I Found An Agent!

Early last week, I shared that I found an agent and amid the well wishes and congratulations were of course, questions from friends and family and so I'll quickly share here, my journey towards finding my agent.

As some of you may have seen, the wonderful Fairy Bookmother aka Aje Roberts sent out a post on Threads, asking for stories from Black and diverse writers. A friend of mine, Venetia Constantine - her debut The Last Starborn Seer is out in March 2026 - alerted me to the post and so I replied to it.

Aje reached out to me off the back of this reply and we scheduled a short but sweet video call about my self published work as well as current works and ideas.

Off the back of this conversation, Aje mentioned speaking to people about me and for a few weeks, that was pretty much it. I hadn't put too much hope or thought into what would come of it, not because I didn't believe Aje lol but simply because I try not to fixate on things that aren't set in stone just yet. I find it best to do in most situations but best to do with anything regarding writing, publishing etc. because its so circumstantial and subjective.

Anyway, from whatever conversations Aje had with whoever, I received three emails from three separate agents over the course of a few weeks and one of them was from the awesome Tianna Kelly at Neighborhood Literary. Tianna and I had met through social media around 2020/2021 and she featured on a Live that author friend Katrina Lewis and I had put together. Having been a guest on our show so when she reached out, it was basically a catch up between old friends who had lost touch which was a wonderful feeling. During a video call with Tianna, - she is based in the US and I'm of course in the UK - we discussed my previously published works, my current projects and generally what i wanted from a career as a writer. Everything aligned so well and I ended up signing with her (and Atlas of course).

What made me sign with Tianna was her wonderfully engaging spirit and enthusiasm for both the types of books she wants to represent as well as my own upcoming stories. She understood me and my thought process in a way that was refreshing and helped me feel settled in knowing that she would champion my stories in a way that I would always be comfortable with. Since she is US based, there was an additional appeal of having someone understand the US market as well as the African-American market which it would be a dream to penetrate should my books ever be picked up. The Black Fantasy space is lacking to say the least in the UK, and having an agent who is a part of a demographic that simply wants the stories was appealing.

Since I was not actively querying when this opportunity presented itself, there is a ways to go before anything new goes on Sub. I am currently drafting that story and once it is complete, Tianna and I will be able to go onto any next steps.

So there it is, my short but sweet road to representation. I first self published in 2020 and my last book came out in 2022. Since then, I have had a baby and podcasted and been on social media but had largely taken a break or step back as I wasnt sure what I wanted to write. As such, this has come about at an unexpected time but it seems the perfect time as I had two WIPs in the chamber that now, I'm able to draft and edit rather than start from scratch.

I look forward to whatever lies ahead and hope you'll stay on the ride with me and see where we can take this thing!

Feel free to reach out if you have any questions about things I've learned so far!