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Meet the DHH Literary Agency Team!

1/30/2023

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In lieu of our usual DHH News Roundup, we thought it would be a great opportunity to tell you a little bit about us and reveal what it is we're looking for in 2023. Getting ready to submit a manuscript to us? Read on...

David H. Headley, Managing Director

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1. Tell us a little bit about your journey to being an agent.
I was approached by an author to help him find a publisher, and I decided to represent him. I set up my own agency because I was well-connected with publishers through my years of bookselling. The agency and my list grew from there. 

2. What does a typical day, as an agent, look like for you?
No two days are the same. The only thing constant in being an agent is that there is always something to read, and my clients have a pact with each other to send their manuscripts simultaneously ;)
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The rest of the day is spent reviewing contracts, following-up on submissions to publishers, preparing a proposal, answering clients' emails, meeting editors, resolving issues, dealing with terrible proposed book covers, finalising deals, and, if there is any time spare, reading my submissions!

3. What is at the very top of your wishlist right now?
I would love to receive a brilliant dystopian thriller that will span half a dozen books. Character-driven debuts and epic, sweeping stories with big universal themes. Issue-driven crime and thrillers, high concepts and fear-inducing suspense. Thought-provoking stories, original narrative voices, uplifting fiction and emotional journeys - "stories that I don't want to end". 

4. What are three major 'don't's for an author regarding submissions?
1) Do not send a blanket email copying in other agents. 
2) Do not send a submission that doesn't meet my guidelines.
3) Send an email with only 'please see attached'!

5. And finally, what is your favourite thing about being an agent?
Receiving an outstanding and professional submission from a writer and then being able to represent their book. Going on the journey of the book from manuscript all the way to publication and then to the bestseller list. For me, that is the most exciting and rewarding part of my job. ​

Broo Doherty, Director

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1. Tell us a little bit about your journey to being an agent.
I used to work in publishing as an editor, but decided that being an agent was more creative, as I can decide exactly who to represent in whatever genre, and if I want to take a risk I can. Working in publishing is incredibly rewarding, but there is something quite special about reading someone’s work at the very outset and deciding whether or not to shape it into a book that could be published. I’ve got a butterfly brain, so love the fact that I can be captivated by any subject possible and if I feel it has commercial potential, I can take it on, and hopefully see it being published. ​

2. What does a typical day, as an agent, look like for you?
Every day is varied - I can spend a day editing, or I can spend a day reading submissions, and given that every submission is unique, that is always exciting. I can also spend a day visiting publishers, to discover what they are looking for, or spending the day with an author and an editor shaping their book into something special. And recently I have spent days abroad with an author visiting their foreign publisher, so that takes the days into a completely different realm. It’s the variety and the lack of routine that I find fulfilling.  

3. What is at the very top of your wishlist right now?
I’d love to discover a new historical novelist as there seems to be a market for them at the moment - The Dressmaker of Paris has been incredibly successful both here and abroad; or a new crime series, such a M. W. Craven, or a big sweeping novel along the lines of Lucinda Riley or Taylor Jenkins Reid; and I am always delighted to receive a rom com along the lines of Cassie Connor. I have recently read Claire Keegan’s Small Things Like These which will live with me for some time. Basically I just want to represent authors that are writing at the top of their game in whatever genre they themselves have chosen. 

4. What are three major 'don't's for an author regarding submissions?
​Please don’t send me any science fiction or fantasy - my mind turns to spaghetti when I read those; please don’t tell me your mother thinks this is the best thing she has ever read; and lastly, please don’t try and be funny - jokes first thing on a Monday morning always fall flat!

5. And finally, what is your favourite thing about being an agent?
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My favourite thing is that as I am the first person to read a submission, I am the first person to recognise that your book might have potential, it might fly. And I love working with my authors - it is a collaborative process - and knowing that I have the chance of changing someone’s life and enabling them to realise the dream of a lifetime is an incredibly privileged position to be in.   

Hannah Sheppard, Director

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1. Tell us a little bit about your journey to being an agent.
I started out in the editorial department at Macmillan Children’s Books and worked my way up to Senior Commissioning Editor for Headline Publsihing’s YA list. As I thought about what my next steps might be I realised that to go more senior in house would take me away from the parts of my job that I really loved – brainstorming with authors and working collaboratively with them to develop their ideas – and more into management which I was less interested in. I realised becoming an agent would allow me to continue to focus on the best bits of an editorial role and it’s worked out well so far. ​

2. What does a typical day, as an agent, look like for you?
There is no typical. I am trying to be more disciplined this year so I only look at email 3 times a day to try to give myself stretches of time to focus on edits. But there are also lots of calls with authors, editors and scouts, and days in London for meetings. And I’ve learnt it’s best to always be prepared for the unexpected because something needing urgent attention can come up at any moment. 

