Hannah Schofield

Literary Agent

Hannah speaks to us directly about her love for writing below.

I joined LBA in 2018 and am building a list of commercial and reading-group fiction, and select non-fiction. I previously worked for a literary scout and in translation rights, and I grew up in Luxembourg, so I have a strong working knowledge of the global publishing market and always bring an international eye to my reading.

I am also on the Bridge Committee for early-career agents at the Association of Authors' Agents as a Careers and Development officer. In 2022 I was thrilled to win the RNA Agent of the Year award.

What I’m looking for:

Across all the below genres, I particularly welcome submissions from writers from communities that have been underrepresented in mainstream publishing, including LGBTQ+ authors, disabled and neurodivergent authors, and authors of colour.

Please note that I’m not the right agent for children’s books, sci-fi or horror, or a book without speechmarks.

Fiction:

I read voraciously and eclectically; my taste runs more commercial than literary, though some of my favourite novels sit in the sweet spot between the two, like Kiley Reid’s Such A Fun Age, Yaa Gyasi’s Transcendent Kingdom, or anything by Curtis Sittenfeld.

I love romance novels that could be delicious Netflix movies and that have strong subplots, as in Head Over Heels by Hannah Orenstein or Beach Read by Emily Henry. I like a healthy dose of ‘com’ in my romcoms: Last Tang Standing and Yinka, Where is Your Huzband? do this brilliantly and I’m keen to find something similar.

In the thriller/suspense genre I generally want my reads to be female-led. A powerful sense of place is key for me – e.g. the insular communities in Jane Harper's and Megan Miranda’s novels. I'm also drawn to antiheroines (with a righteous cause?!) like in Blood Sugar or The Lies I Tell – and I adored My Sister, The Serial Killer, but that’s probably my limit on something that’s on the zany side.

I can’t get enough of novels set on campus, and/or with the backdrop of a performing art – If We Were Villains is top tier, and I loved the twist on psychopaths in Never Saw Me Coming.

I’m on the lookout for meaty YA or crossover projects like The Miseducation of Cameron Post, The Black Kids, or Sadie – especially something that plays with formats like Sadie does. And I’d love to find a brilliant British YA contemporary for the Sex Education audience, or that feels like a Taylor Swift song!

For the reading-group market, I resonate with novels centred around motherhood, sisterhood, or women’s personal journeys – often with a side of heartbreak like in The Mothers by Brit Bennett, or a talking-point theme, for example: If I Had Your Face by Frances Cha. I also love evocative historical novels, especially if they’re set somewhere other than Britain or America.

Non-fiction:

I’d love to see proposals on self-development for women in their twenties and thirties, be that in personal or professional spheres, with the accessible style of authors such as Laura Whateley, Candice Braithwaite, and Cate Sevilla.

In narrative non-fiction or memoir, I’m interested in projects that speak to our current moment and often have a thread of humour, like Are You There God? It’s Me, Ellen. I’d be especially keen to see proposals in this area from British and Irish authors in underrepresented communities.

I’m also very into history, particularly women’s/domestic/family/social history and non-Eurocentric history, and would always be happy to hear from experts in those fields.

Non-murdery true crime is another great love of mine, whether it’s serious, like Empire of Pain, or ridiculous (My Friend Anna). I want to be hooked by a story so outlandish it could be fiction!