Ask an Agent: Kesia Lupo, The Bindery Agency

Agent Chloe Seager

Want to get your manuscript noticed by publishing professionals? In WriteMentor’s Ask An Agent blog series, we invite leading literary agents to answer quick-fire questions about publishing and submissions, to give children’s writers insights and advice about the querying process.

Kesia Lupo, agent at The Bindery Agency, shares her insights.

Current hot publishing trend…

Kesia:  Dark Academia and romantasy feel dominant in YA, classic fantasy continues to be top dog for MG but always with fresh twists e.g. in terms of setting or cultural inspiration

Submission turn on…

Kesia: Excellent understanding of their intended readership and comparison titles, but also a sense of what makes their book stand out – tricky balance!

Submission turn off…

Kesia: Too little detail about the author, confused sense of who the reader might be, too similar to existing books.

Current children’s read…

Kesia: The Midnight Game by Cynthia Murphy.

Biggest submission wish…

Kesia: Skillfully executed big twists that make my heart skip a beat!

Kesia Lupo, The Bindery Agency

Kesia grew up in the UK and Germany, studied History at Oxford University and Creative Writing at Bath Spa, then launched her publishing career at Pan Macmillan, London, as an editorial assistant in 2013. She transitioned from adult books to children’s when she joined boutique publisher Chicken House – then from a senior editorial role to agenting when she joined The Bindery in 2023. While her expertise lies in middle-grade and YA fiction, Kesia reads widely across genres, including adult SFF and horror, historical fiction, romance, and non-fiction.

Kesia is a new U.S. resident and currently lives in the San Francisco Bay Area with her husband. As well as working in publishing, she’s the author of three YA novels – We Are Blood and Thunder, We Are Bound by Stars (a fantasy duology), and Let’s Play Murder, a horror/thriller, all published by Bloomsbury in the UK. You will normally find her writing if she’s not reading!

Twitter: @keslupo

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