Switching sides: an interview with Editor turned Literary Agent, Kimberley Atkins

What she’s looking for, the differences between being an editor and being an agent, and some excellent advice for writers…

Hi everyone,

Today I am delighted to welcome Kimberley Atkins, Literary Agent at WME, to The Honest Editor. Kim is such an interesting person to hear from as she has also worked for years on the publishing side as an editor, before recently making the exciting move to agenting. She is actively building a new list so definitely one to add to your query lists if you’re writing the kind of fiction she’s after!

Hi Kim, thanks so much for coming on the Honest Editor. Can you tell us about your current job - you recently made an exciting move!

Yes, 2025 was a big year! I returned to work after a wonderful maternity leave at home with my daughter and joined the brilliant books team at WME as a literary agent. It felt like a new school year as it was a big step away from working in-house at publishers. Since I graduated from university in 2009, I’d worked at Macmillan, HarperCollins, Penguin Random House, Hachette and Bloomsbury in different roles, teams and countries. I spent the first couple of years of my career in marketing and then moved into editorial, which I absolutely loved. When I went on maternity leave, I was leading the fiction team at Head of Zeus (who are part of Bloomsbury) and had a really exciting role overseeing the fiction publishing strategy for the whole list as well as working with some incredible authors of my own. So leaving wasn’t a decision I made lightly!

That said, I’d been thinking for a number of years that I would one day want to move over to the other side of things and become a literary agent. Some of the very best agents that I’d worked with as an editor had worked at publishing houses before they’d made the move to become literary agents and I’d always valued how they understood the inner workings at publishers and applied that knowledge to agenting. What really appealed to me about becoming an agent was the opportunity to work even more closely with authors and to build a list of clients that I could work alongside for their whole career. I also couldn’t resist the opportunity to join the team at WME who are all genuinely lovely people who are exceptionally good at their jobs and have agented some of the most exciting authors and books in recent years!

WME is a global entertainment agency that represents artists, athletes and brands. Agents work with actors, musicians, athletes, digital creators and authors (often across multiple disciplines at once!) The Books team operates as a distinct division of literary agents within the wider business, but there are lots of exciting opportunities for crossover. This structure particularly appealed to me at a time when the boundaries between different forms of media – and between who creates and who consumes content – are becoming increasingly blurred.

As one of the literary agents in London I’m looking to build my own list of clients and am actively looking to find authors to represent (if you did want to submit your work to me, details are here). I am largely looking for authors who are writing commercial fiction for adult audiences, but there is certainly more freedom than when I was working at a publishing house in terms of what I can take on. Some of my colleagues have very varied lists that span fiction/non-fiction and adult/children’s publishing. Ultimately I’m looking for voices that make me want to read on, and ideas that I think will connect broadly with readers (and that I can therefore sell to a publisher!)

What have you found to be the key differences between working on the publishing side and working on the agency side?

One thing that is immediately different is that there are a lot less meetings on the agency side. When I worked at publishing houses so much of my time was spent in meetings and dealing with email traffic. I know you’ve spoken on this Substack about all the things editors are responsible for, and these were genuinely unavoidable and necessary elements of my workload, but it left such limited time in my day to actually get things done. As a literary agent, and particularly at a time when I’m building a list of clients, I’ve got much more flexibility to schedule my week to work best for me which is really liberating. It means I can also spend a lot more time working closely on reading and editing books and shaping ideas with authors: which at the heart is why I went into this industry in the first place!

I also touched on this above, but having the freedom to take on authors that I believe in and for that to be a much more individual decision feels quite different. If, as an editor, I wanted to acquire a book, that was a collaborative process which required lots of people to read and buy into a publishing vision. There were multiple factors at play when it came to making decisions about what to acquire, many of which were often out of my hands. Now I have to trust my own taste and instincts more as an individual which is both terrifying and thrilling.

What is your style of agenting; what can new clients expect if they sign with you?

