"Being a literary agent is the culmination of over ten years work. Initially I worked for five years as a multi award winning TV and radio producer and writer, including three years reviewing books and interviewing authors on national radio. I moved into marketing to try and understand both of the main sides of the communications industry.
I then had six years writing advertising, strategy, branding, for huge clients, like ICI and BT. I decided that I was fed up of doing work with big corporations and trying to make it exciting when basically... it wasn’t.
This history has given us as a company great advantages in that we understand the creative process and how to make communications like books stand out from the crowd. We know what makes a commercial possibility and understand the importance of research and branding in making something really work.
The reasons the company was started were as follows:
It's something we're incredibly passionate about
Having analysed the industry there was room for a focused editorial approach that we have defined as 'cult mainstream' which means work which is credible, original and honest without being up its own tailpipe.
Another key benefit to publishers is our deep understanding of marketing, which includes the ability to both spot writers and stories that will make great interviewees and also put together and manage marketing campaigns to get them noticed.
On a personal level I missed the thrill of
making something that REALLY grabbed people by the heart and head and made
money. Doing campaigns for big corporates and the smoke and mirrors
insincerity of marketing was stifling and uncreative.
We wanted to work with and discover amazing new talents like Muslim shocker Maya Ismael (that's her on the left).
I had achieved it with TV and radio several times before, winning awards for quirky programmes that captured massive audiences. After hearing a friend put together an extraordinary music album in his living room without involving a label and also bizarrely receiving two manuscripts for amazing books, I decided that a much more fulfilling life would be working with this kind of talent.
Far more fun that trying to make phone lines sound interesting!