Chloe Seager is a London-based agent at Madeleine Milburn with a fiercely commercial, genre-savvy list spanning children's, YA, SFF, and adult crossover — best known for breaking debut voices into major bestseller charts and launching award-winning careers.
In brief
Her sales record demonstrates genuine cross-age range muscle: she has placed authors on both the Sunday Times No.1 and New York Times No.1 charts, a rare dual achievement that signals strong UK and US publisher relationships.
Middle-grade is where her career began and where her passion is loudest — she describes it as her 'first love' — yet her highest-profile recent deals skew YA and crossover adult/YA SFF, suggesting she is actively working to balance the list.
She is an author herself (YA, MG, and now adult fiction), which means she brings lived editorial experience to voice-driven, high-concept work; pitches that show an acute awareness of market positioning are likely to resonate.
Her wishlist shows a deliberate push toward f/f romantic storylines — she signals this multiple times across categories, suggesting she feels this is an underserved gap in her current list.
Shortlisted for Agent of the Year at the 2024 British Book Awards, she is still building momentum: an ambitious, career-minded agent rather than one who is coasting on an established list.
Lately
Shortlisted for Agent of the Year at the 2024 British Book Awards — a public signal that the industry recognises the strength of her list and the quality of her deal-making.
What Chloe is looking for
Horror is her self-declared obsession — 'from ghosts to gore, I love it all.' She is especially drawn to horror that uses its genre scaffolding to interrogate real-world issues. Right now she is actively hunting a 'horromance' (a romantic horror hybrid) and is particularly interested in f/f endgame stories. Atmospheric, socially conscious horror with genuine dread will get her attention fastest.
One of her stated top priorities at the moment. She is drawn to dark humour, forbidden love, morally grey characters, and narratives where terrible people do terrible things. She is specifically seeking a romantasy with f/f endgame — she flags this as a gap she wants to fill. Gothic and fairytale-influenced YA fantasy also fits her sensibility here.
She wants romance with a concept sharp enough to feel like a Netflix logline and characters who linger in the reader's mind long after the last page. She has a documented fondness for revenge romcoms and stories that feel like a modern reinvention of a 1990s or 2000s cultural touchstone. F/f romances earn bonus consideration. The hook must be distinctive — a vague 'two people fall in love' premise will not cut through.
She wants thrillers that earn their place on shelves already crowded with strong YA suspense — the voice, hook, or twist must be genuinely differentiated. Her current specific hunger is for a compelling magical murder mystery at the intersection of thriller and fantasy.
She is particularly interested in speculative fiction that could sit on either an adult or a YA list — books that defy easy shelving are a feature, not a problem. Sci-fi should have the sharp social commentary and high concept of an anthology-style TV episode. Dystopian romance, especially with f/f endgame, is a live want right now.
She describes middle-grade as her first love and is unambiguous about her ongoing commitment to it. She wants immersive world-building with distinctive magic systems — places children can genuinely get lost in. Atmosphere and a sense of adventure are non-negotiable. Mythology, especially from underrepresented cultures, is a specific current interest.
Stories centred on family, friendship, or a meaningful issue handled in a way that is accessible, child-friendly, and ultimately uplifting. She captures something that feels universal about childhood — the joy and pain of growing up — and wants books that will stay with readers for years.
Comedy is a thread she elevates across every age group and genre. She is openly frustrated by how underrated humour is in publishing and actively champions comedic writing. This is not a standalone category so much as a lens she applies broadly — a funny horror, a funny MG, a funny romance all appeal equally.
She and the agency represent a range of non-fiction for younger readers — science, history, politics, and beyond. She wants work that takes a fresh angle or feels genuinely inspirational rather than encyclopaedic. Adult non-fiction described as 'interesting and inspiring' is also mentioned, though her track record here is primarily in the children's and YA space.
Within fantasy she consistently gravitates toward the gothic, the fairytale-inflected, and magic used as social commentary. She has a standing interest in mythology — particularly from cultures that have historically been underrepresented in mainstream publishing. This can manifest in MG, YA, or crossover SFF.
Not the right fit
On Chloe's list
Taste fingerprint
How to query Chloe
Lead with your hook in the first line — she repeatedly emphasises that a distinctive hook, twist, or premise is what separates submissions she wants from those that blend in. If your concept can be stated in one punchy sentence, state it first.
Name your age category and genre explicitly and early. She works across a wide range — MG, YA, crossover, adult — and blurring those lines without intention will read as uncertainty rather than ambition.
If your story has f/f romance as the central relationship, say so prominently: she has flagged this as an active gap she is trying to fill across multiple categories right now.
Tonal comparisons land well with her. She references specific cultural touchstones (Black Mirror for sci-fi, Get Out for horror, 90s/00s classics for romance) — if your comp titles reflect that kind of precise tonal shorthand, use them.
Do not pitch her 'a fun, heartwarming story' without more. She wants specificity about what makes your book funny, scary, or emotionally distinctive. Generic descriptors are a red flag given how clearly she articulates what she is hunting for.
Because she is an author herself, she will read for voice and editorial sharpness. Make sure your first pages are the strongest in the manuscript — she will notice whether the writing can hold its own concept.
Mythology submissions should name the specific cultural tradition you are drawing on and explain, briefly, why you are the right person to tell this story — she has signalled interest in underrepresented voices and that implies a sensitivity to authenticity and author connection to the material.
Check the live submission form for any current category restrictions or windows before querying — her status was confirmed open in April 2026 but can change.