THIS WEEK
Agents & rights
Clare Alexander Darley Anderson Neil Blair Rebecca Folland Jonny Geller David Headley Lizzy Kremer Caroline Michel Madeleine Milburn Chantal Noel Rosemary Scoular Peter Straus Cathryn Summerhayes Patrick Walsh
The Lead Story The Bookseller 150
Clare Alexander Aitken Alexander Managing director
There have been an embarrassment of riches for Alexander’s agency over the past 12 months, with prizes and bestsell- ers galore. On her own list there have been the welcome returns of Pat Barker and Jung Chang, plus one of the débuts of the year with Oyinkan Braithwaite’s My Sister, the Serial Killer. Director Chris Wellbelove has spearheaded the new Profile Aitken Alexander Non-Fiction Prize; and luring Emma Paterson from RCW in 2018 was a canny move—her client highlight in 2019 was undoubtedly Bernardine Evaristo’s Booker win.
Darley Anderson Darley Anderson Agency Founder
It has arguably been the most fruitful year for Anderson in his three decades as an agent, with a surging Lee Child, Martina Cole’s return and a breakout year for Tana French. But the agency is not just about the name above the door. Senior agent Camilla Bolton and rights director Mary Darby are poised to be Anderson’s long-term successor(s) when (if?) he decides to hang up his spurs. The children’s division is humming under Clare Wallace, while commercial women’s specialist Tanera Simons has had a run of knock-out deals.
Neil Blair Te Blair Partnership Founder
It has been a busy spell for J K Rowling’s agent. Following a strategy shift, Pottermore rebranded as Wizarding World Digital and launched its first app, a mobile companion, a subscrip- tion service and a new interactive website. Oh, and The Blair Partnership has other clients. Recent deals include Rory Scarfe selling boxer Tyson Fury’s “warts-and-all memoir” to Century, while Hattie Grünewald—freshly arrived after six years at Blake Friedmann—sold Nancy Tucker’s début for six figures to Hutchinson.
Rebecca Folland Hachette UK Head of rights
New Entry
Folland crossed from “the other side” a year ago, joining Hachette after 13 years at Janklow & Nesbit. She was
initially brought in as rights director for Hodder & Stoughton, Headline, John Murray Press and Quercus, and a notable success was selling Holly Miller’s The Sight of You in 20 territories. In October she also took on an additional role, chairing a forum of rights directors across Hachette UK, through which they will aim to co-ordinate activity and share best practices.
Lizzy Kremer DHA/AAA Agent/president
As well as advocating for her clients, among which she counts the likes of Paula Hawkins and Rachel Abbott, as Association of Authors’ Agents president Kremer has been a champion for agents and the industry at large. Campaigns include AAA’s efforts to rout out sexual harassment, which resulted in the first sector-wide Industry Commitment to Professional Behaviour in Bookselling & Publishing. She has also been vocal on issues around author pay, arguing big advances are necessary for writers to get their fair share of publishers’ profits.
20 13th December 2019
Jonny Geller Curtis Brown Joint c.e.o. and m.d., books
Green Ever
Geller’s agency launched a Heritage division in its 120th anniversary year to manage its literary estates, as well as
the Curtis Brown First Novel Prize to discover “voices of the future”—it was awarded this year to début author Chikodili Emelumadu. Its enviable roster (Adam Kay, David Nicholls, John le Carré, Jojo Moyes, and on and on) was responsible for some of the biggest books of the year, while the agency also picked up a shared Booker triumph, with Margaret Atwood’s The Testaments.
David Headley D H H Literary/Goldsboro Books/ Capital Crime Founder
New Entry
The boss of specialist book- shop Goldsboro Books, D H H Literary Agency and indie publisher The Dome Press
added another string to his bow this year, co-founding the Capital Crime festi- val with author Adam Handy. The inau- gural event saw more than 100 authors in 40 panel talks, 600-plus attendees each day, and just over £14,000 worth of books sold. Goldsboro Books won Bookseller of the Year at the Romantic Novelists’ Association’s Industry Awards.
Photography: Mark Guest
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