3. What is at the very top of your wishlist right now?
This is such a hard question … there are so many things that I’d love to see but often, what grabs me takes me completely by surprise because of a genius hook or incredible voice. I think we’ve all had a tough few years though so I’m really keen on joy and laughter and stories that make my heart swell with kindness and love … that applies across children’s and adult fiction. 

4. What are three major 'don't's for an author regarding submissions?
This may sound silly but don’t forget to pitch your book! It’s really hard to judge how successfully someone has done something if you don’t know what they’re aiming to do. 

Of course, I want to know a little about you in your submission (including your name, not just initials or pseudonym – I’m always surprised by how many times that gets left off too) but the most important thing is the book. Make me care about your character and what they’re going to go through in your story – and then tell me what genre you’re writing, who you think the audience is and what else that audience might currently be reading.

And then I’d say, don’t ignore the agent’s submission guidelines. And don’t send your submission to someone who doesn’t actively represent books in that area – it’s unlikely they’re going to start just for your book (this is about their reading habits and industry contacts as much as anything). 

5. And finally, what is your favourite thing about being an agent?
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My authors! I feel very lucky to get to work with such talented people.

Harry Illingworth, Director

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1. Tell us a little bit about your journey to being an agent.
I did the usual English degree and then to be honest didn’t know what I wanted to do next until I realised that books had been staring at me all along. When I moved to London I did some internships at publishers before getting a job as David’s assistant at DHH, but also working as a bookseller at Goldsboro Books. This was where I developed and learnt all about the industry, getting a really great understanding of how the wheels turn, before eventually getting to the point where I couldn’t manage the two any longer. At this point I turned solely to focus on the agency and my clients, and here we are!

2. What does a typical day, as an agent, look like for you?
The good thing about an agent’s day is that it can look very different on any given day. Some days can be meeting and call heavy; whether that’s on Zoom or in person. Other days are spent looking over contracts and negotiating royalty rates. And then of course there’s the reading. At the moment I’ve got a huge amount of scripts that my current clients have written that need reading and notes making on, so lots of my day is being spent in front of those. However there’s always the towering pile of submissions that need attacking too!

3. What is at the very top of your wishlist right now?
  • A sweeping crime epic like Age of Vice. I just read that book and it blew me away
  • Dark academia
  • Epic Fantasy
  • A really original mystery
  • Something set in the North

4. What are three major 'don't's for an author regarding submissions?
Don’t address your submission to the wrong agent! I get so many of these you wouldn’t believe it, and it shows a lack of care. I’d also say don’t just compare your book to the biggest and most famous books in the genre, take the time to know your market and get your comps right.

5. And finally, what is your favourite thing about being an agent?
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There is no better feeling in the world than working with a writer on their debut novel (but equally, any novel!), sometimes for months, sometimes for years over multiple novels, and being able to call them up and tell them that a publisher has made an offer for it. That absolute joy for the writer especially, but also for the agent, of knowing they’re going to be published is wonderful.

Emily Glenister, Director

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1. Tell us a little bit about your journey to being an agent.
I trained to be an actress at the Bristol Old Vic Theatre School, but it was while I was sitting at my dressing table backstage at the National Theatre, that I looked in the mirror and thought "I can't to do this anymore". So I swiftly gave up acting, and tried my hand at agenting for actors (a terrible idea); before too long, I spied an opportunity to work with David at both Goldsboro Books and DHH Literary Agency, and then in 2020, I was made an agent and started to build a list of my own.

2. What does a typical day, as an agent, look like for you?
I tend to to spend the first part of my day getting through the admin side of things (emails that have come in overnight, invoicing for clients' work, going through contracts, speaking with editors or scouts, drawing up pitches and so on); and then in the afternoon, I will read and / or edit clients' manuscripts, as well as read submissions from potential authors. I tend to do this until dinner, eat, and then carry on until bedtime, when I try and squeeze in a few chapters of a "non-work" book.

3. What is at the very top of your wishlist right now?
A psychological thriller that feels fresh and new; book club fiction in the vein of Abi Daré and Jessie Burton; and historical fiction - all of it with women at its very core.

