This year, we were delighted to welcome Shanika Hyslop to the MMA team as a new Literary Agent. Shanika began her career in the realm of TV and film, before moving to publishing with roles at Hachette, Curtis Brown, Bloomsbury and Penguin Random House. She’s collaborated with bestselling and award-winning authors across fiction and non-fiction.
Meet Shanika as we ask her about the experience she is bringing from the publishing side, her reading tastes and what makes a submission stand out to her.
How would you define your reading taste and what area of fiction are you most drawn to?
Truthfully, my reading taste is broad. I read everything from commercial to literary fiction, but the list I’m building at MMA sits firmly in the commercial, upmarket and book-club space – particularly fiction written for women, by women. No matter the genre, I’m always drawn to projects with a clear, clever hook. I want to feel that the author has taken something seemingly ordinary and found that edge that makes it fresh and noteworthy. It might be a smart conceptual angle, the way Tomorrow, and Tomorrow, and Tomorrow uses gaming culture to elevate a will-they-won’t-they, coming-of-age saga, or the beauty and tender in the ‘strange’ of Piranesi, set in dream-like world – but that sense of originality is essential.
Voice is equally important to me. I want the narration’s tone to carry as much meaning as the plot – whether it’s provocative, witty, unreliable, or clouded in a psychological haze. At the same time, the writing shouldn’t feel overwritten. I’m drawn to prose that reads effortlessly, the kind that makes a reader look up and realise they’ve devoured half the book in one sitting.
What can a prospective author do to make their submission stand out to you?
Because my list relies so heavily on a strong hook, the one-line pitch is often what makes or breaks a submission for me. If an author can distil their book into a sharp, compelling sentence, it signals clarity of concept – and if they can’t, I’m likely to struggle to understand the USP as well.
I also believe that all great writers are avid readers. Therefore, the comps an author chooses are incredibly telling. Thoughtful, relevant comps show me how well a writer understands the market they’re writing into, what’s resonating with readers, and where their book fits – or innovates – within that space.
What knowledge and expertise do you look forward to bringing to your new role as an agent for your authors?
I’m excited to bring my publishing background as an editor into my role as an agent. I’ve worked in editorial at Hachette, Bloomsbury and PRH, and I’ve had the privilege of editing and managing some of the bestselling and award-winning books of recent years.
I know I want to take a submission on when I find myself filling my notes app with edits while reading a manuscript on my Kindle (usually on the tube!). You’d think having lots of notes might be a reason to pass, but for me it’s the opposite. It means I’m fully invested, I can see the book’s potential clearly, and I know how to help shape it into the strongest possible version before it goes on submission.
I believe that editing should be a fundamental part of the process before a manuscript is submitted to publishers. Increasingly, I’m finding that commissioning editors have less capacity to take on heavy editorial work, so I collaborate closely with my authors to ensure their manuscript is at a publishable standard before it even reaches an editor’s inbox.
Bringing that editorial eye, and the confidence that comes from years inside publishing houses, is something I’m really proud to offer my authors.
What trends in the publishing landscape are you most excited about right now?
I’m really encouraged by the growing freedom around genre-bending. More and more, editors are attracted to books that refuse to sit neatly in one category – novels like Broken Country, which could be read as romance, historical or thriller, or Where the Crawdads Sing, which moves effortlessly between coming-of-age, romance and mystery. Some of the most memorable books are the ones that occupy that liminal space, and it’s exciting to see the industry making room for them to simply exist exactly as they are.
What’s next on your reading list?
If I discover an author I truly admire, I love working through their entire body of work – it’s rewarding as a reader, and it looks great on my bookshelf, too! This year, I’m hoping to finish Ishiguro’s full collection. My publishing remit tends to lean toward the commercial end of speculative fiction, especially magical realism, but I think it’s important to keep returning to the genre’s touchstones. Ishiguro is one of those writers whose work quietly reshapes what speculative fiction can be, and reading the heavyweights of a genre feels like a way of honouring the foundations that allow newer strands to flourish.
What books made you fall in love with reading?
As a child, I was utterly devoted to Dr. Seuss, to say ‘fan’ feels like an understatement. I collected multiple editions of the books, including every limited release I could find. In hindsight, I think I was instinctively seeking stories that felt hopeful, and that sense of optimism still threads through the books I’m drawn to today.
In my teens, I fell in love with American classics, particularly The Great Gatsby. Its elegance, sense of place and emotional grandeur encapsulate the depth I look for in my books, and it ultimately inspired me to study English Literature at university.
And the writer who truly taught me to appreciate ‘voice’ – and the sheer craft of the written word – is Toni Morrison. I vividly remember reading The Bluest Eye and recognising, almost viscerally, the transformative power of careful, observational storytelling. That experience is a large part of why I pursued a career in publishing: I’ve been chasing that high ever since.
