Hannah Sheppard
Hannah Sheppard Literary Agency
My Manuscript Wish List®
HS-LA is a boutique agency run by Hannah Sheppard. Hannah puts authors at the heart of everything she does; from helping you to develop your ideas for commercial success with expert, collaborative editorial work, to being your number one fan and shouting about your stories as loudly as she can – she is here to build careers that flourish.
Hannah wants publishing to embrace the change that’s needed to open the doors to a wider range of voices and aims for the Hannah Sheppard Literary Agency to be part of driving that change.
Fun facts about me:
In 2021 I ran a half-marathon every month (it was a stupid thought I had at the beginning of the year, partly as a result of pandemic cabin fever I think, to see if I could do it and linked to the realisation that a half marathon is 21k which matched the year).
I love to swim and paddle board – I can’t wait for the warmer weather to get back out on the boards.
In winter you’re more likely to find me doing some knitting or crochet – but I am horribly slow at both.
I live on the south coast of England with my husband, and our cat who came free with the house we moved into. We’re both smitten.
Submission Guidelines
Our submission window is from the 1st to the 7th of each month. During that time please visit the submissions page on our website and use the submission form. Please do not email submissions – these will not be read.
, 
, 
, 
Vital Info
Favorite sub-genres:
#Dis, #ownvoices, Accessible Literary Fiction, Activism, Adult, Adult Horror, Adult Rom Com, African Diaspora, African Fantasy, Amateur Sleuth Mysteries, Asian Diaspora, Asian Fantasy, Asian Horror, BIPOC, BIPOC Fantasy, BIPOC Horror, BIPOC Mystery, Chicklit, Children's, Commercial MG, Commercial Women's Fiction, Commercial YA, Commercial adult fiction, Contemporary Romance, Contemporary YA, Contemporary Young Adult, Cozy Mystery, Cozy mysteries, Crime & Thriller, Crime Fiction, Cross-genre, Dark Female Friendships, Disability, Diversity, Domestic Fiction, Female Friendships, Feminism, Feminist, Feminist Horror, Found Families, Funny MG, Gothic, Gothic Horror, Grounded fantasy, High Concept, High-Concept Literary Commercial Fiction, High-concept YA, High-concept YA/MG, Humor, Humor YA, LGBT YA, LGBTQ Contemporary, LGBTQ Romance, LGBTQ+, LGBTQ+ rom coms, LGBTQIA, LGBTQIAP, MG, MG Fantasy, MG Horror, MG adventure, MG contemporary, MG mystery, Magic, Magic Realism, Marginalized Voices, Middle Grade Adventure, Middle Grade Contemporary, Middle Grade Fantasy, Middle Grade Horror, Middle Grade Humor, Middle Grade Mystery, Middle grade magical realism, Monsters, Mothers and Daughters, Mysteries, Mystery / Crime, Narrative Nonfiction, Nature Writing, Own Voices, Paranormal, Paranormal Horror, Psychological Thrillers, Rom-com, Romance, Romantic Comedy, Speculative, Speculative Fiction, Speculative Thriller, Thriller, Thrillers, Time Travel Romance, Underrepresented Voices, Upmarket Commercial Fiction, Upmarket Women's Fiction, Women's Fiction, Worldbuilding, YA, YA Contemporary, YA Contemporary Romance, YA Contemporary Romance with layers, YA Crossover, YA Fantasy, YA Rom-Coms, YA RomCom, YA Romance, YA Thrillers, YA horror, YA rom com, Young Adult, beach reads, body horror, book club fiction, commercial middle grade, commerical, commerical women's fiction, contemporary MG, contemporary middle grade, contemporary women's fiction, crossover, crossover appeal, dark academia, diverse and own voices, diverse voices, feminine narratives, horror, locked room, love stories, queer horror, queer narratives, witches
I’d like the next…
There is nothing more exciting to me than finding a new author to join the agency. Please use the form below to send me your submission.
I represent both adult and children’s fiction (as well as a small amount of non-fiction) and, more than anything, I want to be entertained by a great story while caring deeply about your characters.
