accept submissions for the genre.

What does this mean? It means that you have to be all the more professional in your approach to literary agents in the first place.

Please also note that these agencies are looking for submissions for novels. Short stories are of little financial worth to an agency, and publishers tend to only risk issuing anthologies when they know the author name will sell, or else it is associated with a well publicised competition, such as the Nebula Short Story Awards. And you need to be magazine printed to enter for that.

NOTE: All of the ones listed are reputable established agencies, that do not ask for reading fees, and who recover their main fees as percentantile royalties from books sales of the authors they represent.
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PLEASE NOTE: I moved from Hastings three years ago, and mail is not being forwarded. I don't give out my new address, because I work from home and I don't want paper cluttering the place up! I ask for submissions by e-mail - check my agency website at www.johnjarrold.co.uk for submission guidelines (the first six chapters attached to an e-mail as a Word doc) and the e-mail address - I do all my reading on-screen. And if you have previously sent material by post, please re-send by e-mail.

Thanks!

John Jarrold
 
Hello there- I'm brand new to this website. I actually found it via a Google search for science fiction literary agents- so I must thank all the contributors who have posted useful information here.
 
SJAB said:
Christoper Little does look at SF and Fantasy. (J.K Rowling is one of their clients) But they are closed to submissions at present, as is Zeno.

Just keep checking their sites, the both put up when they are open for short windows.
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Teresa Edgerton said:
Their site says no science fiction; it doesn't say they won't look at fantasy.

So maybe they aren't sick of magic.
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Their entry in Writer's Market UK (2008) said no SF or fantasy, but yes to children's. Just because they represent a huge YA author who happens to write fantasy doesn't mean they are interested in adult SF&F which is a very different market.
 
No, it doesn't, but I was replying only to what was said in the previous post. If the agency specifically says no to fantasy but yes to children's in Writers Market, naturally writers of adult fantasy should assume that they mean it.
 
Anne Lyle said:
Their entry in Writer's Market UK (2008) said no SF or fantasy, but yes to children's. Just because they represent a huge YA author who happens to write fantasy doesn't mean they are interested in adult SF&F which is a very different market.
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Actually they did look at my work, were interested in it and me, and wanted to see my next book, but I signed with Zeno a couple of months later.

They are worth approaching with a query.
 
@Teresa: Sorry, I didn't mean to sound like I was contradicting you. Posted somewhat hastily before going to work!

@SJAB: I stand corrected - I tend to assume that directory entries are accurate (though of course I check websites as well when available). Also, having encountered a lot of agents who run screaming at the mention of fantasy, I tend to assume the worst.

Well done on signing with Zeno, btw - I was most disappointed when I visited their site today to discover they are closed for submissions. Never mind, I have a couple of personal contacts I can work on in the meantime...
 
Anne Lyle;1424294@SJAB: said:
I stand corrected - I tend to assume that directory entries are accurate (though of course I check websites as well when available). Also, having encountered a lot of agents who run screaming at the mention of fantasy, I tend to assume the worst.
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They are not always, a query letter or phone call to an agent to ask if they are willing to look at a submission is always worth while if they seem to be sitting on the fence. A lot of SF and Fantasy is being sold as main stream these days aka "The Road" and "The time Traveller's wife" to name but two.

Do you subscribe to the Locus magazine? It lists what is being published, what is selling by whom to who and is worth having to keep an eye on the market.


Well done on signing with Zeno, btw - I was most disappointed when I visited their site today to discover they are closed for submissions. Never mind, I have a couple of personal contacts I can work on in the meantime...
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Zeno does open for short windows of time. Best to take their RSS feed as they update their guidelines quite often.
 
Glad I came here today as I managed to catch Christopher Little's open submission period! :D Feel like I've been querying forever tbh!
 
i think it's because he doesn't actually need a listing there: he's on the scene, open, and from what little i know, receives hundreds of queries and manuscripts every month via his own website.
 
A couple more I found whilst trawling the Interwebz. Not specialists as such, but they have SF&F clients listed on their sites and/or individual agents who are actively seeking those genres, which is good enough for me!

Conville and Walsh

Submissions, Conville & Walsh Ltd, 2 Ganton Street, London W1F 7QL

Clients include Steven Erikson

Antony Harwood Ltd

Query letter only, via email: mail@antonyharwood.com

Clients include Garth Nix, Geoff Ryman, Paul McAuley
 
I want a specialised fantasy agent for my manuscript.:) who will promisingly accept my work
 
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