Liza DeBlock

“I want to be left with a book-hangover that leaves me wanting more.”

Liza DeBlock is the Foreign Rights Manager & Agent, and works to promote and sell the agency’s books internationally, as well as build her own list of talented authors. She started in publishing at the literary scouting agency, Eccles Fisher Associates before moving to work as an assistant to Juliet Mushens, working alongside her as she developed multiple Sunday Times and New York Times bestselling authors. In 2022 Liza was chosen as one of The Bookseller’s Rising Stars in the publishing industry. Liza also works with Black Girl Writers, and Jericho Writers, assessing submissions and mentoring authors, and has started developing her own list of authors including Natalie Chandler, Pim Wangtechawat, Stacey Thomas, and Sally Abé. You can follow her on twitter as @lizadeblock.

 Submitting to Liza

Liza is looking for both fiction and non fiction.

For fiction, Liza is interested in adult only - do not send her children’s, middle grade, or YA. She is looking for historical fiction that is well researched, immerses readers in the era, and looks at overlooked characters from the past, or perhaps gives a new spin on someone we think we know. On the literary and upmarket side, she is looking for novels infused with emotions that capture the human experience and make readers think. If your literary novel is something at A24 productions might turn into a movie, this is Liza’s taste. When it comes to fantasy, she loves urban and grounded fantasy (no sci-fi please!), and is always happy to look at anything with a vampire, werewolf, witches, warlocks, fairies, and perhaps a sinister selkie or two. She is also very much looking for romantasy and is the best person at the agency to submit that too. For thrillers, send her anything set in an exotic location, high-concept, or things with a speculative twist. She loves when characters are put in situations she would never want to be in, and then they have to get out of it.

On the non fiction side, she is looking for books that teach her something new or reframe a topic from an alternative point of view. This can include cookery, pop science, and social history. 

*Please do not send her: novellas or unfinished manuscripts, sci-fi, horror, erotica, graphic novels, children’s books, middle grade, or poetry.*

Liza’s recent favourite non-fiction include: The Five, Fierce Appetites, The Authority Gap, Finding The Mother Tree, Cook This Book, Dessert Person

Her recent favourite fiction includes: Notes on an Execution, Lady Macbethad, Hamnet, A Discovery of Witches, House of Earth and Blood, The Starless Sea, Piranesi, Our Wives Under the Sea, The Pisces, Such A Fun Age.

Liza says… ‘I am always on the hunt for something new, whether that be voices, experiences, or knowledge. When it comes to fiction, I need to be hooked in the first few pages of a novel. I want to live in a character’s head and feel as though I am along for the ride. I love historical fiction based on real people, fantasy with a romantic thread (give me a love-triangle any day of the week!), and thrillers/crime that put characters in positions I would never want to be in. I also adore books with lyrical prose that make me reflect on life and feel all the feels. On the non fiction front, I adore books that challenge my perceptions of the world, teach me something in a fun, new way, and start conversations. Ultimately, I’m drawn to books I cannot stop thinking or talking about.’ 

Liza’s Clients