Ella Diamond Kahn
Prior to co-launching DKW in 2012, Ella worked at Andrew Nurnberg Associates as an Assistant Literary Agent for three years. She loves the creative side of collaborating with authors, pitching exciting projects and handling negotiations. Ella represents upmarket contemporary and historical fiction, crime fiction, speculative fiction, and some non-fiction. She also represents a wide range of children’s fiction for the 9-12 and YA age groups. She is passionate about finding and championing new voices, including those traditionally under-represented in publishing.
She has an MA in Publishing from University College London and a BA in Anglo-Saxon, Norse and Celtic from the University of Cambridge. She was Chair of the Society of Young Publishers in 2011, and has also volunteered as the SYP’s Events Officer and Treasurer; as an SYP alumna she has offered mentoring to young people in the industry. Since 2016 she has regularly worked with London’s Writer Development Agency Spread the Word, and has also been involved with Penguin Random House’s WriteNow programme, as well as regularly giving talks on careers in publishing and how to get published at universities, schools and literary festivals. She became a Freeman of the Stationers’ Company in 2012, and was Chair of the Young Stationers’ Committee from 2018-2020. In 2021 she was made a Liveryman of the Stationers’ Company and became a Trustee of the Stationers’ Foundation, running their Academic Awards Committee. She was Treasurer of the Association of Authors’ Agents (2021-2023) and is a member of the Female Founders Forum. Ella was included in The Bookseller’s list of Rising Stars in 2013, and was a winner of the London Book Fair Trailblazer Awards 2016 and the Young Stationers’ Prize 2016.
See the full list of Ella’s clients here.
Submissions
Ella says:
I love the creative side of the agent/author relationship, and finding authors bursting with energy and ideas. I’m particularly looking for commercial and upmarket fiction with a compelling story and a confident, distinctive writing voice, whether it’s historical, contemporary, uplifting women’s fiction, crime/thriller, or speculative fiction. I am also looking for children’s fiction for the 9-12 and YA age groups in any genre. Please note I am not looking for any adult fantasy for the time being.
I want there to be a sense of purpose and direction to the story, which might be driven by the emotional journey the character goes on, or by a strong, pacy plot with an intriguing concept or ‘hook’ at the heart of the story that’s going to immediately pique my curiosity. I need realistic and engaging characters who I’m going to care about and want to champion, authentic dialogue, and vivid, immersive settings, so I can sink into the world of the story. Some of my favourite fiction reads of recent years (besides my own clients’ books!) that exemplify my taste include The Flatshare by Beth O’Leary, Little Deaths by Emma Flint, My Name Is Leon by Kit de Waal, The Passage by Justin Cronin, Homegoing by Yaa Gyasi, Dear Mrs. Bird by A. J. Pearce, The Last by Hanna Jameson, and Unsheltered by Barbara Kingsolver.
I am also interested in distinctive memoir, and in narrative non-fiction, focusing on social and cultural topics (both contemporary and historical), historical biography and archaeology. Recent non-fiction I’ve enjoyed includes Unfollow by Megan Phelps-Roper, The Rise and Fall of the Dinosaurs by Steve Brusatte, Step by Step by Simon Reeve, and Lady Fanshawe’s Receipt Book by Lucy Moore.