Profile Summary
Penny worked as an agent for the Caroline Sheldon Literary Agency for ten years before deciding to start her own agency with Claire Cartey, former art director for Hodder Children's Books in 2015. With their combined skills, Penny and Claire have set up an already flourishing agency focused on children's authors and illustrators. While the agency is especially well-equipped to handle picture books, Penny is interested in books for children of all ages. Her previous experience also includes Walker Books and Candlewick Press, as well as serving as the Secretary of the Association of Authors' Agents for two years.
If there is one piece of advice Penny would give to any hopeful writer it would be to read more. One of her pet peeves is to receive a submission from an author who doesn't know the market they are aiming for very well or when their book is too reductive of other books already out there. She is looking for a great story that is both relevant to the age group as well as a unique plot.
Noting the trend in 'darker' young adult novels, Penny has expressed a love of books with humour. The grittier novels flooding the market at the moment tend to be young adult/adult crossover novels. What she would love to see is a brilliant humourous middle-grade novel. For older children, it is more important to hit the right emotional notes while maintaining a strong plot. Penny has expressed a love of ghost story writer M R James. She would like to find an equivalent new writer for young adult readers.
If you do want to approach Penny with your work, please read through her submission guidelines carefully. She has regularly noted her disdain for authors who don't research the agents to which they are submitting, such as writing impersonal cover letters to a generic pronoun rather than the agents name.