4. What are three major 'don't's for an author regarding submissions?
1) Please refrain from heading your letter 'Dear Sir / Madam' - need I say more?
2) If you receive a pass from an agent, I would encourage you to not reply saying we've "missed out" or that I'll "regret it". It just reinforces the fact that I haven't, and I won't.
3) Try and not make the letter too long; we can have a good old natter about your personal life and your pets when we start working together; but until then, please keep it focused on your work. The same goes for the synopsis - one page is preferable and it's good practice for pitching your book!

5. And finally, what is your favourite thing about being an agent?
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Making that phone call to tell a client they're going to be a published author; there is no feeling like it and it's a huge privilege to be able to do so. 

Also, reading a submission that gives you those little tummy butterflies you get when you know you've got something special on your hands.

Tom Drake-Lee, Associate Agent

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1. Tell us a little bit about your journey to being an agent.
I worked in publishing for many years and was the sales director at Vintage for over a decade. When I decided to look for new opportunities I reached out to David Headley who I had known for quite some time and, wonderful man that he is, David offered to take me on as an associate agent. I jumped at the chance. 

2. What does a typical day, as an agent, look like for you?
I'll go through my schedule double-checking where my authors are, both with publishers and any work I may be doing with them, and check in with them where useful to move those conversations along. After that is done, it is down to the business of reading submissions and looking for new clients.

3. What is at the very top of your wishlist right now?
I'd love to find the next award winning British crime writer. Someone who writes as well as UK author Ray Celestin or US writer S. A. Cosby but with a UK setting.

4. What are three major 'don't's for an author regarding submissions?
1) Don't write 
a synopsis that goes on for pages and pages. Be concise and grab my attention.
2) Especially for debut authors, don't submit before you have refined and refined your manuscript. 
3) Don't compare your book with the bestselling books of recent years. Be as accurate as possible with your comparisons so I understand who you think are the potential readers for your book.


5. And finally, what is your favourite thing about being an agent?
​
It's great helping writers realise their dreams of being published.
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DHH News Roundup 16th - 22nd January 2023

1/22/2023

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We've got a few fantastic reads for you, courtesy of Amazon's January Kindle Monthly Deal - yours to download for just 99p each!
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To go straight to any of the deals, simply click on the book covers above.

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Congratulations to Brian McGilloway, who last week saw the paperback publication of his Sunday Times bestseller, The Empty Room. 

​What do you do when your child disappears?

Pandora - Dora - Conlon wakes one morning to discover her 17-year old daughter Ellie, has not come home after a party.

The day Ellie disappears, Dora is alone as her husband Eamon has already left for the day in his job as a long-distance lorry driver.
So Dora does the usual things: rings around Ellie's friends... but no one knows where she is. Her panic growing, Dora tries the local hospitals and art college where Ellie is a student - but then the police arrive on her doorstep with the news her daughter's handbag has been discovered dumped in a layby.

So begins Dora's ordeal of waiting and not knowing what has become of her girl. Eamon's lack of empathy and concern, Dora realises, is indicative of the state of their marriage, and left on her own, Dora begins to reassess everything she thought she knew about her family and her life. Increasingly isolated and disillusioned with the police investigation, Dora feels her grip on reality slipping as she takes it upon herself to find her daughter - even if it means tearing apart everything and everybody she had ever loved, and taking justice into her own hands.

Truly, Darkly, Deeply author, Victoria Selman, will be appearing at the Bay Tales Live Festival, with her 'On the Sofa Roadshow'. 

Talking to fellow bestselling authors, Fiona Cummins, Cara Hunter and Abigail Dean, Victoria's panel will be on Sunday 5th March at 10.30am, taking place at Whitby Library. 

To book your slot, email baytales20@gmail.com.
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Also published last week was the brand new, heart-pounding psychological thriller from Carys Jones, She Had It Coming, now available in paperback, eBook and audio. 

​'Someone needs to bring her down a peg or two...'

When Pippa's best friend goes missing on a school run, no one thinks twice. Heather is pretty, popular and more than a little wild.

Most people think she ran away for the attention ... Others say girls like her always get what's coming to them.
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Pippa's mother, Abbie, has never liked Heather. Or her mother Michelle, a successful doctor who thinks she's too good for the school mums' group.

But when Heather turns up dead, everything changes. Because Pippa was the last person to see her alive... and now Abbie's own house of cards is about to come tumbling down.

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Congratulations to ⁦client Matt Johnson⁩, whose “extraordinary” account of police officer John Murray’s investigation into the murder of fellow officer, Yvonne Fletcher, has been bought by ⁦⁦Ad Lib Publishers.

Editorial director Duncan Proudfoot acquired world all language rights to No Ordinary Day from Broo Doherty at the DHH Agency. The book will be published on 8th June 2023 in paperback. 

