Hannah Sheppard

Photo Credit: Rebecca Brooker Photography

About Hannah

Hannah Sheppard loves stories. She wants to make sure more fantastic stories from as diverse a group of authors as possible make it onto bookshop shelves.

She worked in-house in editorial for a decade (at Pan Macmillan and Headline Publishing Group) which gives her valuable insight into the workings of a publishing house and an ability to explain the industry and the publishing process from both sides of the business.

She joined the DHH Literary Agency in 2013 when she realised the more senior she got in-house, the less she got to do the bits of her job she really loves – working directly with authors to develop their ideas for commercial success.

In 2023 Hannah launched HS-LA with the aim of being part of the change that publishing so desperately needs.

What Hannah is looking for:

I represent both adult and children’s fiction (as well as a small amount of non-fiction) and, more than anything, I want to be entertained by a great story while caring deeply about your characters.

In general I love bold, distinctive voices, intriguing stories with a strong hook and flawed characters with something to learn. I want characters who are truly diverse – let’s be inclusive, body positive and joyful in our representation. I also like big, mind-bending ideas and combinations of genres that feel fresh and create something new…

And more specifically (although this list is not exhaustive, if you think your work might be a good fit, please send it even if it’s not listed here), I’m on the lookout for:

Children’s/YA Fiction Wishlist

• An author/illustrator working in graphic novels or highly integrated illustrated middle grade or YA fiction
• Funny fiction with a unique hook (ideally not school based, but still real world)
• A contemporary romance with a gorgeous, unique meet-cute and an eye on popular tropes
• A YA story (love or otherwise) featuring rarely explored relationship dynamics…maybe polyamory, maybe the TQIA+ areas of LGB (although I also welcome these) – where those aspects are not the issue the character needs to overcome
• A heart-string pulling animal/child friendship
• Spooky! Across all age groups. Added humour? Sure. Point Horror-esque? Please. Anything scary, spine-tingling or full of bumps in the night, send it my way.
• A story for any age range about female rage – a girl who is allowed to be angry, one that shows how it’s OK, and often useful, to be angry.
• A fantasy with a unique magic system – this could be MG, YA or Crossover/Adult…think the ink from INKBOUND or languages from BABEL.

A note on picture books – while I do represent a small number of these, it is usually where the author is also writing for another age group and the reality is that I probably need to fall in love with the work for an older age group first.

Children’s and YA books I have loved recently: When Women were Dragons by Kelly Barnhill, No Big Deal by Bethany Rutter, Unraveller by Frances Hardinge, Twin Crowns by Catherine Doyle and Katherine Webber, Bitterthorn by Kat Dunn, Greenwild by Pari Thomson, Divine Rivals by Rebecca Ross, A Language of Dragons by S. F. Williamson.

Adult Fiction Wishlist

• High concept, pacy, twisty, hooky thrillers
• I’ve realised recently that I LOVE an ingenious misdirection…think Clare Mackintosh’s I Let You Go or Alice Feeney’s Sometimes I Lie and Rock Paper Scissors. I want to be tricked into thinking I’m reading one thing only to have the rug pulled from under me
• Epic love stories with a speculative twist
• A crime thriller that focuses on cold cases – I love the psychology of the criminal who has lived for years thinking they’ve got away with something only for it to be exposed and the police are slowly circling in…I’m fascinated by the grey areas where bad things happen but the reasons are completely understandable
• Big family/friendship group stories that will make me cry
• A book with a big, possibly speculative, idea at its heart
• I’m intrigued by the idea of a RomCom/love story featuring Polyamory where everyone ends up happy
• I’d also love an LGBTQ RomCom featuring older characters
• Familiar genres but with unexpected characters – think Brynne Weaver’s The Butcher & The Blackbird which is a romance about two serial killers
• Horror! Everyone seems to be asking for this at the moment…I’d particularly like a body horror that’s exploring peri-menopause (think Night Bitch but older)

Adult fiction I have loved recently: The Husbands by Holly Gramazio, The Cartographers by Peng Shepherd, Babel by R. F. Kuang, Lessons in Chemistry by Bonnie Garmus, A Lady’s Guide to Fortune-Hunting by Sophie Irwin, Rock Paper Scissors by Alice Feeney, The Unsinkable Greta James by Jennifer E. Smith, Murder in the Family by Cara Hunter, Maybe Next Time by Cesca Major, The Book Eaters by Sunyi Dean, Butter by Asako Yuzuki (translated by Polly Barton)

Non-Fiction Wishlist

I only represent a small amount of non-fiction but where I do it tends to be narrative non-fiction or books that align with my feminism, seek to make the world a better place, and will ultimately help us take down the white, capitalist patriarchy.

Non-fiction I have loved recently: Untamed by Glennon Doyle, Why We Swim by Bonnie Tsui, Period Power by Maisie Hill, Disfigured: On Fairy Tales, Disability and Making Space by Amanda Leduc, Heal Your Way Forward: The Co-Conspirator’s Guide to an Antiracist future by Myisha T Hill, Everyday Utopia by Kristen R. Ghodsee, Doppleganger by Naomi Klein, Experiments in Imagining Otherwise by Lola Olufemi

I will update these lists on a regular basis – please do check back and follow me on Bluesky/Instagram for more information about my reading/MSWL too.

Please use the submission form to send your work for consideration – but note that we are only open for submissions for the first week of each month.