Overview
A 2024 Bookseller Rising Star.
I have worked in publishing for over ten years, with a core background on the agency side of the industry. I’ve provided editorial work for new authors bringing their work up to submission standard, established names who need an editorial hand on a future work, and I've often been an extra set of editorial eyes on behalf of my colleagues at agencies, rather than just working for my own clients. Alongside working closely in an editorial capacity with fiction clients (often developmentally), I have a lot of experience in building non-fiction proposals. My work has been very broad, and I've worked on almost every kind of book in my time, from fiction, to non-fiction (both black & white and colour), to children's. So far, I've secured offers on 88% of the projects I've worked on during my time at YMU, and I've been known to restructure projects that failed to sell beforehand, and then proceed to get a deal.
My favourite things to work on include; dark women’s fiction with bite (anything dark and twisty at all for that matter - clearly never let go of my emo phase), fantasy and sci-fi, magical realism (a la Ruth Ozeki), book club fiction, crime and thriller, horror (a good example of my taste in that area beyond the obvious Stephen King is Imaginary Friend by Stephen Chbosky - masterful), narrative non-fiction (memoir, polemics, activism, anything useful), cookery and food, talent led crossover non-fiction projects, middle-grade and YA.
I can be a bit of a magpie with fiction, anything with a strong emotional hook and nuanced characters, and you're likely to pique my interest! The only thing that may not be my speed is extremely sophisticated or experimental literary fiction - I admire it greatly, but wouldn't trust myself to know how to help shape it, as it's not an area I've worked in a lot.
I think the foundation for a great editorial relationship isn't dissimilar to the foundation of any great personal relationship - it's based on trust, clicking with that person, and being able to enjoy your time with them. To that end, I'm an open book - ask me anything about my process, nothing is off limits, and if we ultimately don't feel that creative connection and shared vision, then I'm more than happy to be your cheerleader instead and give any advice I can so that you can find the right fit. At the end of the day, editorial is about YOU and getting your project to where you need it to go.
Services
Non-Fiction
Fiction
Languages
Work experience
YMU
At YMU I work with clients across all of the divisions, and with authors who are signed to the literary list. This can be creating non-fiction proposals and editing those with clients, or editing novels and children's projects.
WME
At WME, I began as an assistant to a partner in the literary department. After he left the agency, I started to build my own list and co-agent a number of US clients. My day-to-day responsibilities included signing and working with my own clients in the UK, co-agenting US clients, selling UK audio rights, building proposals for crossover clients from other areas of the business, editorial work (for department clients such as Lev Grossman, Kim Edwards, Aimee Phan and Ann Leary, as well as my own clients), and selling serial rights. I like to represent clients across all genres, and at WME I gained experience in selling an extremely broad range of projects in fiction, non-fiction and children’s. I also became something of an in house editor for the agency, with one head of department describing me as 'the best we have' in editorial.
Abner Stein
At Abner Stein I began as an assistant to two agents, and by the time I left I assisted three. When one of my bosses went on maternity leave I was able to take on more responsibility for several months, covering ongoing projects and managing the inbox. At Abner Stein my main responsibilities included writing pitch letters and submission lists, drawing up deal memos / pre-contract acceptance letters, tracking payments, and drawing up invoice. I also worked as the reversions and permissions manager and worked closely with the agent handling all audio rights.
Portfolio
Anna has 1 review
Professionalism
Quality
Value
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Matthew G.
Nov, 2021
Pinned