In general, I love bold, distinctive voices, intriguing stories with a strong hook and flawed characters with something to learn. I want characters who are truly diverse – let’s be inclusive, body positive and joyful in our representation. I also like big, mind-bending ideas and combinations of genres that feel fresh and create something new…
And more specifically, I’m on the lookout for:
Children’s/YA Fiction Wishlist
- An author/illustrator working in graphic novels or highly integrated illustrated middle grade or YA fiction
- Funny fiction with a unique hook (ideally not school based, but still real world)
- A contemporary romance with a gorgeous, unique meet-cute and an eye on popular tropes
- A YA story (love or otherwise) featuring rarely explored relationship dynamics…maybe polyamory, maybe the TQIA+ areas of LGB (although I also welcome these) – where those aspects are not the issue the character needs to overcome
- A heart-string pulling animal/child friendship
- Spooky! Across all age groups. Added humour? Sure. Point Horror-esque? Please. Anything scary, spine-tingling or full of bumps in the night, send it my way.
- A story for any age range about female rage – a girl who is allowed to be angry, one that shows how it’s OK, and often useful, to be angry.
A note on picture books – while I do represent a small number of these, it is usually where the author is also writing for another age group and the reality is that I probably need to fall in love with the work for an older age group first.
Children’s and YA books I have loved recently: When Women were Dragons by Kelly Barnhill, No Big Deal by Bethany Rutter, Unraveller by Frances Hardinge, Twin Crowns by Catherine Doyle and Katherine Webber, Bitterthorn by Kat Dunn, Greenwild by Pari Thomson, Divine Rivals by Rebecca Ross.
Adult Fiction Wishlist
- High concept, pacy, twisty, hooky thrillers
- I’ve realised recently that I LOVE an ingenious misdirection…think Clare Mackintosh’s I Let You Go or Alice Feeney’s Sometimes I Lie and Rock Paper Scissors. I want to be tricked into thinking I’m reading one thing only to have the rug pulled from under me
- Epic love stories with a speculative twist
- A crime thriller that focuses on cold cases – I love the psychology of the criminal who has lived for years thinking they’ve got away with something only for it to be exposed and the police are slowly circling in…I’m fascinated by the grey areas where bad things happen but the reasons are completely understandable
- Big family/friendship group stories that will make me cry
- A book with a big, possibly speculative, idea at its heart
- I’m intrigued by the idea of a RomCom/love story featuring Polyamory where everyone ends up happy
- I’d also love an LGBTQ RomCom featuring older characters
- Familiar genres but with unexpected characters – think Brynne Weaver’s The Butcher & The Blackbird which is a romance about two serial killers
- Horror! Everyone seems to be asking for this at the moment…
Adult fiction I have loved recently: The Husbands by Holly Gramazio, The Cartographers by Peng Shepherd, Babel by R. F. Kuang, Lessons in Chemistry by Bonnie Garmus, A Lady’s Guide to Fortune-Hunting by Sophie Irwin, Rock Paper Scissors by Alice Feeney, The Unsinkable Greta James by Jennifer E. Smith, Murder in the Family by Cara Hunter, Maybe Next Time by Cesca Major, The Book Eaters by Sunyi Dean, Butter by Asako Yuzuki (translated by Polly Barton)
Non-Fiction Wishlist
I only represent a small amount of non-fiction but where I do it tends to be narrative non-fiction or books that align with my feminism, seek to make the world a better place, and will ultimately help us take down the white, capitalist patriarchy.
Non-fiction I have loved recently: Untamed by Glennon Doyle, Why We Swim by Bonnie Tsui, Period Power by Maisie Hill, Disfigured: On Fairy Tales, Disability and Making Space by Amanda Leduc, Heal Your Way Forward: The Co-Conspirator’s Guide to an Antiracist future by Myisha T Hill, Everyday Utopia by Kristen R. Ghodsee, Doppleganger by Naomi Klein, Experiments in Imagining Otherwise by Lola Olufemi
