New Literary Agent Listing: Silé Edwards
firstwriter.com – Monday September 21, 2020
Looking for books that inform our understanding of the world, society and the ways we live. Interested in a range of Non-Fiction from emotive life writing to topical essay-like writing to projects on cookery and food. She is particularly keen on finding experts in their field who want to write about what they know in a way that everyone can understand, appreciate and enjoy.
Also accepts fiction submissions. She is open to all genres, but especially interested in crime thrillers, romantic comedies, poetry and upmarket fiction.
Foundry Literary + Media Co-Founder Yfat Reiss Gendell Exits To Form YRG Partners
deadline.com – Friday September 18, 2020
Foundry Literary + Media co-founder Yfat Reiss Gendell has left the New York book agency to form YRG Partners. She leaves with agents Tanusri Prasanna, Peter Steinberg and Adriann Ranta Zurhellen to launch an agency that will focus on representing publishing rights for writers and consumer brands.
Gendell said the agency will partner with a series of existing and new private equity firm relationships, each active in intellectual property and consumer brand development, to match-make between clients and the investment community, and to create unconventional opportunities that work alongside or independent of existing publishing models. Gendell has represented clients’ publishing rights, typically along with managers, and often as the agency of record for writers who are also represented at other agencies for screenwriting. Gendell will bring that formula to the new agency.
Story of ‘bloodthirsty unicorns’ brings debut author record publishing deal
theguardian.com – Thursday September 17, 2020
A 28-year-old first-time author from Canterbury has landed what is believed to be the world’s largest ever book advance for a debut children’s writer, with a fantasy series about “bloodthirsty unicorns”.
Annabel Steadman, writing as AF Steadman, was paid a “major” seven-figure sum by Simon & Schuster this week, following a hotly contested multi-publisher auction for three books in her fantasy adventure series for children, Skandar and the Unicorn Thief. Set in a world where unicorns are deadly, and can only be tamed by the rider who hatches them, the series follows Skandar Smith, who is preparing to become a unicorn rider. When the most powerful unicorn in the world is stolen by a mysterious figure, becoming a rider becomes a lot more complicated than Skandar ancitipated.
“Unicorns don’t belong in fairytales; they belong in nightmares,” writes Steadman as the series opens. The unicorns in her books are “not at all like the unicorns we know in shops, these fluffy unicorns with rainbows, they’re different and exciting and magical but also dangerous,” she says.
Simon & Schuster, which will publish the first book in the series in spring 2022, said the deal was believed to be record-breaking for a debut children’s author. Sony Pictures has also signed an “aggressive” seven-figure deal for the feature film rights in the series, which is aimed at readers of nine and over.
PW Star Watch 2020 Honorees Named
publishersweekly.com – Wednesday September 16, 2020
Publishers Weekly and Frankfurter Buchmesse have named 40 publishing professionals as honorees for PW Star Watch 2020, the annual publishing and bookselling award now in its sixth year. Honorees hail from the U.S. and Canada, and were selected from the ranks of the Big 5 publishers as well as independent and university presses, literary agents, booksellers, and other industry and related organizations.
Because of the Covid-19 pandemic, 2020 also marks several firsts for the awards. This year, a charitable component was added to the program, and will benefit the Book Industry Charitable (Binc) Foundation, which provides financial support to booksellers. In another departure from previous years, the celebration, usually held in a downtown Manhattan locale, will be a virtual celebration free and open to all, and will be held on October 13 at 5 p.m. The five honorees selected as finalists will speak, and one Superstar will be announced by Jim Milliot, Publishers Weekly’s editorial director, and Erin Cox, Frankfurter Buchmesse’s U.S. publicist. As in past years, the Superstar will be invited to the virtual Frankfurter Buchmesse 2020 as well as awarded a sponsored trip to Frankfurter Buchmesse 2021.
New Literary Agent Listing: Jane von Mehren
firstwriter.com – Wednesday September 16, 2020
Interested in narratives in the areas of business, history, memoir, popular culture and science, books that help us live our best lives, literary, book club, and historical fiction.
New Literary Agent Listing: Rick Richter
firstwriter.com – Thursday September 10, 2020
Areas of interest include self-help, music and pop culture, military history and memoir, history, thriller, men’s fiction, business, celebrity, sports celebrity and faith. He has deep experience and interest in children’s books.
New Literary Agency Listing: ASH Literary
firstwriter.com – Wednesday September 9, 2020
Actively seeking creators working across picture books through to Young Adult, including graphic novels.
Sutherland-Hawes leaves Madeleine Milburn to launch own agency
thebookseller.com – Tuesday September 8, 2020
Children's and YA agent Alice Sutherland-Hawes has left Madeleine Milburn Agency to launch her own agency, ASH Literary.
The new venture will focus on the children's market, representing both authors and illustrators.
Sutherland-Hawes said the majority of her clients would be following her to the agency, including twice Kate Greenaway Medal-shortlisted Poonam Mistry, debut authors Kereen Getten and Namina Forna, and illustrator of I Am Brown (Lantana), Sandhya Prabhat.
The agency will be represented for translation rights by ILA.
New Literary Agent Listing: Michelle Brower
firstwriter.com – Tuesday September 8, 2020
Represents fiction and narrative nonfiction. Her interests include book club fiction (a commercial concept with a literary execution), literary fiction (including with an element of genre), and smart women’s fiction. She also represents select young adult, middle grade, and memoir projects.
How did you get your first job in feature writing?
journalism.co.uk – Monday September 7, 2020
If the thought of job hunting straight out of university seemed daunting before, spare a thought for this year's graduates doing so in the midst of a global pandemic.
But all hope is not lost. Many graduates are still getting their big breaks, and one of those is Nicole Baddeley, who graduated this May from Bournemouth University with a bachelors degree in Multimedia Journalism.
She is now a digital trends and feature writer for Newsquest, the second largest regional and local newspaper publisher in the UK. She writes general and evergreen news stories on trending digital topics for the publisher's local websites in the South of England and Wales.
Baddeley spoke to Journalism.co.uk and offered her best tips to job seekers hoping to crack the current market.
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