Peter Buckman was the youngest member of the editorial board of Penguin Books before moving to New York to be a commissioning editor with the New American Library. He then became a full-time writer, producing books, films, plays, journalism, and many scripts for television and radio.
In 2003 he set up The Ampersand Agency with the family support of The Buckman Agency and the guidance of Peter Janson-Smith, the veteran agent who counted Ian Fleming among his clients. The first writer taken on by Ampersand was Vikas Swarup, whose book turned into Slumdog Millionaire, and among Peter’s other clients are crime writers Quentin Bates and Helen Black, historical novelists J D Davies and Cora Harrison, thriller writers Beverley Jones and Rachel Lynch, and non-fiction writers Sean O’Driscoll and Alex Rogers. Peter also looks after the Estates of Georgette Heyer, H. R. F. Keating, Angela Thirkell, and Winifred Foley. He loves a good story, whether fiction or non-fiction, peopled by credible characters and told in a distinctive voice.
Email: [email protected]
Jamie Cowen has worked in publishing for 20 years. Before joining Ampersand in 2013 he was a commissioning editor at HarperCollins, and prior to that he worked in legal and contracts departments at HarperCollins and the Hachette Group.
Jamie is looking for commercial fiction, especially science fiction, fantasy, horror, crime and thrillers. He is also looking for sport-related non-fiction, and is keen to see submissions from under-represented voices and LGBTQ writers.
Jamie’s clients at Ampersand include Tendai Huchu, A Y Chao, Adrian Selby, Nate Crowley and Michael Wood.
Email: [email protected]
Anne-Marie Doulton has been an agent for over 10 years, and is based in London. Before joining Ampersand she worked as a commissioning editor for various general publishers and as a literary scout.
Her clients at Ampersand include Philip Barclay, Sharon Bolton, Lindsey Miller, Moses McKenzie, Sally Smith and Stephen Williams.
Anne-Marie’s particular interests include literary fiction, narrative non-fiction (current affairs etc) and high-quality thrillers and mysteries. Submissions for Anne-Marie may be sent direct to: [email protected]
Abigail Fenton joined Ampersand in September 2025. Prior to that she spent over a decade in editorial at Hachette and HarperCollins, latterly as Editorial Director for HQ Digital, and worked as a freelance editor and book coach.
Abigail is looking for adult fiction across genres, including book-club reads, crime and thrillers, and women’s fiction and romance of all stripes. She loves high-concept hooks, page-turning plots, and books that pose juicy questions. Books she has read and enjoyed recently include Happy Place, Lessons in Chemistry, So Thrilled for You, Wrong Place Wrong Time and Tomorrow, and Tomorrow, and Tomorrow. Please do not send her children’s, SFF, or short stories.
Email: [email protected]
Katie Blagden trained as a literary agent under Arabella Stein at the Bright Agency before joining Ampersand in 2025. Her previous experience includes marketing, bookselling and advertising. She also appeared as a contributor on the Graham Norton Book Club for six seasons.
Katie represents authors and author-illustrators across various genres and age ranges. In adult fiction, she is particularly drawn to SFF, speculative fiction and horror, while in children’s she specialises in middle grade, YA and crossover fiction, and graphic novels across all age ranges. She is an advocate for centring traditionally underrepresented voices, and actively works to discover authors and author-illustrators from diverse backgrounds.
Email: [email protected]
The Buckman Agency handles translation rights only, for Ampersand and other agencies. NB It does not accept submissions from writers.
The agency was set up in 2001 as a partnership between Rosie and Jessica Buckman who, between them, have many years of foreign rights sales experience, and who work directly with publishers all over the world, from Rome to Rio, Berlin to Beijing. They represent a growing number of well-established literary agencies in the US and UK, handling translation rights in literary and commercial fiction and non-fiction. Authors whose book translation rights the agency handles include Muhammad Ali, Sharon Bolton, Georgette Heyer, Tom Holt, Sara Paretsky, Peter Robinson, Chris Ryan, Sally Smith, Vikas Swarup, and John Travolta – and over the years they have helped bestselling writers like Jung Chang, Bernard Cornwell, Ian Fleming, David Gemmell, P D James, Michael Frayn and Sarah Waters to become worldwide successes.