Author Q&A: Julia Kelly, 2021 First Novel Award Winner

Author Q&A: Julia Kelly, 2021 First Novel Award Winner

Tuesday, March 4, 2025

Julia Kelly won the BPA 2021 First Novel Award, coming first out of more than 1,000 entries. She then signed with that year’s competition judge, literary agent Hellie Ogden. In 2024, Julia signed a six-figure publishing deal with the publishing house Harvill...
Author Q&A: Lindsey Mellon & Philippa Ronan

Author Q&A: Lindsey Mellon & Philippa Ronan

Thursday, March 28, 2024

We recently discovered that, by coincidence, two BPA clients, Philippa Ronan (right) and Lindsey Mellon, were both to be published by the same independent publisher Northside House within only a few weeks of each other. They were happy to share their experience of...
Author Q&A: Triona Campbell

Author Q&A: Triona Campbell

Friday, December 8, 2023

Triona Campbell worked closely with Blue Pencil Agency’s head editor and founder Sara Sarre on a YA novel, after which she successfully acquired an agent and a three-book deal with Scholastic UK. In this Author Q&A, Triona describes working as a film...
Author Q&A: Saloni Surah

Author Q&A: Saloni Surah

Wednesday, August 30, 2023

Saloni Surah worked closely with Blue Pencil Agency’s head editor and founder Sara Sarre on an Early Reader book Flora Investigates: The Case Of The Missing Gold Eggs which she has recently self-published. We were curious about her self-publishing journey – an...

Author Kara Gnodde in Conversation with her Mentor Sara Sarre

Tuesday, February 28, 2023

Ahead of the publication of The Theory of (Not Quite) Everything on Feb 28 in the US and March 16 in the UK, we interviewed debut author Kara Gnodde in conversation with her BPA mentor Sara Sarre. Find out where Kara found the initial inspiration for the novel, how...

Author Q&A: Santanu Bhattacharya

Wednesday, February 8, 2023

Santanu Bhattacharya was longlisted for the BPA First Novel Award 2020 and we’ve enjoyed staying in touch with him ever since. BPA’s Emma Haynes approached a number of agents on his behalf but in the end we were delighted to hear he had signed with Jessica...