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LITERARY AGENT OF THE YEAR


OVERVIEW As the warm testimonials on the entries to this award show, good literary agents are worth their weight in gold to authors. With sensitive care of their clients, a steadfast attitude towards dealmaking and a collaborative approach to publishing, these eight agents all demonstrate  skills. In a sign of the pipeline of emerging talent in the UK at the moment, all but three of the eight— including 2018 winner Madeleine Milburn— appear on this shortlist 


ABIGAIL BERGSTROM Abigail Bergstrom of Gleam Titles is leading a new wave of literary agents plugging publishers into the zeitgeist. Within influencer-focused agency Gleam Futures, she has turned social media phenom- enon Mrs Hinch into a massive book brand. Laura Bates, Scarlett Curtis and Emma Gannon are among other authors benefiting from her dynamic approach to talent.


CLARE ALEXANDER Clare Alexander of Aitken Alexander Associates helped a host of authors achieve critical acclaim in 2019, with three reaching the Women’s Prize shortlist—Pat Barker, Diana Evans and Oyinkan Braithwaite. Her instinct for talent and her loyal support of clients inspire widespread admiration. “If Clare believes in you, you can do almost anything,” said one author.


SAM COPELAND Sam Copeland of RCW steered a remarkable year for Alex Michaelides, whose début The Silent Patient, plucked from the slush pile, sold more than two million copies worldwide. From children’s authors like Holly Jackson and graphic novelists such as Stephen Collins, to celebrities including Simon Mayo and literary talents like Julia Armfield, his roster is impressively broad.


MADELEINE MILBURN Madeleine Milburn of the Madeleine Milburn Literary, TV & Film Agency had a best- ever year for deals and big hits from authors including C J Tudor, Fiona Barton and C L Taylor—as well as keep- ing sales rolling for Gail Honeyman’s Eleanor Oliphant. One publisher said: “She is that rare thing in an agent: both the authors’ choice and the publishers’ choice.”


KAROLINA SUTTON Karolina Sutton of Curtis Brown did what no literary agent has ever done, before and will probably never do again: represent two Booker Prize winners in a single year. Beyond her work for Margaret Atwood and Bernardine Evaristo, she helped to steer other bestsellers from Philippa Perry, Tara Westover, Oliver Bullough and Taffy Brodesser-Akner.


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SARAH BALLARD Sarah Ballard of United Agents had a standout year, nurturing the bestselling fiction début of the year in Bridget Collins’ The Binding, and helping Hallie Rubenhold to capitalize on her Baillie Gifford Prize triumph with The Five. Ballard also showed her desire to keep clients’ careers moving forward by switching several to writing in new genres, or for new publishers.


JENNY BROWN Jenny Brown of Jenny Brown Associates shows the impor- tance of agents’ work outside the London publishing bubble. Her Edinburgh-based business raised the profiles of narrative non-fiction, crime and literary fiction writers, including Kathleen Jamie, Shaun Bythell and Clare Hunter. Beyond the agency, she did a lot of impor- tant work to promote Scottish publishing and culture too.


CLARE HULTON Clare Hulton of Clare Hulton Literary Agency agented the uber-bestseller of 2019: Pinch of Nom. Hulton’s transforma- tion of two unknowns into multi-book, multimedia super- stars is reward for 10 years’ hard work on her agency. “The best, most encouraging, supportive, honest, cool-as- a-cucumber agent on the planet,” said one author of Hulton’s work.


DIANA EVANS WAS ONE OF CLARE


ALEXANDERS SUCCESSES LAST YEAR


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