Megan Carroll

Megan graduated from Goldsmiths with a BA in English and American Literature in 2013 and worked as an intern at Watson, Little and Caroline Sheldon Literary Agency before returning to the agency as the assistant in July 2014. She is now a Literary Agent and is building her own list.

Megan is looking for writers in a variety of areas, and from a wide range of backgrounds – she is particularly keen to hear from Black, Asian, and LGBTQIA+ writers. Her main areas of focus this year are adult fiction and non-fiction, as well as non-fiction for 7+, and MG and YA fiction.

In Fiction, Megan is keen to see high-concept love stories (think The Flat Share or The Lock In) for both commercial and reading group readers. She’d love to see those familiar romance tropes – enemies to lovers, friends to lovers, love triangles, forbidden love etc. – with underrepresented characters at the centre.

She is also looking for historical fiction and gothic horror (think Laura Purcell, Stacey Halls and Silvia Moreno-Garcia) – anything that has a creepy, uneasy undertone is likely for Megan’s list. Megan is also actively looking for upmarket fiction and would love to see layered family drama, contemporary stories about life today and darkly comic novels that explore a specific time, place or experience.

She has recently loved: Sorrow and Bliss by Meg Mason, The Vanishing Half  by Brit Bennett, The Hating Game by Sally Thorne, Detransition, Baby by Torrey Peters, The First Day of Spring by Nancy Tucker, City of Girls by Elizabeth Gilbert, Hamnet by Maggie O’Farrell, Exciting Times by Naoise Dolan, and Transcendent Kingdom by Yaa Gyasi

In Non-Fiction, Megan is keen to hear from experts in their field talking about topics relating to film, music, true crime, popular culture, history and issues from largely unrepresented perspectives. She is keen to see memoir, narrative non-fiction and essay collections.

She has recently loved: I’ll Be Gone in the Dark by Michelle McNamara, Educated by Tara Westover, The Five by Hallie Rubenhold, and I Am, I Am, I Am by Maggie O’Farrell

In Children’s and YA, she is keen to see contemporary YA with humour, and romance at the heart – fun and emotional stories that appeal to the interests and issues of the teenage readers. She’d also love to see thrillers and horror stories for this age group too. It’s unlikely that high fantasy novels for YA readers will be right for her, but she is keen to see stories with fantasy elements in a real world setting.

On the younger end, Megan is looking for funny, contemporary middle grade – think Louise Rennison and Karen McCombie – and anything creepy and spooky for 8-12 year old readers too. She’d love to find something like Lemony Snicket’s A Series of Unfortunate Events and is keen to find original adventure stories in both fantasy and realistic settings.

She has recently loved: The Heartbreak Boys by Simon James Green, Not Here to be Liked by Michelle Quach, The Good Girls Guide to Murder Series by Holly Jackson, and The Black Flamingo by Dean Atta

Please note, Megan is currently closed to picture book submissions, and does not represent adult SFF.

You can reach her on Twitter (@MeganACarroll) with any questions or queries.