Johnson said: "As WPC Yvonne Fletcher lay dying, her close friend John Murray cradled her in his arms. As she breathed her last, he promised her he would not rest until those 
responsible had been brought to justice. Researching and writing the story of what happened that day was an incredible challenge. The truth about what happened outside the Libyan People’s London Bureau in 1984 is multifaceted, shocking and revealing.​

​To read the full press release, click here.


So Pretty, the bone-chilling new novel from Ronnie Turner, was published last week in paperback, eBook and audio. With endorsements from fellow authors such as Fiona Cummins, C. J. Cook and Lisa Hall, M. W. Craven calls it "Stephen King on crack ... I dare you to open it."

When Teddy Colne arrives in the small town of Rye, he believes he will be able to settle down and leave his past behind him. Little does he know that fear blisters through the streets like a fever. The locals tell him to stay away from an establishment known only as Berry & Vincent, that those who rub too closely to its proprietor risk a bad end.
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Despite their warnings, Teddy is desperate to understand why Rye has come to fear this one man, and to see what really hides behind the doors of his shop.

Ada moved to Rye with her young son to escape a damaged childhood and years of never fitting in, but she’s lonely, and ostracised by the community. Ada is ripe for affection and friendship, and everyone knows it.

As old secrets bleed out into this town, so too will a mystery about a family who vanished fifty years earlier, and a community living on a knife edge.

Teddy looks for answers, thinking he is safe, but some truths are better left undisturbed, and his past will find him here, just as it has always found him before. And before long, it will find Ada too.

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Finally, there was much in the way to celebrate last week at the DHH office, when we heard that Heather Darwent's debut, The Things We Do To Our Friends, headed straight into the Sunday Times hardback bestseller chart, at no.8, with its first week on sale (w/c 9th January). 

With The Wall Street Journal calling it "quick, smart and satisfying", this twisted thriller about toxic female friendships is certainly one to add to your TBR list, if you haven't already!
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Ad Lib lands Johnson's 'deeply moving' account of a search for justice

1/16/2023

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Ad Lib has landed an "extraordinary" book by Matt Johnson about police officer John Murray’s investigation into the murder of fellow officer Yvonne Fletcher, who was fatally wounded by a shot fired from the Libyan embassy in 1984, resulting in an 11-day siege of the embassy.

Editorial director Duncan Proudfoot acquired world all language rights to No Ordinary Day from Broo Doherty at the DHH Agency. The book will be published on 8th June 2023 in paperback. 

Johnson said: "As WPC Yvonne Fletcher lay dying, her close friend John Murray cradled her in his arms. As she breathed her last, he promised her he would not rest 
until those responsible had been brought to justice. Researching and writing the story of what happened that day was an incredible challenge. The truth about what happened outside the Libyan People’s London Bureau in 1984 is multifaceted, shocking and revealing. A series of seemingly unconnected threads gradually built to a point where all the inter-related elements of politics, commerce, secret service missions and 1980s policing fell into place to create a coherent picture that reveals what is, perhaps, the underlying cause behind the demise of modern-day British policing. For some, this will be an uncomfortable read. For many, it will confirm what they may have already suspected. For me, it was an honour to describe John Murray’s incredible 37-year investigation to you and to reveal the truth." 
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Proudfoot added: "Matt’s book is not only a deeply moving account of one man’s dogged, decades-long fight for justice for a murdered friend, but also an extraordinary political thriller. It lays bare government collusion with Colonel Gadaffi’s Libya as part of attempts to undermine the miners’ strike and gives startling insights into how decisions taken by our politicians and intelligence agencies, supposedly in our best interests, may be anything but. Equally significantly, it is a compelling account of the growing political control of policing, which began longer ago than many might suppose and has been every bit as damaging as is increasingly evident."

​From The Bookseller article | Katie Fraser
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DHH News Roundup 9th - 15th January 2023

1/15/2023

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Huge congratulations to Eva Björg Ægisdóttir, whose debut novel, The Creak on the Stairs, has scooped the Best Thriller Debut at the Thrillzone Awards in the Netherlands. 

The book is the first in Eva's DI Elma series, and is also the winner of the Storytel Award (Best Crime Novel 2020), the Blackbird Award (Best Icelandic Crime Novel) and the CWA New Blood Dagger. 

The cover for Paul Burston's memoir, We Can Be Heroes​, is now out in the world and we couldn't wait to show it to you. 
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Activist. Journalist. Survivor. One man’s journey from prejudice to Pride.

