Christabel McKinley
David Higham Associates
My Manuscript Wish List®
A lifelong love of reading and a year’s stint teaching English literature in Seoul brought me to publishing, where I’ve been an agent for seven years at David Higham Associates in London. My clients are based around the world and create amazing works in the middle grade, young adult, graphic novel, adult fantasy, romantasy & sci-fi spaces.
Above all, I’m drawn to a clear and confident authorial voice that allows me to feel I’m in good hands instantly. For children’s writing, it’s important to me that the voice comes across as authentically child-orientated, and the protagonist should always invite you in. No matter the genre or age group, the setting should always feel like a main character. I’m partial to an unlikely hero, oddballs and misfits, genre-defying set-ups, a setting I’m unfamiliar with or have never seen before, female friendship & female rage, a fanfiction style of voice, queer love, slowburn romance & UST, broken people healing each other, eternal hopefulness.
Whether your story features any of those asepcts or not, I read very widely and I’m still keen to see it. I don’t follow trends and only invest in writing and stories I love, ideally for an author’s entire career. I’m not able to respond to every submission, but I read everything and consider every submission carefully. I have immense respect for anyone brave enough to put themselves out there!
Fun facts about me:
- I used to live in Seoul, have a degree in Russian, and am half Turkish: I speak each of these languages to varying degrees (though none as well as I would like!) and always love to see submissions influenced by these cultures.
- I am born on Christmas and have a twin brother. We both have Christmas-themed names 🙂
- I am a VERY old school Kpop fan, and have seen Shinhwa in concert – twice!
- My greatest dream is to be a witch who serves fancy and gently magical teas from around the world in a little cafe on a blustery coast somewhere. It could still happen…
Submission Guidelines
Submissions should be emailed to christabelsubmissions@davidhigham.co.uk; childrenssubmissions@davidhigham.co.uk
Please send a synopsis and opening three chapters, each as a Word format attachment. Your cover letter should be in the body of the email.
Children’s or Young Adult submissions: childrenssubmissions(at)davidhigham.co.uk
Adult submisisons: christabelsubmissions(at)davidhigham.co.uk
Vital Info
Favorite sub-genres:
Adult Romantasy, Asian Fantasy, Children's and Young Adult Fiction and Nonfiction, Cozy Fantasy, Diverse Protagonists, Fairytale Retellings, Fantasy, Fantasy Romance, Fantasy YA, Female Friendships, Feminist SF/F, Folklore, Gothic, Graphic Novels, Historical Fantasy, Horror Comedy, Immigrant Voices, LGBTQ+ Fantasy, LGBTQ+ Sci-Fi, MG Fantasy, MG Sci-Fi, Magical Realism, Middle Grade, Middle Grade Contemporary, Middle Grade Fantasy, Middle Grade Graphic Novels, Multicultural, Mythology, Near-future SF, New Adult, Paranormal Romance, SWANA Fantasy, SWANA Horror, SWANA Sci-Fi, Space Opera, Underrepresented Voices, Urban Fantasy, YA Contemporary, YA Crossover, YA Historical Fantasy, YA RomCom, YA Romance, YA Romantasy, YA Sci-fi, YA Thrillers, Young Adult, Zombies, dark academia, dark fantasy, fantasy of manners, found family, gaslamp fantasy, non-Western fantasy, non-Western historical fiction, romantasy, romantic New Adult, romantic fantasy, witches
I’d like the next…
- near-future grounded sci-fi with humour and heart, in the vein of the TV show Upload
- a young ‘found family’ series or standalone with the quirky fantasy feel of the animation Owl House
- absolutely lushly built fantasy world with a SWANA-inspired setting like The Daevabad Trilogy
- joyful coming-of-age story with an interesting format, like The Princess Diaries
- clever and innovative approach to a classic monster world, be it vampires, werewolves or other
My favorites include…
Howl’s Moving Castle – both the book and the film – are my happy place <3
