PREVIEW
Frankfurt Book Fair Special Mulcahy Sweeney
Compatriots join forces as Mulcahy Sweeney agency plots path forward
Earlier this year, Sallyanne Sweeney joined Ivan Mulcahy in the directorship of their literary agency, and now with two names above the door, they explain their plans to grow further still
Tom Tivnan @tomtivnan E
ight years ago when Sallyanne Sweeney was asked by her fellow native Dubliner Ivan Mulcahy to join what was then Mulcahy Associates, she didn’t
immediately jump at the chance. It was not that they didn’t gel or their client rosters were incompatible. No, Sweeney says, perhaps only half-joking: “It was that being the Irish agent in London was my USP.”
She soon put that objection aside and she and Mulcahy have had a successful run with their literary agency, which sits within MMB Creative, an umbrella group which also includes the talent agency Milburn Browning and the voiceover firm Fuller Voices. Earlier this year, Sweeney became a full director and the company was renamed Mulcahy Sweeney.
Mulcahy says that “it was completely obvious and
inevitable” that Sweeney would have her name above the door. “When we first started working together—and she’s at least a generation younger than me—her goal was to build and develop her list, but I always had it in mind that this was a long-term relationship and it got to a point where Sallyanne needed recognition for the success of what she’s built. “You’re either growing or you’re dying as an agency, and you need to demonstrate to the market that the busi- ness has longevit and a longer-term plan.” Mulcahy Sweeney aims to grow even more and it is looking to add another agent to the team. Sweeney says: “We aren’t in a rush, as I think it’s more important to find someone who is the right fit. Because we are both very broad, we’ve always thought that a third person to come in would have their own particular focus, maybe commercial fiction, but we won’t be that restrictive as lists develop over the years.”
It is true that Mulcahy and Sweeney have wide-ranging rosters. Sweeney is one of the few agents in London who has an equally weighted list of authors and illustrators that goes from picture books to adults, such as Look Up! duo Nathan Bryon and Dapo Adeola, Juno Dawson, former Quercus editor and upcoming
08 1st October 2021
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