Hannah Weatherill is a London-based literary and book-to-screen agent at Watson, Little who hunts for quality commercial and upmarket fiction with strong voices and fresh angles, alongside narrative non-fiction — and uniquely brings a film/TV rights lens to every deal.
In brief
Weatherill is CLOSED to new submissions as of early 2026 — confirm the live status before querying.
The agency page lists prize recognition across the Women's Prize, the British Book Awards, the Jhalak Prize, the Comedy Women in Print Prize, and the Bollinger Everyman Wodehouse Prize, signalling a client list that earns both commercial and literary credibility.
A background in scouting for international publishers and production companies, plus a year handling media rights at Penguin Random House UK, means Weatherill evaluates every project with an eye on adaptation potential — a genuine differentiator, not a marketing line.
The current wishlist reflects an upgrade in specificity since earlier posts: crime/thriller/horror now has named structural and tonal touchstones, romance is explicitly welcomed, and non-fiction has expanded to include cookbooks and arts/academia — none of which appeared in earlier materials.
Clients span literary fiction, commercial women's fiction, narrative non-fiction, and thriller, with no dominant single category — consistent with a deliberately varied list still in active construction since joining Watson, Little in 2024.
Lately
Weatherill announced a temporary closure to new submissions in early December 2025, directing writers to other agents at the agency in the meantime.
What Hannah is looking for
Weatherill wants novels in this space that lead with a confident, distinctive voice and a hook clear enough to pitch in a sentence — but the execution has to be more than genre mechanics. The approach should feel fresh and, ideally, say something about contemporary life. Structurally inventive crime, psychological suspense, domestic thriller, and literary horror all fit. Action, spy, and military thrillers are explicitly out of scope.
A newly explicit priority on the current agency page that didn't feature prominently in older materials. Weatherill welcomes the full tonal range: sharp, witty romantic comedies with a high-concept hook sit alongside quiet, intimate coming-of-age love stories and large-scale emotional epics. The common thread is emotional intelligence and writing that earns the feeling.
Upmarket and literary-crossover fiction about complicated people, families, and the textures of ordinary life — particularly when a mystery or unresolved question gives the narrative momentum. Weatherill is drawn to fiction with something to say about the world without sacrificing readability. Coming-of-age, family drama, and character-driven literary fiction all belong here.
Weatherill takes on a limited amount of historical fiction, but the time period matters: 19th- and 20th-century settings are the sweet spot. Work set in earlier eras or rooted in myth retellings is not the right fit. The same quality bar applies — literary sensibility and strong voice are non-negotiable.
Across all narrative non-fiction, Weatherill is looking for a strong personal voice and a perspective that illuminates or interrogates modern experience in a way that hasn't been done before. Memoir, nature writing, and investigative journalism are all active interests. The test is whether the material helps readers make sense of the world they live in.
Lifestyle, wellbeing, and food writing — including cookbooks — are areas of active interest that have been added to the more recent version of the wishlist. The same standards apply: a strong authorial voice and a fresh angle are essential. Proposals in this space should have a clear readership and a reason to exist beyond the subject matter alone.
Non-fiction that engages seriously with art, culture, history, or ideas — written for a broad, curious readership rather than a specialist one. The emphasis is on accessibility and insight; this is not the place for purely academic texts, but for books that use rigour to arrive somewhere surprising.
Not the right fit
On Hannah's list
Taste fingerprint
How to query Hannah
Weatherill is CLOSED as of January 2026 — check the live Watson, Little submissions page before sending anything.
When open, submissions go by email to the agency submissions address. Follow the submission guidelines on the Watson, Little website precisely; these are updated and should be checked fresh each time.
Lead with your hook. Weatherill's wishlist language consistently pairs 'strong voice' with 'catchy concept' — your query letter needs to demonstrate both in the first paragraph, not just summarise the plot.
If you're submitting crime, thriller, or horror, name your structural or tonal approach explicitly. Weatherill's touchstones reveal a clear preference for work that is doing something formally or tonally distinct, not just executing genre conventions well.
For non-fiction, a polished proposal with a clear market argument matters as much as sample pages. Weatherill expects to see why the book needs to exist now and who the reader is.
Mentioning screen adaptation potential in a brief, grounded way is likely to land well — Weatherill handles book-to-screen rights and actively considers adaptation potential as part of taking on a project. Don't over-pitch it, but don't ignore it either.
Weatherill's background includes literary translation, scouting for international publishers, and production companies — work with a strong sense of place, a distinct cultural perspective, or translation-friendly qualities may resonate particularly well.
Do not submit children's, YA, scripts, poetry, sci-fi, fantasy, myth retellings, or action/spy/military thrillers — these are explicitly out of scope and submitting them signals a failure to research.