Crafting Compelling Book Pitches: Key Insights for Writers

How do you write a great query letter, find the right agent, and stand out in today’s crowded submissions inbox? In this special compilation episode, four top literary agents: Ed Wilson, Lucinda Halpern, Madeleine Milburn & Sam Copeland, share their honest advice on getting signed, writing marketable books, and navigating today's publishing industry.

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Timestamps:

Ed Wilson - 1:01
Lucinda Literary -  19:11
Madeleine Milburn - 37:20
Sam Copeland - 48:47
 

ABOUT THE LITERARY AGENTS 

Ed Wilson is a literary agent and director at Johnson & Alcock, a London-based literary agency with a diverse and developing list of authors of fiction and nonfiction. He represents everything from award-winning literary fiction to bestselling crime, science-fiction, and fantasy. 

• Ed's profile at Johnson & Alcock
• Ed's Twitter account
• Johnson & Alcock's submission guidelines
• Full LWS episode: #071: Ed Wilson — Submitting to Agents & Navigating Publishing, Junior vs Experienced Agents, How to Follow up with Agents, Smaller vs Larger Literary Agencies

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Lucinda Literary is a New York literary agent and the author of Get Signed: Find an Agent, Land a Book Deal, and Become a Published Author. She represents a range of New York Times and internationally bestselling authors in the categories of business, health, lifestyle, popular science, narrative nonfiction, memoir, and upmarket fiction. 

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• Get Signed: Find an Agent, Land a Book Deal, and Become a Published Author
• Lucinda Literary
• Follow up question? Get in touch with Lucinda here.
• Full LWS episode: #96: Lucinda Halpern — How to Get Signed With a Literary Agent, Unlock Your Book’s Big Idea, Query Letter Essentials, Unconventional Ways to Engage With Beta-Readers

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Madeleine Milburn has been responsible for discovering some of the highest-selling and award-winning contemporary authors who consistently hit the bestseller lists in the New York Times, including Nita Prose (The Maid), Costa Book Award winner and bestseller Gail Honeyman (Eleanor Oliphant is Completely Fine). She represents bestselling crime and thriller brands including C.L. Taylor, C.J Tudor, Mark Edwards and Teresa Driscoll.

• Website
• Submitting your work to the Madeleine Milburn Agency
• Full LWS episode:  #064: Madeleine Milburn — Catching an Agent's Eye & Building an Author-First Agency

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Sam Copeland was shortlisted for Literary Agent of the Year at the 2020 and 2021 British Book Awards and selected for the Bookseller's Most Influential People in Publishing in 2020. He welcomes e-mail submissions and can be contacted on sam@rcwlitagency.com. He is also a children’s author.  His Charlie Changes series was shortlisted for the Waterstones Children's Book of the Year shortlisted

• Sam Copeland 
• RCW Literary Agency
• Full LWS episode: #118: Sam Copeland — How to Catch The Eye Of A Literary Agent, Compelling Pitch Letters & Writing Funny Children’s Fiction

For show notes, transcripts and to attend our live podcasts visit: podcast.londonwriterssalon.com.

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