Because of my background in editorial and because I’ve previously worked with so many writers and done so many edits, I think it is fair to say I am going to be a hands-on agent! I really love getting stuck into a manuscript and making suggestions about story, character, pace or structure. I find that joyful: I am a reader who gets such a kick out of being able to suggest how a story could change, and I think all my clients can expect that I would be very involved editorially.

My previous experience also means I’m able to decipher and interpret decisions that publishers might make or data that clients receive – having been an editor for so many years I’ve encountered most scenarios and I know what the decision-making process looks like on the other side. And I will be as transparent as I can be with clients about what is happening. Similarly, I know and understand when and how publishers are limited in what they are able to do and when I can push on behalf of my clients.

I’m also very chatty by nature and a natural communicator, so clients can expect plenty of check-ins and conversations!

What advice do you have for aspiring writers?

To read and to write! Read widely: the best writers are also readers and I believe reading is the absolute best way to learn the craft of writing. Through reading, and reading as widely as possible, you’ll pick up so much about how to shape a story: where to start, how to write a great ending, how to leave a reader wanting to keep turning the pages even when it’s 2amand they really should be asleep. As an added bonus, you’ll also meet unforgettable characters and be taken to new places and be thoroughly entertained along the way.

And then more simply: write the words down. I have met so many people who have told me they want to write a book, but they don’t know how. Unfortunately, the only way out is through. There is no quick shortcut to this. You have to show up at a blank page and write the words. And you have to find the time to do it over and over again.

What advice would you give to authors who are hoping to find an agent in 2026 - what factors do they need to consider?

Not to chase a trend! This is something I hear a lot from writers, who spot a certain trend working in the market and pivot what they are working on to try and tap into that. I think this so rarely works and I would really caution against it. I’m not sure that writers always realise how far out publishers are working but when a publisher acquires a book from an agent, it is often not scheduled to publish for at least a year and often longer. By the time someone identifies a trend, writes their book and tries to find an agent to take it on, that trend might be old news and agents and publishers might all be looking for something completely different! All of which is to say: write the book you love and that you as a reader want to read, rather than writing a book that you think an agent or a publisher is looking for.

That said, some of the core things I am looking for as an agent never change: great writing, characters that feel real (not necessarily likeable, but true) and plots that you can pitch in a sentence. (We often call this the ‘elevator pitch’: imagine you are in a lift – or for American readers, an elevator! – and think how you would sell your book to a stranger in this brief window of time.) Concepts that can be communicated pithily are always attractive and whatever the genre or story, I will be drawn to manuscripts that offer this.

When looking for an agent, it’s worth taking the time to think about who the best agents would be for your work. That should be a personal decision tailored to how you like to work and what you specifically are looking for in an agent and agency. Most agencies will have details online that lay out what agents are looking for and guidelines on how to submit to them, and a surprising number of writers ignore these completely. I’d encourage writers to be as thoughtful as possible about who they are sending their work to and to think about whether that agent genuinely seems as though they would be a good fit for them.

And of course I would advise writers to not take any rejection personally. The volume of submissions an agent receives means that from a purely practical perspective only a very small percentage of authors end up with representation. And whether an agent has capacity to take an author on can be down to luck and timing as much as anything else. Remember, it only takes one yes.

Can you tell us about three books you wish you had agented or published?

So many! At the moment I’m obsessed with finding a great timeless love story so ONE DAY by David Nicholls has to be on the list. I’m looking for a sweeping, heart-breaking novel about two people who are kept apart for genuine reasons that makes me cry. (In fact an editor said to me at a lunch recently that with a love story like that “no cry, no buy”!) I also adore Emily Henry (and loved the recent adaptation of PEOPLE YOU MEET ON VACATION) and am now desperate to discover a smart, sexy rom-com in my submissions. I’d also love to find a fast-paced, twisty, female-focused thriller like THE HOUSEMAID by Freida McFadden or VERITY by Colleen Hoover which have both been phenomenally published.

Thank you so much, Kim, for all your advice, and to all of you for reading. As always, do feel free to comment below with any thoughts or any questions that you’d like me to cover in future issues of The Honest Editor.

Happy reading and writing.

Phoebe x