Kesia Lupo – Editor

I'm Commissioning Editor at First Ink, Pan Macmillan, where I acquire and edit teen, YA and crossover fiction. If we work together in a freelance capacity, due to conflict of interest I cannot consider your work for publication.

I've been working in publishing since 2013, when I started as Editorial Services Assistant at Pan Macmillan London, working on copy-edits and proofreads and specializing in the SFF-focused Tor list. I worked with authors such as Adrian Tchaikovsky, Genevieve Cogman, and Jay Kristoff.

In 2015 I was hired as Junior Editor at YA and MG fiction publisher Chicken House – over the following eight years I was promoted through Editor to Senior Editor, ultimately acquiring for the list across multiple genres. Titles I worked on included Costa Book Award-winning Asha and the Spirit Bird by Jasbinder Bilan and bestselling Tin by Pádraig Kenny, which reached no. 11 on the Times children's bestseller chart.

In 2023, I moved to the US and switched careers into literary agenting. I represented both adult and children’s fiction and select non-fiction for The Bindery Agency and Donald Maass Literary Agency, and sold titles in both the US and the UK. In my top deal, I closed a six-figure, 48-hour pre-empt for an adult epic fantasy trilogy, Firstborn of the Sun (Penguin Michael Joseph, October 2025). I worked closely with all my clients to develop their manuscripts for submission, continuing to use my editorial skills as an agent. I left agenting and the US and started (again!) at Macmillan UK in 2025.

Lastly, I have three YA novels out with Bloomsbury UK – fantasies We Are Blood and Thunder (2019) and We Are Bound by Stars (2020), and horror/thriller Let’s Play Murder (2023).

I hope to bring my multifaceted, 12-year experience to bear on every project - I have a commercial eye, an exceptional understanding of what publishing involves, and a passion for helping writers develop their craft.