Submission guidelines

What I’m looking for in new submissions is constantly evolving, often in response to what I’ve been able to read recently just for the pleasure of it, books that I take on holiday in the knowledge they are going satisfy and take me somewhere new and interesting. Novels that have served me well recently, in areas where I’d love to see more submissions, include:

HOW TO KILL YOUR FAMILY by Bella Mackie, THE LAST DAY by Andrew Hunter Murray, THE MAID by Nita Prose, SORROW AND BLISS by Meg Mason, BIG SWISS by Jen Beagin, YELLOW FACE by RF Kuang, THE SISTERS BROTHERS by Patrick deWitt,  SLOW HORSES by Mick Herron, MY NAME IS LEON by Kit de Waal, THE APPEAL by Janice Hallett, LULLABY by Leïla Slimani, SHY CREATURES, the brilliant new novel, not yet published, by my colleague Judith’s author Clare Chambers, GIRL WOMAN OTHER by Bernardine Evaristo, CIRCE by Madeline Miller, REALLY GOOD ACTUALLY by Monica Heisey. In non-fiction I’ve been reading and particularly enjoying memoirs such as I AM, I AM, I AM: Seventeen Brushes With Death by Maggie O'Farrell and THIS IS NOT A PITY MEMOIR by Abi Morgan and re-reading MIDNIGHT IN THE GARDEN OF GOOD AND EVIL by John Berendt.

In submissions often what catches my eye is when an author seems to have an interesting new take on a genre. When the historical crime writer CJ Sansom joined us in 2002 with his first novel DISSOLUTION, I fell in love first with the manuscript, without a thought for how it might fit into the commercial market. At that point in time there was effectively nothing comparable in the world of crime fiction, except maybe for Ellis Peters’ Caedfael novels. CJ Sansom started a significant trend and I do now represent a number of brilliant, bestselling authors of historical fiction, whether crime or otherwise, and I’m always on the hunt for more. More often than not these novels take a well-known tipping point in history. This isn’t a requirement but it can help. What I’m looking for is characters who embody the dilemmas of their time but whose struggles also shine a light on our lives today.

It’s often the points of difference that speak to me, whether it’s literary or commercial, contemporary or historical. I’d love to hear how you think your book fits into what’s already out there, and the books that inspired you, but I’d also love to hear about what gives your work a clear identity of its own particularly if you’re writing from a point of view or community marginalised and neglected by publishing.

I always want to see contemporary crime novels and thrillers.

As for non-fiction, the tantalising thing about it is that it’s possible to write a best-seller or a prize-winner on pretty much any subject (in recent years I’ve represented books on lemons, David Bowie, violins, money, the Periodic Table, astrobiology, stonemasonry, human failure, the whole universe, the Riemann Hypothesis, suicide bombing, and the novel NINETEEN EIGHTY FOUR). It’s a matter of choosing your angle and working out how to make a page-turning story out of your material so in terms of submissions to me I don’t think there are any subjects that are off-limits.

When submitting to me, please send the full manuscript of your work, alongside your synopsis.

I'm loving reading romance at the moment: some of my favourite recent novels are: THINGS WE NEVER GOT OVER by Lucy Score; NORA GOES OFF SCRIPT by Annabel Monaghan; IT HAPPENED ONE SUMMER by Tessa Bailey and HAPPY PLACE by Emily Henry. Please send me something wonderful in this area!

I love eeriness and weirdness in novels – explorations of the uncanniness and oddness (at times) of desire and how powerful our imaginations are – so Julia Armfield’s OUR WIVES UNDER THE SEA is right up my street. Armfield’s examination of the shapeshifting qualities of her characters’ imaginations and bodies is disquieting, wryly funny at times, and intensely moving. I still think about this novel – it was published a few years ago – it really got under my skin. And it reminded me of that other great modern novel of big ideas and bodily transformation, UNDER THE SKIN by Michel Faber. I love that novel. My favourite uncanny read of the last few years though was Susanna Clarke’s fabulous PIRANESI. Such incredibly intricate and magical world-building, and the most delightful and loveable narrator.

