The authors I represent and others who are listed under my bio give you an idea of the range of my taste. I love books of fiction or non-fiction that explore globally relevant themes, that transport the reader on a surprising journey across boundaries of culture, and sometimes even of genre; storytelling that dismantles walls and builds bridges, challenging and deepening the reader's understanding of self and other, of society, language, art, or humanity.
I also love a crime, suspense or horor novel that hooks me from the first page to the last.
I never thought I would be an agent of books for young people until Jack Cheng delivered his manuscript to me, See You in the Cosmos, with an 11-year-old narrator who grabbed my heart and also made me laugh, and that I quickly sold in the US and UK and to international publishers. I am still looking for outstanding new middle grade voices but I will not consider graphic novels, picture books or young adult.I do not want to read or consider or represent authors who use generative AI for their writing. Besides the infuriating ethical concerns about Big Tech companies and their disregard for authors, books, humanity and the environment, among the risks of using generative AI for writing: passages that are AI-produced are not copyrightable therefore your complete work will not be copyrightable; and including even small amounts of AI-generated text could make a work ineligible for some awards or you could be in violation of warranties in a publishing agreement.
The Agency does not use AI to evaluate or edit an author's manuscript. The Agency does not use AI for for purposes such as generating emails, summaries, or marketing copy. The Agency does not use AI detection software. If we decide to work together we will start with honest conversations to establish trust.
If you've written something you think I will enjoy reading then email me, succinctly describing your work and your background. Please do not paste in a sample of your manuscript. If I am interested in your query I will respond to request a sample. I do not have time to respond to every query and will only respond to queries that interest me, but if you do not hear back from me within one month after your initial query then feel free to check in. If I have requested a sample of your work or your complete manuscript, then please give me at least six – eight weeks to respond.
For some additional guidelines about what makes a submission stand out to me see this interview
Submit a synopsis of the work for consideration and a brief biography via this link
We have become aware of scam emails using our agency's identity. Scammers are impersonating publishing industry professionals expressing interest in an author's work and offering fake contracts or services. If you receive an email from a publisher or agent out of the blue it may well be a scam, and if you respond you might find it extremely difficult to extricate yourself. There is nothing anyone can do to stop this. All we can do is be vigilant. Check email addresses carefully to make sure that they conform to the standard format for the organisation contacting you with no additional words or unusual punctuation. Subtle inversions of letters are common. Gmail addresses are almost universally used by the aggressive AI-driven marketing and impersonation scams.
We'll never contact you from an email address that doesn't end with @craigliterary.com
And we will never ask you for money to consider your submission.
For more information see The Authors Guild article and the WriterBeware blog
