23rd July Laetitia Rutherford #Agent121. Looking for: ADULT FICTION / NON-FICTION

Description

LOOKING FOR: ADULT FICTION, ADULT NON-FICTION

Laetitia Rutherford is a literary agent at Watson, Little, where she recently passed her ten year anniversary. She began as an agent at Toby Eady Associates, following three years as a Marketing Executive for HarperCollins Fiction. Watson, Little is a longstanding agency representing writers across all tastes and genres and with a strong reputation for extending book rights into Translation and into Film and TV.

Laetitia is looking for upmarket and literary Fiction, and for creative Non-Fiction. She welcomes writers from all walks of life and is keen to hear from a variety of voices and life experiences. Laetitia is looking for novels with a strong concept, question or emotional scenario, fresh perspectives, well worked out narratives, and arresting style. She is more often looking for contemporary settings, and loves to be immersed in a distinctive place, but also likes historical novels, as long as they speak lucidly for today. Contemporary issues like housing, money, and the experience of different workplaces appeal, as does unconventional family life and relationships. Laetitia is also open to novels with surreal or fantastical aspects, that throw universal storylines into the challenges of today (and tomorrow)’s complex world. It is always exciting to see a story so relatable, or as yet unheard, or resonant that it speaks to different countries in different languages.

Laetitia is experienced in unique literary work, seen in her author Hannah Silva’s My Child, the Algorithm, a Granta Best Books of 2023; gripping and intelligent upmarket fiction (see Anika Scott); as well as highly popular Crime fiction like Ajay Chowdhury’s Detective Kamil Rahman series and Jenny Blackhurst’s locked room refresh Three Card Murder, both in TV development. She loves plot and the puzzle of a really plotty edit, as much as dazzling writing, whether spare or lush. Her current focus is on taking forward Watson, Little’s Literary talent, and less on mainstream Crime. But Laetitia would be excited to see a novel that plays with crime elements – and is looking forward to reading, for example, Jennifer Croft’s The Extinction of Irena Rey.  

Among the most compelling novels recently read are Fates and Furies by Lauren Groff, No One Is Talking About This by Patricia Lockwood, Girl, Woman, Other by Bernardine Evaristo, The Vanishing Half by Brit Bennett, An American Marriage by Tayeri Jones, Lullaby by Leila Slimani, Lanny by Max Porter, and the William novels by Elizabeth Strout. In Non-Fiction, recent favourites include In the Dream House by Carmen Maria Machado, Maggie Nelson’s The Argonauts, Amy Liptrot’s The Outrun, Jennifer Croft’s Homesick, and Noreen Masud’s A Flat Place.

Laetitia would like you to submit a covering letter, 1 page synopsis and the first three chapters or 5,000 words of your manuscript in a single word document.

(In addition to the paid sessions, Laetitia is kindly offering one free session for low income/under-represented writers. Please email agent121@iaminprint.co.uk to apply, outlining your case for this option which is offered at the discretion of I Am In Print). 

By booking you understand you need to conduct an internet connection test with I Am In Print prior to the event. You also agree to email your material in one document to reach I Am In Print by the stated submission deadline and note that I Am In Print take no responsibility for the advice received during your agent meeting.

The submission deadline is: Monday 15 July 2024