I am also looking for crime fiction, please send me something new, something surprising.

What I am looking for in a submission:

I want to find joy and inspiration in the submissions I am reading. I want to read about humanity being altruistic and courageous and visionary - and overcoming the terrifying challenges of our current world and changing our future for the better for all of us. I want fiction that helps me be optimistic and hopeful and resilient. But I also want to be distracted, and taken out of myself and my own head and away from my own fears and worries and tiny first world life problems more than ever. And I want a good laugh too sometimes. So I also want fiction that is fun and immersive and distracting, and makes me want to press the novel into the hands of all my friends because it will be such a gift and a comfort to us in our troubled times.

Please be aware I am not on social media: there are impersonator accounts contacting authors/writers claiming to be me. If you receive any messages from these accounts, please report them.

If you have been contacted by someone claiming to be Judith Murray, please email: info@greeneheaton.co.uk.

I love working on literary fiction and upmarket commercial fiction, of all different kinds, and I'm always on the lookout for meditative or moving novels about modern life. I prefer warmth and heart to coldness or ennui, although I love novels with a bit of bite and sharpness to them. Recently I loved WE ALL WANT IMPOSSIBLE THINGS by Katherine Newman and SMALL THINGS LIKE THESE by Claire Keegan - both desperately sad stories, but with love and the importance of caring for each other shining through. One of my favourite novels of last year was THE WEDDING PEOPLE by Alison Espach, which tackles big and difficult themes but is one of the most genuinely life-affirming books I've read. I love stories about female friendships or conversely groups of women who don't get on, such as the hugely fun BAD SUMMER PEOPLE by Emma Rosenblum. I am always looking for historical and period fiction which sheds light on untold stories, like the fantastic IN MEMORIAM by Alice Winn, or historical mysteries or ambitious cross-centuries narratives, like RED AT THE BONE by Jacqueline Woodson or NORTH WOODS by Daniel Mason, both brilliantly ambitious in scope and structure.

I'm also always on the lookout for a high concept love story that will sweep me away and make me cry happy or sad tears - recently I have adored TALKING AT NIGHT by Claire Daverley, ROMANTIC COMEDY by Curtis Sittenfeld, and of course THE PAPER PALACE by Miranda Cowley Heller. At the more commercial end of fiction, I love funny novels with warmth and romantic comedies with a bit of depth. I think I’ve probably read every book by the masterful Marian Keyes. I love feeling feelings - give me your well-worn beloved romantic tropes with a fresh angle and gorgeous writing, like SLOW DANCE by Rainbow Rowell.

I’m keen on darkness and a claustrophobic feel in novels, from gothic to horror to murder mysteries to ghost stories to psychological thrillers to speculative/magical realist fiction to novels that feel like true crime, or intense and emotional narratives about dark things, and I think being truly scared by a story is one of the most difficult things a writer can achieve. I love weird and wonderful stories with unexpected twists, I love being amazed by an author’s imagination, but I also love brilliantly plotted conventional murder mysteries or procedurals, as long as there’s something fresh and exciting about it. Recent favourites with a dark bent include HOW TO KILL YOUR FAMILY by Bella Mackie, MY SISTER, THE SERIAL KILLER by Oyinkan Braithwaite, THE WARM HANDS OF GHOSTS by Katherine Arden, and everything by Catriona Ward and Tom Hindle.

Most of all I’m looking for novels I haven’t read before – something unusual structurally or thematically, something that shines a light on a subject the author is passionate about, something that’ll break my heart or raise my blood in an entirely new way. I don’t want protagonists in novels to hold a mirror up to my own life, I want them to show me an open door into theirs. I’m always looking to promote diverse voices from across the globe, and I’m particularly keen on LGBTQI+ stories.

Some of my other favourite novelists, the ones whose new books I’ve always got on pre-order, are Lauren Groff, Ned Beauman, Patrick deWitt, Sarah Winman, Sjon, Attica Locke, Elizabeth Strout, Megan Abbott, Leila Slimani, Rene Denfeld, Sarah Moss, and Colson Whitehead.

