Bridgette Kam is a Toronto-based agent at Westwood Creative Artists who champions upmarket and book club fiction alongside rigorously researched adult nonfiction, with a particular appetite for diaspora narratives, global perspectives, and stories rooted in underrepresented histories and communities.
In brief
Kam's stated priorities — upmarket/book club fiction and wide-ranging adult nonfiction — are consistent and specific: high-concept novels with layered characters and a strong central hook, plus nonfiction by credentialed practitioners and journalists.
The wishlist signals a clear international and multicultural sensibility shaped by Kam's own academic background spanning Hong Kong, the U.S., and the U.K. — authors writing diaspora, community, and cross-cultural stories should take note.
Kam is explicit that children's book submissions are closed to new clients and referrals only — even though they currently represent some children's authors. Do not query with MG, YA, or picture books unless specifically referred.
The 'not seeking' list is unusually firm: no fantasy, no sci-fi, no thriller, no horror, no poetry, no short story collections, and no AI-assisted work — writers in those categories should look elsewhere.
Kam named a precise cluster of non-client author touchstones (Bonnie Garmus, John Green, Janice Y.K. Lee, Pik-Shuen Fu, Kate Bowler, Jabari Asim) that collectively sketch a taste profile: accessible yet literary, emotionally resonant, culturally specific, and often carrying a wry or warm humor.
Lately
Kam described their core fiction wish as novels built around a singular, high-stakes hook — a secret, a mystery, or a consequential event — with characters whose flaws and motivations feel genuinely layered. They emphasized wanting to be surprised by what they don't know rather than confirmed in what they already expect.
What Bridgette is looking for
This is Kam's top fiction priority. They want contemporary novels with a bold, distinctive hook — a secret, a defining crisis, or a pivotal revelation — that drive propulsive plots while also rewarding readers who want beautiful, accessible prose. Characters must feel genuinely human: complicated motivations, real flaws, and meaningful relationships. Diaspora narratives, community-rooted stories, and novels that surface underrepresented or lesser-known histories are especially welcome. Both sweeping, landscape-driven settings and intimate, cozy ones can work — what matters is that the story poses a timely question and delivers genuine surprise.
Kam treats historical fiction as a vehicle for learning — specifically gravitating toward periods and events that are less familiar to Western or mainstream readerships. Stories centered on pivotal but overlooked moments in history, told through vivid and felt characters, are a strong fit. Retellings or reimaginings of global classics, and works inspired by world mythology and folklore, also interest Kam here — provided they stay grounded in the real world rather than tipping into secondary-world fantasy or science fiction.
Kam is actively building a nonfiction list across a deliberately wide range of subjects: business, food, health and wellness, history, personal growth, pop culture, religion and spirituality, science, sociology, and sports. The ideal author is a journalist, researcher, field expert, or thought leader — someone whose expertise lends the book real authority. Kam wants nonfiction that both investigates and illuminates: books that challenge assumptions, advance a current cultural conversation, and leave readers with something actionable or deeply reconsidered. Practical books combining expert frameworks with lived experience are as welcome as rigorously reported narrative works.
Not the right fit
On Bridgette's list
Taste fingerprint
How to query Bridgette
Send queries to the agency's submissions email address (submissions@wcaltd.com) and review the full, current guidelines on the agency's website before sending — details may have been updated.
Lead with your hook: Kam explicitly wants a 'big and unique hook' — your query letter should open by naming the central secret, crisis, or pivotal event that drives the novel, not with backstory or theme.
Diaspora, community, and cross-cultural narratives are a strong match for Kam's stated and inferred taste — if your novel centers these, say so clearly and early in your query.
For nonfiction, foreground your credentials: Kam is specifically looking for journalists, researchers, field experts, and thought leaders. Establish your authority in the first paragraph.
Do NOT query with fantasy, sci-fi, thriller, horror, poetry, short stories, or children's/YA titles — Kam is explicit these are outside their current scope for new clients.
Do NOT submit work created with or substantially assisted by AI — Kam has listed this as an explicit exclusion.
If your fiction draws on mythology, folklore, or classic retellings, make clear in your query that it is grounded literary fiction rather than secondary-world fantasy, since Kam welcomes the former and not the latter.
Reference the emotional journey you want readers to experience — Kam has said they want to feel, laugh, cry, and be surprised. Pitches that articulate the emotional stakes tend to align with this taste.
Kam has spoken at SCBWI, the Festival of Literary Diversity, the Festival of Faith and Writing, and Writing Day Workshops events — if you met or heard them at any of these, mentioning it is a reasonable and genuine personalization.