The Bookseller announced this week the nominations for the top literary agents. They are:
Darley Anderson
founder of Darley Anderson Literary, TV & Film Agency,
‘Anderson has taken a hands-on approach with his authors since starting his company in 1988-involved in the seemingly minute details such as jacket design, and tirelessly building relationships between authors and booksellers. This approach, and always having faith in the slushpile, means that by the end of the agency’s 21st year it boasted three number one UK bestselling authors, one of whom, Martina Cole, is the bestselling adult fiction hardback novelist in the UK.’
Jonny Geller
Curtis Brown, books department m.d.
‘With an instinct for matching the right editor to author, and strategic positioning of his clients, Geller has enjoyed another strong year. The prestige achievement was undoubtedly Nelson Mandela’s Conversations with Myself, sold into 26 languages. Geller shifted John le Carré, and a good part of his backlist, from Hodder to Penguin, while another author, Howard Jacobson, won Man Booker Prize glory with The Finkler Question in his first outing after moving from Cape to Bloomsbury.’
Mark Stanton
Jenny Brown Associates
‘able to pluck gems from the 1,000-plus submissions he receives every month. Highlights of 2010 have included Alistair Urquhart’s The Forgotten Highlander (Little, Brown) which topped the Sunday Times bestseller chart and remained in the top 10 for six weeks, and Natasha Solomon’s Mr Rosenblum’s List (Sceptre)’ which was one of 2010’s strongest-selling literary débuts.
Felicity Bryan
Felicity Bryan Associates, founder and chair
‘The runaway success of the year was Edmund de Waal’s The Hare with Amber Eyes (Chatto). Turned down by all but two publishers, this genre-breaking memoir-the story of a European family through Japanese netsuke-was helped to publication by Bryan’s editorial input and championing of the book.’
Robert Kirby, United Agents, director
‘One of the co-founders of UA, Kirby has consistently brought the right author and publishers together. Atop Kirby’s list in 2010 (and the Christmas hardback fiction bestseller list) was the pairing of Dawn French with Michael Joseph for her début novel A Tiny Bit Marvellous. Kirby was involved with the title at every stage from early editorial discussions to design to marketing. Another strong match was pairing James Corden’s autobiography with Jack Fogg at Century.’
Simon Trewin
United Agents, director literary division
‘In his 16th year as an agent, it is the line-by-line work with authors that drives Trewin; Kate Williams’ début The Pleasures of Men-sold within hours of submission to Michael Joseph-is testament to that. Yet Trewin has also done sterling work with big brands and estates. He is the agent for the Ian Fleming estate, with the new Bond novel, written by Jeffery Deaver, being sold into 25 territories and counting.’
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