I also have a very small list of young adult and middle grade fiction, which I love working on. I’m looking for something that feels current and contemporary, with a real conversation at its core. I’m not currently looking for fantasy, or anything younger than middle grade.

On the non-fiction side, I love working on memoirs of extraordinary people, or narrative non-fiction about something the author feels passionately about. I’ve worked on many books about mental health, and I’m interested in untold stories across popular science, history and popular culture. I’d also really like to find a brilliant true crime book. Cookery, wellness and lifestyle would be a better fit for one of my brilliant colleagues.

Without wanting to be too prescriptive (and allowing for overlap!), here are three kinds of novels I'd especially like to read right now...

1. Fiction that unsettles ! Provocative novels about darkness and desire (shame, obsession, power, etc.) that are often morally ambiguous and emotionally risky. I love literary fiction charged with thriller, noir, or psychological horror, like Susanna Moore’s In the Cut, Milk Fed by Melissa Broder, Hurricane Season by Fernanda Melchor, All Fours by Miranda July, Open Throat by Henry Hoke, and anything by Patricia Highsmith.

2. Past & future haunting ! Speculative and gothic novels that explore grief, repressed desire, climate, technological dread, colonialism, or the aftershocks of history. I am drawn to novels that feel haunted by land, time, family, or memory, like Fever Dream by Samanta Schweblin, Dreamland by Rosa Rankin-Gee, The Employees by Olga Ravn, The Safekeep by Yael van der Wouden, Our Wives Under the Sea by Julia Armfield, Briefly, A Delicious Life by Nell Stevens, Vagabonds! by Eloghosa Osunde, and Plain Bad Heroines by Emily M. Danforth. Extremely specifically, please send me a speculative campus novel, a feminist body horror, a ghost story or haunted house novel that satirizes institutional power.

3. Big-hearted, funny novels ! Voice-driven fiction with a sharp sense of humour, a touch of absurdity and emotional heft, like Greta & Valdin by Rebecca K. Reilly, Martyr! by Kaveh Akbar, Big Swiss by Jen Beagin, Mostly Dead Things by Kristen Arnett, and Paul Takes the Form of a Mortal Girl by Andrea Lawlor. I like messy family dramas, campy queer tragedies, rural romances, with a clever, self-aware take on identity, relationships, and community.

In non-fiction, I'm keen to work with academics and journalists. I'm interested in history, popular science, political writing, investigative journalism, cultural criticism, memoir, biography, nature, and food. I've sold books on a range of subjects by those I do represent e.g. heat, mythology, domestic objects, perversion, the future, wild mountain shelters, British Chinese history, the internet, endings... I'm looking for writers that can spark curiosity no matter the subject, and marry vivid narrative with deep research. I enjoy working on proposals, too, and I'm happy to speak to non-fiction writers in the early stages of a project.

I'm looking for political and cultural commentaries like Doppelganger by Naomi Klein, The Right to Sex by Amia Srinivasan, The Transgender Issue by Shon Faye, The Age of Surveillance Capitalism by Shoshana Zuboff; mind-bending non-fiction like Entangled Life by Merlin Sheldrake, Silk by Aarathi Prasad, Islands of Abandonment by Cal Flyn, and Saving Time by Jenny Odell; narrative biographies, like Fire Island by Jack Parlett, Square Haunting by Francesca Wade, and Super-Infinite by Katherine Rundell; memoir about history or landscapes like A Flat Place by Noreen Masud, Free by Lea Ypi, and Late Light by Michael Malay; an insider story like Sea State by Tabitha Lasley and Uncanny Valley by Anna Wiener; obsessive, literary true crime like The Red Parts by Maggie Nelson, Say Nothing by Patrick Radden Keefe, This House of Grief by Helen Garner.

