Christopher Little Literary Agency

[Shaba]

Open for submissions now and I think this would be the best time to query them for two good reasons:

1. They were the ones who handled the Potter series.
2. Now that Rowling has departed from them and her long time agent, I'm guessing they are looking for the next big thing to rep. I'm also guessing they probably have a lot of pull in the literary world aka publishers. What other agency can say "We represented the biggest author of the latter half of the 90s and all of the 2000s"

[Samara Jensen]

Thanks for the tip, Shaba!

I'm going to start querying UK agents this week, so I'll definitely send a query to this agency. I've been wanting to query them for years, but they've always been closed to submissions - I'm not going to miss this opportunity!

[lauralam]

I'm going to try to, but I'm having a hell of a time finding a specific agent to query. Anyone got the scoop? I'm not about to send them a "Dear Agent" letter. Would just "Dear Christopher Literary Agency" suffice?

[Shaba]

You're welcome Samara:-). You are so close to making it!

Lauralam, I'm not sure. I'm all the way from Long Island, New York. I want to send it to this agency and I probably will but I'm not sure how much, a query, synopsis and the three first chapters (60 pages for me) would cost to mail overseas. Hopefully it won't weigh too much.

[Samara Jensen]

Originally Posted by lauralam

I'm going to try to, but I'm having a hell of a time finding a specific agent to query. Anyone got the scoop? I'm not about to send them a "Dear Agent" letter. Would just "Dear Christopher Literary Agency" suffice?

Hi Laura,

I've been doing a bit of research on the agency today and I have come up with the following agents:

Christopher Little (JK Rowling's former agent)
Caroline Hardman (representes Michele Gorman, Rosie Fiore, Sophia Bennett, Ellie Campbell, KR Moorhead, Terry Westby-Nunn)
Kellee Nunley
Emma Schlesinger
Sarah Cahusac

I couldn't find any info on who those last three agents rep - I'm not even sure they're still with the agency - but it's a start at least. I think I might query Caroline Hardman, as she seems to rep a few young adult titles.

Best of luck with your query!

[lauralam]

Sounds like a good plan, as they probably share queries around. I just need to finally punch my query into shape. QLH has been a great help.

[Cyia]

Christopher Little is a UK agency, they don't want a query of the sort you'd find in QLH. (So said Mr. Little's assistant when I queried.) They do cover letter and three chapters. Find guidelines for a UK submission and follow them.

[lauralam]

Ah, right, thanks for that. UK Cover letters seem so boring, and mine's woefully short. No synopsis?

[Nomadicsx]

I queried if I could submit my opening chaps and they said yes (about a week ago). It says on their website that they're closed to subs, so I was quite surprised they agreed to see my work. Just goes to show that you should query an agent whether they're open to subs or not. If you write an intriguing query letter, they'll want to take a look (maybe).

[notyourchambermaid]

Originally Posted by Nomadicsx

I queried if I could submit my opening chaps and they said yes (about a week ago). It says on their website that they're closed to subs, so I was quite surprised they agreed to see my work. Just goes to show that you should query an agent whether they're open to subs or not. If you write an intriguing query letter, they'll want to take a look (maybe).

Always something to be careful with though - have heard some agents specifically comment on people asking or submitting work when the website says 'no thank you', it can indicate not having done research! Tricky business, this...