Welcome.
We do things differently.
Drawing on our years of experience in publishing, bookselling and agenting we’re focused on finding new voices and untold stories, helping authors turn their ideas into books and supporting them at each point in their writing career.
We are proud to represent a diverse range of writers who are talented, passionate and who write with real purpose. Working closely with our authors from the inception of their ideas, through to submission, publication and beyond, we help them turn their dream of writing into a long, happy and successful career. Publishing can be a bewildering industry and we’re passionate about making it as inclusive and open as possible so we strive to demystify the publishing process for first-time writers.
Led by our editorial instincts, we enjoy working closely and collaboratively with all our authors both on and off the page. We pride ourselves on finding authors the perfect home for their work, negotiating the best possible deal and helping to build a strong team behind them. We work with Emily Randle of Randle Editorial & Literary Consultancy for our foreign rights and with a select number of film & TV co-agents to sell the rights to our clients’ work internationally, in all formats and mediums.
Meet the agents…
Charlotte Colwill
Charlotte is now open to submissions.
I began my career as a bookseller in independent bookshops in London and Melbourne, most recently running the children’s department at Foyles, Charing Cross Road, before becoming an agent in 2018. I have worked at Tibor Jones and Jo Unwin Literary Agency, as well as building my own list of brilliant authors.
I am always looking for fiction with a unique voice and compelling story, with something new to say. I love unusual perspectives, dark twists and sharp writing. At the moment I’m particularly on the lookout for smart romance with an edge, page-turning historical dramas, literary horror or science fiction with a contemporary resonance and literary fiction that is funny and moving, with a brand new hook. Novels I wish I had discovered as an agent include Little by Edward Carey, Boy Parts by Eliza Clark, Assembly by Natasha Brown, Shuggie Bain by Douglas Stuart and Meddling Kids by Edgar Cantero.
In children’s books I am open to both fiction and non-fiction for all ages, from picture books to Young Adult. At the moment I am really looking for a funny and engaging author/illustrator with a fresh new series for young readers (5+), middle grade fiction with a new hook, brilliant world-building and characters we haven’t seen before, and in YA I’m looking for homegrown fantasy fiction, high concept contemporary stories and books about unusual relationships. In children’s non-fiction I’d love to see books that tackle curriculum subjects in a brand new and super engaging way, and real life stories for middle grade and YA readers. Children’s books I would have loved to represent include Knighthood for Beginners by Elys Dolan, The Murderer’s Ape by Jakob Wegelius and Gay Club by Simon James Green.
Photo by Thea Courtney
Kay Peddle
I am now closed to submissions from 1 December 2024 to end Jan 2025 while I catch up on all the lovely submissions sent in over the autumn. If you submitted before then please be patient and I will get back to you. In the meantime have a wonderful festive break.
I believe in the power of books to change the world.
As a non-fiction editor at Penguin Random House I was always on the lookout for books that illuminated, educated and informed; books that told familiar stories in a completely original way; non-fiction writing that broke down barriers and connected people. I have spent nearly a decade finding and working on important non-fiction writing: first at the serious non-fiction imprint The Bodley Head – where I worked with distinguished authors such as Simon Schama, Misha Glenny, Roger Penrose and Ed Vulliamy – and then at the online human rights magazine, Lacuna. In 2019 I became a literary agent and created Kay Peddle Literary representing authors such as Helen Graves, Astrid Madimba and Chinny Ukata from the It’s a Continent podcast, Kimberly McIntosh, Joe Mulhall, Richard Smyth and Kerri Andrews amongst many other amazing writers.
As an agent, I am looking for books that spark discussion, that have the potential to change opinions and reveal hidden aspects of a familiar story – by writers who have the craft of writing at the heart of what they do. I am interested in narrative non-fiction; literary memoir; cookery & food writing; travel writing; nature writing; journalism with a social justice angle; politics; current affairs; history and popular science. To give you an idea of my taste, books I haven’t worked on but admire and love are Educated by Tara Westover; Nothing to Envy by Barbara Demick; Stasiland by Anna Funder; Don’t let’s Go to the Dogs Tonight by Alexandra Fuller; Iceberg by Marion Coutts; and anything by MFK Fisher and Joan Didion. I love books that reveal a secret side to a familiar profession – Henry Marsh’s Do No Harm; Adam Kay’s This is Going to Hurt; Direct Red by Gabriel Weston and Skyfaring by Mark Vanhoenacker. Recently I have enjoyed Conversations on Love by Natasha Lunn; I Feel Bad About My Neck by the queen Nora Ephron; Between the World and Me by Ta-Nehisi Coates; Wow, No Thank You by Samantha Irby; Notes to Self by Emilie Pine and This is Not a Pity Memoir by Abi Morgan.
Photo by Thea Courtney
Milly Reilly
Milly is currently closed to submissions. If you submitted your work to her before 6th March 2024, it is under consideration.
I joined Colwill & Peddle in 2023, prior to which I worked at Jo Unwin Literary Agency for over six years. As an agent, I love working closely with authors to consider the different and generative ways of presenting a story, argument, or idea within their writing.
In non-fiction, my taste is broad. I’m on the look-out for informed, illuminating writing that challenges readers to think and live critically and imaginatively. Topics that interest me include food, art, comedy, the natural world, human behaviour and psychology, illness and medicine, and the social and political. I represent writers of memoir and creative non-fiction, where I’m particularly excited by bold, perceptive writing that interrogates the means of telling a story. Some examples of non-fiction books that I admire include Atul Gawande’s Being Mortal, Lola Olufemi’s Feminism Interrupted, Rebecca Solnit’s Hope in the Dark, Oliver Burkeman’s 4000 Weeks, Preti Taneja’s Aftermath, Juno Mac and Molly Smith’s Revolting Prostitutes, and Amia Srinivasan’s The Right to Sex.
When it comes to fiction, I’m drawn to brutally honest, character-driven stories that delve into inner lives and social dynamics. I like a story that deals with darkness and complexity but is not without hope, and writing that is playful and poetic. Some of my favourite novelists include Zadie Smith, Elizabeth Strout, Sheila Heti, Arundhati Roy, and Helen Oyeyemi.
I live in Norwich and am always interested to hear from authors based in East Anglia. I don’t represent children’s, YA, sci-fi, fantasy or crime.
Photo by Thea Courtney
Members of the Association of Authors’ Agents
Foreign and US rights handled by