Alex Adsett Literary
Alex Adsett Literary is a full service literary agency, representing quality works of fiction and non-fiction for children, teens and adults.
Alex Adsett, Literary Agent and Publishing Consultant.
Alex Adsett is an Australian literary agent and publishing consultant, who has been working in the publishing and bookselling industry for almost twenty five years. She has managed Alex Adsett Literary since 2008.
As a literary agent, Alex is always seeking amazing manuscripts, with a focus on fiction and narrative non-fiction, especially SFF, crime and romance, for all ages from picture books to adults. She is proud to represent an outstanding stable of authors and illustrators, including Melissa Lucashenko, Isobelle Carmody, Dinuka McKenzie, Jasmin McGaughey and Hannah Sommerville.
As a consultant, Alex provides commercial and strategic advice to authors and independent publishers, particularly regarding publishing contracts. She has worked with many independent publishers and thousands of authors including Mirandi Riwoe, Sarah Malik, Graeme Simsion, Barry Humphries, and Melissa Greenwood. She regularly delivers seminars on copyright and publishing contracts around Australia, and has served on various NFP literary boards including Small Press Network and Queensland Writers Centre.
Having started her bookselling career at Pulp Fiction Bookshop in Brisbane, Australia, Alex moved to Murder One bookstore in London, UK, followed by more than two years working for Simon and Schuster UK. On returning to Australia, she spent three years in her dream job as part of the Rights and Contracts Department of Penguin Books in Melbourne, before moving to the Contracts Department of John Wiley & Sons Australia, Ltd. She is often to be found on social media or skulking around bookshops. While she is always on the look out for exciting new manuscripts, Alex is only accepting manuscripts in accordance with submission guidelines.
Alex respectfully acknowledges the Yugambeh People, the traditional owners of the land on which she lives and works, and pays her respect to their elders past and present.
Rochelle Fernandez, Literary Agent
Rochelle Fernandez is a reader and wordsmith with extensive experience in the Australian publishing industry.
An editor for nearly 20 years, she has worked on and project managed manuscripts of fiction, biography, memoir, cookery, current affairs as well as editing copy and messaging for the corporate sector. Rochelle joins Alex Adsett Literary in 2021 to continue working with amazing authors. You can also find her as a freelance editor here.
As a literary agent, Rochelle is seeking well written manuscripts of any genre with a compelling premise and three dimensional, interesting characters. Based in Sydney, she is passionate about hearing and seeing diverse stories that represent the wonderful multicultural multifaceted society that comprises Australia. More information about Rochelle, her authors, submission guidelines and link to her submission portal are available here.
Abigail Nathan, Literary Agent At Large
Abigail Nathan has been working in publishing since 2001. She started Bothersome Words Editing & Writing Services in 2004 and has edited for various Australian publishers including Allen & Unwin, HarperCollins, Penguin Random House, Harlequin, and Simon & Schuster, as well as UK publishers including Angry Robot, Hachette and Gollancz.
As an editor, Abigail’s work with publishers has been on commercial fiction and non-fiction, with a particular focus on genre – including speculative fiction, crime, romance and erotica – for authors such as Tea Cooper, Alastair Reynolds, Louise Carey and many others. She also works regularly with emerging and self-publishing writers as an editor, mentor, and book coach.
As an agent, Abigail is looking for engaging plots and convincing characters. Something that will keep her turning the pages and that will stay with her after she’s finished reading. There are some rules and conventions it pays to follow, but something a bit weird or slightly (or very) unexpected will pique her interest, and characters that touch a nerve or worlds that make us question the status quo are always welcome. Above all, she’s looking for great stories, told well – fiction in general and all things genre: sci-fi, fantasy, paranormal, horror, crime, thriller, romance (and any combination of those), for adult, YA or middle grade.
Note that Abigail is unable to take submissions for manuscripts she has worked on previously as an editor, mentor or coach.
Abigail is based in Sydney and when not lurking around conventions and writing festivals, she is usually buried under cats and books, and primarily dwells online @BothersomeWords. You can submit to Abigail via the Query Manager portal HERE.
Lisa Fuller, Literary Agent
Lisa is a Wuilli Wuilli woman from Eidsvold, Queensland, also descended from Wakka Wakka and Gooreng Gooreng peoples. She’s lived on Ngunnawal and Ngambri lands (Canberra) since 2006 and is doing her PhD in Creative Writing at the University of Canberra.
Lisa has been in the publishing industry since 2011, when she began working in-house at Aboriginal Studies Press. After a number of years, she moved on to pursue her PhD in Creative Writing and continued to work as a freelance editor / publishing consultant. Around this time, she won the 2017 David Unaipon Award for an Unpublished Indigenous Writer and the 2017 Eleanor Dark Fellowship at Varuna.
This manuscript went on to become her debut novel, Ghost Bird, which has received the 2020 ACT Book of the Year, the 2020 Queensland Literary Awards, and the 2020 Readings Young Adult Book Prize, among others. Ghost Bird was released in the UK in October 2021, and as an audiobook in 2022. She also has essays, short stories and poetry published across a number of publications. Her short story, ‘Don’t Look’, went on to win two 2021 Aurealis Awards.
Having recently (finally!) submitted her PhD for marking, Lisa has won an Elevate grant for a mentorship to work with Alex on learning the ropes of becoming a literary agent. She’s all about Own Voices works, YA, children’s literature and all things speculative fiction.
Lisa wears many hats including sessional academic, freelance writer, editor and publishing consultant. In 2024, she is looking forward to working with Alex at Alex Adsett Literary and finding books and authors she’s passionate about.
Amanda Noble, Office Manager
Amanda is a publishing industry veteran who has worked across a number of publishing houses and literary agencies for more than thirty years. She brings a wealth of expertise, especially with all things financial, and is a much needed calming presence to the often manic pace of the agency.
She will be working with us part-time, and can be reached at agent@alexadsett.com.au.
Do you need a literary agent?
Australia, having an agent is a choice not a necessity. Approximately 60% of books published in Australia are not represented by an agent, and many publishers have avenues available for manuscripts to be submitted directly by authors. Although having a good agent will increase your manuscript’s chance of being meaningfully considered, it is not the only avenue. The situation in Australia is in stark contrast to the US and UK where almost the only way to reach a publisher is via an agent. If you have already received a publishing offer, think long and hard about whether you really want or need an agent.
Saying that, many authors adore having an agent. They can get on with writing and leave the business side of things to their agent to manage. Alex Adsett Literary is passionate about the publishing industry, and keen to champion high quality works for commercial publication. While breaking into, and thriving in, the the established publishing industry is tough, exciting new books will continue to be published and Alex Adsett Literary hopes to be part of that journey.
What does a literary agent do?
A good literary agent will generally offer three key services to an author, and a million other things besides.
A) Matching the right manuscript and author with the right publisher and editor. This does not mean the biggest publisher or the biggest advance, but finding the right fit for you and your work to have a successful career.
B) Negotiating the publishing offer and contract. This is far more than just discussing the advance, but a good agent will make sure all the fine print, from royalties to reversions, are fair and reasonable.
C) Assisting you manage your long term writing career. Having someone with industry knowledge in your corner to help navigate the ups and downs ofthe publishing industry can be invaluable.
If you decide not to work with an agent, we strongly recommend you seek advice before signing your publishing contract. The ASA offer a contract review service, as does Alex Adsett in her role as a Consultant. For more information on whether or not you need an agent, agenting standards and codes of practice, please refer to the Australian Society of Authors, ALAA Code of Conduct or the Writers Beware: Agents (USA-centric).