One 2 One slots with agents and publishers are available for registered onsite delegates only. These places are limited and will be allocated on a first come basis. Watch out for your delegates’ mailing in June with a link to book a slot.
Online One 2 Ones – week beginning 2 September
Elinor Davies
Madeleine Milburn Agency
Elinor Davies is an Associate Agent at Madeleine Milburn Agency. She has recently opened for submissions and is keen to find some historical fiction writers and projects. The agency specialises in launching debut authors, International rights and book to screen adaptations.
Elinor joined MMA in 2021 having graduated from Oxford Brookes University with a degree in Publishing Media after a career-change away from holistic therapy. She primarily assisted Hayley Steed with her commercial/upmarket fiction list before recently becoming an Associate. She has been a freelance editor for the Faber Academy and a mentor with Asian Women Writers and Jericho Writers. Elinor works closely with agent Hannah Todd while building her own list of commercial and upmarket fiction.
https://www.madeleinemilburn.co.uk
Kate Burke
Blake Friedmann Literary Agency
Before becoming an agent, Kate was an editor for ten years, publishing fiction at Penguin, HarperCollins and Random House. Over the past ten years as an agent, she has built up a wide-ranging list of prize-winning and bestselling crime and thriller writers, and authors of contemporary and historical women’s fiction, and she is currently open to submissions.
She takes a hands-on approach to working with authors on their manuscripts, editing and developing their work, with a view to developing long-term writing careers.
She loves crime series featuring new and fresh lead investigators; high-concept thrillers (contemporary or historical) that have a ‘what if?’ plot structure and say something about our society now or then.
On the historical fiction side, she loves stories which combine a great sense of place and time (ideally, post-1800) with a mystery. She is also a huge fan of anything set in a spooky old house so Gothic, atmospheric historical thrillers are also top of her wishlist!
http://blakefriedmann.co.uk/kate-burke
At the Conference
The following agents and publishers have so far confirmed. More details coming soon.
Amy Durant
Sapere Books Publishers
Amy Durant started her career in digital publishing and has edited best-selling Kindle firsts from authors including Michael Arnold, David Boyle, Deborah Swift and Priscilla Masters. She’s passionate about historical fiction, and also has a keen interest in crime fiction and women’s fiction. Amy is one of Sapere Books’ co-founders and is Editorial Director. Find out more about her here and follow her on Twitter: @SavingBooks
Craig Lye
Canelo Books Publishers
Craig Lye is an editor with a background in historical fiction, having previously worked at Weidenfeld & Nicolson and Orion on authors including Ben Kane, Christian Cameron and Simon Turney, among others. At Canelo he is seeking historical, thriller and action/adventure titles. Craig is a Commissioning Editor at Canelo.
Francesca Riccardi
Kate Nash Literary Agency
Francesca Riccardi is a literary agent at Kate Nash Literary Agency. She has previously worked in sales roles at HarperCollins, Constable & Robinson, Atlantic Books (where she was recognised as a 2017 Bookseller Rising Star), and most recently was sales and marketing director for Canelo. She has worked with authors including Robert Fabbri, Alis Hawkins, Jean Fullerton, Steven Saylor, Katie Daysh, Vicki Beeby, and Alex Gerlis.
Francesca enjoys character-driven popular commercial fiction with a strong voice and sense of place. She is particularly interested in historical fiction in the crime and adventure subgenres that showcases lesser-known experiences and/or female and diverse voices.
Joanna Swainson
Hardman and Swainson Literary Agents
Joanna is an agent with London-based literary agency Hardman and Swainson. Their authors include Michael Jecks, Emma Darwin, and Dinah Jeffries. She says:
‘After a degree in French I ran a business for several years, providing a range of copy writing and editing services. My love of books and an interest in writing led me to freelance for a number of literary agents, including one of the most commercial agencies in London.
Submissions are the life blood of publishing but many need further work and development. I really enjoy the editorial side of agenting and am endlessly fascinated by writing – what works and why.
I met Caroline Hardman while working as a reader and in-house editor for Christopher Little. When the opportunity arose to set up Hardman & Swainson it was too good to miss.
Growing up I read an unhealthy number of Agatha Christies and hard-boiled detective novels and I love crime fiction from both sides of the Atlantic. After school, while travelling through France and Spain and living in a tent, I read all the novels of Charles Dickens. So I guess I’ve always been a bookworm.’
https://www.hardmanswainson.com
Jon Wood
RCW Literary Agency
Jon Wood has worked in UK publishing for over twenty-five years. Starting off as a publisher with Orion, he moved to RCW Literary Agency in 2019, becoming a director in 2022. He runs a growing list of bestselling and critically-acclaimed fiction and non-fiction writers including Ian Rankin, Denise Mina, Joanne Harris, Steve Cavanagh, Anthony Quinn and The Estate of Terry Pratchett. He has a particular interest and expertise in the long-term brand management of established writers.
In fiction, his particular interests are general commercial (including crime and thriller, book group, upmarket fiction), historical, SF and Fantasy. In non-fiction, he works on history, sport, and popular science.
Lisa Highton
Jenny Brown Associates
Lisa Highton joined Jenny Brown Associates as an Associate Agent in 2022 and represents S. G. MacLean. In 2023 the agency held its inaugural Debut Novel Over 50 Award with over 1700 entries. Until 2021, Lisa was Publisher of Two Roads, an imprint of John Murray Press/Hachette where she published authors including Kirsty Wark, Sally Magnusson, Monty Don, Ruth Hogan and Janet Ellis.
Over a long career in publishing both in the UK and Australia where she was publishing director of Doubleday, HarperCollins and then Hodder, Lisa has published many bestsellers. Her passions are distinctive storytelling (often historical) finding those hidden stories with emotional heart and then connecting those stories with readers. She is one of the judges for the HNS 2024 First Chapters Competition.
https://jennybrownassociates.com
The Historical Novel Society UK 2024 conference 