I’m keen to find a love story that’s a little bit cool, whether that’s a rom-com, something more sweeping, or a story that’s as much about friendship as it is romance. I'm open to love stories of all kinds (including romantasy where the world building matches that pull of ‘will-they-or-won’t-they,’ star-crossed lovers, and opposites attract). I’m looking for stories with characters you actually want to be friends with, characters coming into their own, discovering something new about themselves and their world, who come through something in their lives and out the other side. The kinds of stories that pull at your heartstrings, have you laughing out loud or cringing in disbelief and just give joy. I’m always on the lookout for a work of strong women’s fiction with characters navigating the complexities, phases, and changes in their lives (romantic and other relationships included) and the non-linearity of life. Think anything by Emily Henry, Ashley Poston, Taylor Jenkins Reid, Kate Davies, Daisy Buchanan, an updated SEX AND THE CITY, or Nora Ephron meets David Nicholls.

Besides books by the authors above, some others that have completely absorbed me of late: Callie Hart's QUICKSILVER; Rachel Gillig's ONE DARK WINDOW; Akwaeke Emezi’s LITTLE ROT, Claire Lombardo’s SAME AS IT EVER WAS, Annabel Monaghan's IT'S A LOVE STORY, Miranda July's ALL FOURS, Carley Fortune's THIS SUMMER WILL BE DIFFERENT; Alexandra Potter’s CONFESSIONS OF A FORTY-SOMETHING F##K UP, Rachel Yoder’s NIGHTBITCH, and Clare Kohda’s WOMAN, EATING.

In fiction, I enjoy any story focusing on family dynamics, no matter the genre, time or place. An all-time favourite is I CAPTURE THE CASTLE by Dodie Smith, and I would love to find something that plays with these family dynamics alongside coming-of-age, in a new and fresh way. I also love reading multi-generational sagas, having recently read the Women’s Prize shortlisted novel THE PERSIANS, where Sanam Mahloudji expertly and seamlessly takes the reader across narratives and timelines. I’m a sucker for anything that focuses on friendship over time, across genre, like the classic romantic comedy HAPPY ALL THE TIME by Laurie Colwin, the ensemble thriller KALA by Colin Walsh and Laura Barnett's latest novel, BIRTHS, DEATHS AND MARRIAGES.

I also enjoy reading romance, whether that be BOOK LOVERS by Emily Henry or DEEP CUTS by Holly Brickley, especially if the protagonist has an excellent cast of friends around them to encourage (or get in the way) of the love story. I’d love to find some more romance that features typically overlooked backgrounds, where culture and society come into play.

In all aspects of fiction, I appreciate a speculative twist, whether it’s a key part to the story or the context to a wider plot point. This can be sinister, boundary pushing or subtle! Some speculative fiction I have recently enjoyed is THE OTHER VALLEY by Scott Alexander Howard, BEAUTYLAND by Marie-Helene Bertino and I WHO HAVE NEVER KNOWN MEN by Jacqueline Harpman.

Examples of other recent fiction I’ve loved are SHANGHAILANDERS by Juli Min, MARTYR by Kaveh Akbar, CONFESSIONS by Catherine Airey, BLUE SISTERS by Coco Mellors, SUNSTRUCK by William Rayfet Hunter and THE SAFEKEEP by Yael Van Der Wouden.

In non-fiction I enjoy narrative/memoir with a twist, such as TAKEAWAY by Angela Hui, fresh interpretations of previously trodden areas, such as CORKER by Hannah Crosbie and non-fiction writing focused on improving our future by learning from our past, such as NOMAD CENTURY by Gaia Vince and SYSTEMIC: HOW RACISM IS MAKING US SICK by Layal Liverpool. I also have a passion for cookery, specifically in ways that authors can combine their social media platforms and their cookbook with a long-term career. Recent examples I have loved are Ruby Bhogal’s baking guide ONE BAKE, TWO WAYS, with a plant based option for each recipe; Ixta Belfrage’s innovative and fresh take on fusion cooking, MEZCLA; and Seema Pankhania’s debut cookbook CRAVEABLE, encouraging both seasoned cooks and beginners to explore flavour and variety in what they eat.