Watch ‘Creative Conversations’ with literary agent Annabel Barker

Literary agent specialising in children’s and young adult authors Annabel Barker shares her inside knowledge with Australian Writers' Centre CEO Valerie Khoo in our ‘Creative Conversations’ Facebook Live event. We’ve shared the replay here so you don’t miss out on Annabel’s invaluable insights.

In a 20-year-long career in the literary industry, Annabel Barker has represented many of Australia’s best children’s and young adult authors and illustrators. She has worked for publishers Hachette Children’s Books and Pan Macmillan, and now with her own agency she continues to help children’s and young adult authors find publishers for their books. 

As an experienced literary agent, she knows exactly what the publishing industry is looking for and in this conversation Annabel tells authors of children’s and young adult books what they need to do to stand out from the rest of the crowd. Annabel emphasises the importance of laying the groundwork before pitching to an editor or publisher and she offers her 5 best pre-pitch tips and suggestions on building a strong and distinct author platform.

During this time, she explains, you need to determine where your book fits in the market. If you’re asking yourself that question about your book, don’t worry Annabel tells you how. She also covers what’s trending in the children’s and young adults book industry and what the different focuses are for each of these categories of books.

But her insight doesn’t stop there. The generous literary agent also shares her 3-point strategy for effectively pitching to an editor or publisher, specific to children’s and young adult books. Annabel explains the dos and don’ts when pitching, what authors need to look out for, and what publishers want.

Watch the replay here and be inspired to get that children’s or young adults book published!

If you dream about writing for children and young adults, we have courses that will help you write books that these kids will love! 

Our Writing Picture Books course will have you writing short stories that tiny tots – and their parents – will want to read night after night! 

Our Writing Chapter Books for 6-9 year olds will have you writing short, fun stories for those newly independent readers.

And our How to Write for Children and Young Adults course is for those writers who want to write compelling stories for tweens and teens.