Literary agent Julie Crisp on the red flags she sees in query letters and more

Julie Crisp is a literary agent and editor with over fifteen years’ experience working for three major houses across a broad spectrum of commercial titles within fiction, non-fiction and children’s. This also included three years spent working in the Australian publishing industry. For nine years, she headed up the UK arm of one of the largest global brands of science fiction and fantasy, Tor. She has worked on bestselling and award-winning authors such as Ann Cleeves, Peter F. Hamilton, China Miéville, Neal Asher, Amanda Hocking, Naomi Novik and TV/Game partnerships including Halo, The Returned, The Walking Dead and Twin Peaks. As an agent she is actively looking to build my list and is looking for historical fiction, crime/thrillers, bookclub fiction and science fiction and fantasy. Her clients include John Gwynne, Devin Madson, C.T. Rwizi and Sam Hawke.
We had a great time chatting with Julie and hearing how she got her start in the publishing world as an editorial assistant, and learn how she uses her editorial experience in her role as a literary agent. We also talk about the growing popularity of genre fiction, as well as talking in detail about queries: the importance of the query letter and comp titles, and what highlights certain things as red flags in some queries that she sees.
Links:
Visit Julie's website to query her now: www.juliecrisp.co.uk/
Follow Julie on Twitter/X: / julieacrisp
Page One - The Writer's Podcast is brought to you by Write Gear, creators of Page One - the Writer's Notebook. Learn more and order yours now: www.writegear.co.uk/page-one
Follow us on Twitter/X: / ukpageone
Follow us on Facebook: / ukpageone
Follow us on Instagram: / ukpageone
Follow us on Mastodon: writing.exchange/@PageOnePod
Follow us on Bluesky: bsky.app/profile/ukpageone.bs...
Follow us on Threads: www.threads.net/@ukpageone

[@ashwathsezhian9054]

Please add time stamps so we can constantly revisit our favourite parts like you did in the video with Juliet Mushens!

[@beheadingbuddha4256]

Can anyone actually get published these days if they are not Far Left woke activists?

[@saxbend]

Is it even possible to be both woke and far left? Which do readers prefer? But since you've read books and you are neither clearly you have found published material that is neither too.

[@Magikalic]

when you read too much of the Daily Mail