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DESCRIPTION avid reader. We want future generations to grow up with his passion for books and culture. His mission to create a nation of readers is the driving force behind everything we do.
RIGHTS PROFESSIONAL OF THE YEAR
OVERVIEW rights teams coped brilliantly with all the challenges of Covid-19, they were pleased to swap virtual meetings and book fairs with real-world ones in 2022. Not that everything was suddenly easier: production and shipping issues and markets all caused headaches. Rights pros overcame all this to deliver more record sales, and the eight nominees for this award—four individuals, two agency sellers and two teams—were the best of the best.
ALEXANDRA CLIFF Rachel Mills Literary rights director Alexandra Cliff has built a seven-figure international business in less than three years, and notched up several hundred deals in 2022, including dozens for Julie Smith’s Why Has Nobody Told Me This Before? She has also created a substantial sub- agenting operation. “One of the most naturally gifted people in publishing,” said one partner.
CARINE DELAGRAVE Foreign rights director Carine Delagrave has been at the heart of children’s list Magic Cat Publishing’s remarkable start. Rights and co-edition sales—a key driver of the indie list—have reached around £4m in just three Covid-19-hit years and Magic Cat is already globally renowned for its quality, creativity and excel- lent branding of its books and other content.
JEMMA MCDONAGH The Marsh Agency’s Jemma McDonagh claimed a personal best year in rights, substan- tially increasing advances for her clients. Among the benefi- ciaries were Tess Gunty, Min Jin Lee (pictured) and Julia Quinn. She was also active beyond her day job, helping to launch the cross-industry OpenBooks project to attract more people from underrepresented back- grounds into publishing.
SIMON & SCHUSTER RIGHTS TEAM This collective nomination is recognition of a stunning year for S&S around the world. Its team of seven struck more than a thousand deals, and while adult fiction was the standout, children’s was very profitable too. Rights partners value its bespoke approach to deal-making. “They’re profes- sional, efficient and passion- ate,” said one testimonial.
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USBORNE RIGHTS TEAM International sales have been integral to Usborne’s inexorable growth ever since it started 50 years ago. Its rights team of 10 scored double-digit increases in co-edition revenue in 2022 and the fiction list grew too. Long-term partnerships were key and Asia was a particularly hot market, but Usborne also found yet more new territories to sell into.
RICHARD KING Bookouture’s head of rights is shortlisted for the second consecutive year. He trebled the value of deals in his second year at Hachette, having trans- formed the way translation, film and TV rights are handled at the firm. He has capitalised on big Bookouture titles from Freida McFadden and Soraya Lane, and done great work with established brands such as Angela Marsons.
ALICE LATHAM Atlantic Books’ rights direc- tor gave the independent publisher by far the biggest rights year in its history. As well as selling new titles, a large part of its success was down to Latham’s determina- tion to squeeze the most out of translation opportunities in Atlantic’s backlist. Domestic serialisation deals and audio sub-licensing were other big growth areas.
JOSÉPHINE SEBLON Thames & Hudson’s senior rights manager was an integral part of the illustrated publisher’s stellar year in international markets. She doubled her French-language deals and was very successful in her other core market of South Korea, while also help- ing to launch T&H’s Skittledog imprint globally. Seblon even found time to write her own children’s book, Mini Artists.
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