LONDON WRITERS’ CLUB LIVE WITH an AGENT
“Informative, insightful and fun. I would recommend any aspiring writer to pop along.”
Speechwriter for NATO Secretary General
Join us at our LWC LIVE MONTHLY ONLINE EVENT. The live Zoom events are a friendly chat with a leading literary agent and Jacq Burns.
22 September 6:00pm – 7:30pm
LWC Live with Joanna Swainson, Hardman & Swainson Literary
Joanna’s love of books and an interest in writing led her to freelance for a number of literary agents, including one of the most commercial agencies in London. She met Caroline while working as a reader and in-house editor for Christopher Little. When the opportunity arose to set up Hardman & Swainson it was too good to miss.
Joanna reads widely and aims to reflect that in the authors she represents. In fiction, she is looking for complex, larger-than-life characters, characters she can root for and who can give her insights into worlds and situations unfamiliar to her. She is also a sucker for atmosphere and novels where the setting is almost a character in itself. She’s perhaps more drawn to earthy stories.
She also loves crime and thrillers at both ends of the commercial / literary spectrum. She’d love to find a big thriller like The Girl with the Dragon Tattoo, something that gets the imagination firing on all cylinders.
Whatever the genre, whether literary or commercial, historical or contemporary, thriller or crime, she is looking for originality and distinctive voices. She especially likes fiction threaded with humour – not necessarily of the laugh out loud kind, it’s often much subtler than that, but you can’t have too many arresting observations and insights.
On the non-fiction front, she enjoys narrative non-fiction, especially history (and prehistory). She’s partial to a memoir. She also enjoys nature writing, writing which evokes the landscape and has a special interest in folklore.While it’s all very well drawing up a wish list, ultimately she’s a fisherman. So send her what you’ve got. Take her by surprise, and keep on surprising her. She’ll know what she’s looking for when she sees it.
Jacq Burns was commissioning editor at Random House & Editorial Director at Harper Collins where she edited classics such as Men are from Mars; Women are from Venus, Who Moved My Cheese, Chicken Soup for the Soul, and Toddler Taming – which have sold millions of copies.
She is the author of Write a Bestseller, published by Hodder, and a bestselling series of successful books for Random House, under a pseudonym. Jacq has also ghostwritten a number of well-known titles, co-founder of The London Writers Club and is Head Judge for the Business Book Awards. She is also a literary agent for authors.
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Members will automatically receive an invitation for the Live with an Agent event. Please remember to join the zoom call following the info on the email link you are sent. Recording will be sent after event to all members and paid ticket holders.
(if you join the club your Live with an agent ticket is free and you will also receive the recording of each event. Check out our LWC Membership offer)
2026 Events – live on zoom with Jacq Burns and a guest agent or author.
22 September – Joanna Swainson, Hardman & Swainson Literary
20 October – Guest Agent
17 November – Guest Agent
8 December – VIP Members Christmas Event