Note: Laura will be open to queries as of March 1st, 2026.

Laura Bradford (she/her) established the Bradford Literary Agency in 2001. Using her 25 years of experience along with her many connections, Laura is an expert at analyzing market trends and guiding her clients to find their editorial match. The mission of Bradford Literary Agency is to form true partnerships with their clients and build long-term relationships that extend from writing the first draft through the length of the author’s career. Laura’s clients include debut, award-winning and best-selling authors and she strives to showcase diverse voices in all genres and would love to bring more LGBTQ+ and BIPOC authors (and protagonists!) into the publishing world.

She is actively building her client list and represents work in the following categories: romance (contemporary, paranormal/speculative, romantic suspense, New Adult, and more), speculative fiction, women’s fiction, historical fiction, mystery, suspense, and thrillers, young adult, as well as select upper middle grade and nonfiction. Laura is always looking for a doorstopper, high-concept pitch which immediately gets everyone excited—maybe it’s Bridgerton but make it dark academia, or Stranger Things meets Kim’s Convenience. Her tastes are very commercial-leaning, so propulsive and accessible are the name of the game for her.

Laura is looking to experiment with more dark romance (angst is fine, but no dubious consent!), horror/monster romance, and genre-mashups of all kinds. Her tastes naturally lean towards lighter and frothier stories, but she still has an appreciation for a tense survival scenario (forced proximity is one of her favorite tropes!).  She is also interested in fresh takes on historical romance and dystopian which stand out from their predecessors and could lead the charge in bringing the categories back to the forefront. She is also focusing more on the mystery/thriller and suspense space and loves a suspense thread in a genre blend. She is especially interested in stories with a female protagonist and anything that could be considered “cozy crime”: romps full of humor and charm with characters who aren’t always on the right side of the law (think Thursday Murder Club or Dial A for Aunties).

She is a member of the Association of American Literary Agents (AALA) and the Society of Children’s Book Writers and Illustrators (SCBWI).

For fiction and non-fiction, see our agency submission guidelines.