Julia Churchill

I represent all kinds of books, mostly children’s books, and I’m always on the lookout for new storytelling talent.

Picture book texts are little masterpieces. I’m in awe of any writer who can come up with an original, fun and purposeful concept and write a story with a beginning, middle and ending that you want to come back to again and again, and in just a few hundred words. Picture books are the start of a love of books - it’s certainly where my love of books started.

As I got more confident as a reader, I moved on to novels: The Borrowers, Goodnight Mr Tom, The Dark is Rising, Charlie and the Chocolate Factory, The Lion, the Witch and the Wardrobe. I bet you remember the feeling of reading at least one of these? I don’t think there is anything like the intensity of a young reader who’s found a big story to get lost in. I can remember so acutely that feeling of growing confidence and wonder. Yes, it was the writer who was doing this, but it was also me! 

Children’s books are magic. I love to read, but I’m always chasing the high that I got from reading as a child. I’m looking for a writer who can do that for this generation of young readers. 

I never know what to expect from my submissions, and I’m not prescriptive about what I’m looking for. The next submission I jump for may be a slick YA thriller, it may be a charming contemporary romance as goofy as I was at 15, it could be a little gem of a junior novel about friends, families, feelings. Maybe it will be in verse, or it could be a clever non-fiction concept that I can’t believe doesn’t exist already. Maybe it will be timed exactly to capitalise on a prevailing trend in publishing, or it could be that I can’t think of anything else like it in the market right now, but I’m up for the challenge. I just took on a picture book project that made my colleagues snort with laughter when I told them about it.

If you’re writing for children and young adults, and your work is ready to share, I’d love to see it.