Ep. 288 - Literary agent Diana Beaumont on how to catch an agent's attention

Watch as a full video interview on YouTube

Diana Beaumont is a literary agent with DHH Literary Agency. She started agenting with Rupert Heath Literary Agency in 2011 before moving to TAG and Marjacq Scripts. Before that she was senior commissioning editor at Transworld. Diana was chosen as one of The Bookseller’s Rising Stars of 2012, was a nominee for RNA Agent of the Year 2019, and was shortlisted for Literary Agent of the Year 2022 at the British Book Awards. Her list comprises 'smart commercial' fiction and non-fiction and includes a wide range of bestselling and prize-winning authors in the UK and internationally.

We loved having the chance to chat with Diana, learning about how she moved from editing to becoming a literary agent, hearing about what her day-to-day as an agent is like, and talking about what catches her attention in queries. In particular, we have an in-depth discussion about what to include (and not include) in the query letter, and also talk about whether social media is important for querying authors, and why the publishing market seems so difficult right now.

Links: Diana's page at DHH Literary Agency Follow Diana on Instagram

Support us on Patreon and get the podcast early and ad-free, along with other great benefits, including a bonus episodes: https://www.patreon.com/ukpageone

Listen to authors telling stories together on our sister show, Narrative Damage

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: https://www.writegear.co.uk/page-one

Follow us on Facebook Follow us on Instagram Follow us on Bluesky Follow us on Threads

Page One - The Writer's Podcast is part of STET Podcasts - the one stop shop for all your writing and publishing podcast needs! Follow STET Podcasts on Instagram and Bluesky Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.