Hannah Schofield

I am a British-Luxembourgish literary agent currently based in London at LBA agency. I represent a wide range of adult fiction, with select non-fiction and YA. I am a voracious and eclectic reader, and my client list reflects that – I can get excited about a swoony commercial romance one day, and a deeply-researched popular history project the next. While I do have areas in which I won’t usually venture (if you want to win the Booker Prize, I’m not the agent for you!), I’m always open to being surprised, so if you think we might be a good match, please do consider sending your query my way!

Fiction:

In fiction, my taste runs more commercial than literary, though some of my favourite novels sit in the sweet spot between the two, like Yaa Gyasi’s Transcendent Kingdom, Nussaibah Younis’s Fundamentally or anything by Curtis Sittenfeld. I gravitate towards books that are shot through with humour – if you’re pitching a romcom, I want there to be laughs; and I enjoy books with a dark or offbeat sense of humour too, like Margo’s Got Money Troubles.

I’m eagerly looking for juicy page-turners and highbrow beach reads, where low-stakes interpersonal drama – perhaps in a family, friend group, workplace or local community – feels incredibly high-stakes. Think: I Hope This Finds You Well by Natalie Sue or Bad Summer People by Emma Rosenblum. I’d also really love a sister story a la Three Wishes by Liane Moriarty.

I love love, and never get tired of finding a new couple to root for. I am so lucky to have a brilliant roster of clients writing romcoms so am particularly selective in this area; I’d want to find something that’s putting a new spin on the genre, or perhaps genre-blending. I’m especially on the hunt for a big-hearted love story that feels epic and perhaps spans many years or decades. I always want yearning: I can’t get enough of Haley Cass, Tia Williams and Carley Fortune so if you have something that could be a comp to these authors, please consider sending it my way.

I’m keen to find some genuinely different-feeling historical fiction or historical fantasy, especially if the setting is neither Britain nor America in the vein of The Familiar and The Warm Hands of Ghosts with incredibly immersive settings and rich evocation of the past.

In the darker side of fiction (thriller, mystery, suspense) my taste runs the gamut, but a clear and hooky premise will always stand out, and I tend to want my reads female-led. I’d love to see some sharp, relentlessly entertaining thrillers or mysteries – perhaps with a horror-lite twist – that have complex characters at their hearts, and a deep sense of place: Rachel Hawkins, S A Cosby and Megan Miranda are all favourites in this area. I’m particularly seeking mysteries and thrillers for a twenty-something audience.

I’m also want books which straddle suspense and book club, with strong women leads, that interrogate the world around us and what it means to be a woman in it (though I am not interested in excessive, on-page violence against women), like Bright Young Women by Jessica Knoll or The Lagos Wife by Vanessa Walters. I’m also drawn to antiheroines (with a righteous cause?!) like in Blood Sugar or The Lies I Tell.

YA was my first love in publishing, and forms a small and passionate part of my list. I’m excited to add more talent in that area, especially from the UK and Ireland. Top of my wishlist is a first love story for everyone rediscovering Jenny Han’s gorgeous summer romances, or anything which has the leap-off-the-page voice of Nina Kenwood’s It Sounded Better In My Head.

Non-fiction:

I’m very selective in this area, but please think of me for popular history, particularly areas that have been under-taught in western education or women’s/domestic/family/social history – I would always be delighted to hear from experts in those fields.

I also love deep dive explorations of niche areas of culture, in the vein of Alice Robb’s personal and sociological examination of ballet in Don’t Think, Dear. Got this for gymnastics, musical theatre, or choral music? Please send my way!

In narrative non-fiction, I wanted to be hooked by a story so outlandish it could be fiction, and am a big fan of non-murder-y true crime, especially with a strong character or cast to anchor the plot, like in the shows Dopesick and The Dropout.

Missed connections:

Here are a few projects that I would have loved to bring to my list – if you have something similar please think of me!

• A tropey second-chance romance with a speculative twist, set in a hyper-specific subculture.
• A juicy drama centring on the leadership team (and their long-suffering children) at an elite private school.
• A gorgeous upmarket love story about a truly three-branched love triangle, with truly astonishing characterisation. (I cried three times!)
• A fantasy academic-rivals-to-lovers romance, which was witchy and fun without being cosy.

I’m not the right fit for:

Children’s books, sci-fi, very grisly horror, all-vibes-no-plot, or a book without speechmarks.

Submission Guidelines

Please submit to me via my submissions email, which can be found (along with FAQs about querying) on the LBA website.

Guidelines & Details