Paul Burston wasn’t always the iconic voice of LGBTQ+ London that he is today. Paul came out in the mid-1980s, when ‘gay’ still felt like a dirty word, especially in the small Welsh town where he grew up. He moved to London hoping for a happier life, only to watch in horror as his new-found community was decimated by AIDS. But even in the depths of his grief, Paul vowed never to stop fighting back on behalf of his young friends whose lives were cut tragically short.
It’s a promise he’s kept to this day. As an activist he stormed the House of Commons during the debate over the age of consent. As a journalist he spoke up for the rights of the community at a time of tabloid homophobia and legal inequality. As a novelist he founded the groundbreaking Polari Prize.

But his lifestyle hid a dark secret, and Paul’sdemons—shame, trauma, grief—stalked him on every corner. In an attempt to silence them, he began to self-medicate.
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From almost drowning at eighteen to a near-fatal overdose at thirty-eight, this is Paul’s story of what happened in the twenty years between, and how he carved out a life that his teenage self could scarcely have imagined. Emotional but often witty, We Can Be Heroes is an illuminating memoir of the eighties, nineties and noughties from a gay man who only just survived them.

We Can Be Heroes will be published by Amazon's Little A imprint in June 2023.

We are delighted to welcome Ben Slater to the Agency. 

Ben joins Emily Glenister's list and is a recipe developer, writer and food photographer who has worked in many establishments from Michelin-starred restaurants to oyster shacks. 

​Ben’s food is ingredient, nostalgia and experience-led. He reluctantly accepts that caviar is delicious, but insists that it should be eaten on heavily buttered cheap white bread. Blitzed up pork scratchings are the ultimate oyster topping and heaven is a McDonald's apple pie hastily mashed into smooth vanilla gelato.
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Heather Darwent's debut, The Things We Do To Our Friends, was published last week and to celebrate, the book picked up some absolutely fantastic write-ups in various publications:

​"Rainy Edinburgh is beautifully evoked, class is interrogated, the characters are well rounded and some of the choppier moments will have your heart racing ... Heather Darwent has a great career ahead of her as a thriller writer."
The Times

"This book succeeds as pacy entertainment and Darwent's incisive gaze shows her to be a promising young writer."
The Irish Examiner  
"Creepy yet compulsive, this impressive novel will stay with you long after reading."
Heat (Book of the Week)

"This twisted thriller about toxic friendships makes for compulsive reading."
​Closer

The book is available in hardback, eBook and audio now!

Also published last week was the gorgeous, new, uplifting novel from Maddie Please, Sunrise With the Silver Surfers! The book is out in eBook, audiobook and paperback, and is available to order now.

Newly single at sixty, Elin Anderson decides it’s finally time for an adventure of her own. With her marriage to tedious Tom now officially over, Elin plans to visit the family she hasn’t seen in years. First stop: Australia!

But going home is harder than Elin thought. Everywhere she turns Elin sees brightness and colour, which only makes her own life seem even more drab and beige. How has she let herself fade away?
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Determined to have some fun, Elin reluctantly agrees to join The Silver Surfers – a group of seniors who travel the coast, only caring about their next big adventure. Because life’s too short to watch the ocean when you could be making waves…

There’s only one catch – her road trip companion, Kit Pascoe. Kit is a man who doesn’t know the meaning of the word fun and makes it clear to Elin that this adventure will be subject to his own strict rules.

But with every new day, Elin slowly begins to rediscover who she really is. And she’s certain that rules are meant to be broken … aren’t they?

Bestselling author, M. W. Craven, was featured on ITV News last week as news broke of plans to adapt the first in his highly-anticipated news series, Fearless, for television. 

Craven has a worldwide fan base with his books achieving best-seller status as far afield as Japan, and has recently concluded talks with a major streaming service to develop his latest work into a TV adaptation, following talks with household names including Steven Spielberg and Channing Tatum.
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While we can't reveal too much yet, more news is expected soon about this incredibly exciting news ... Watch this space!

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The Cold Fix, the debut non-fiction book from Sara Barnes, has been nominated for a WOWSA Award 2022. The WOWSA Awards is an annual recognition of the world’s open water swimmers, products, services and events in 6 different categories via a global online poll.

Having been a keen runner and cyclist all her life, in 2017 Sara Barnes was diagnosed with severe osteoarthritis and found herself facing major surgery and a future of limited mobility. Rather than obsessing about what she could no longer 
do, she decided to focus on what she could do and took to the water of the tarns, river pools and lakes in her home county of Cumbria. A new appreciation of being in nature and love of cold-water swimming and immersion was born.
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In The Cold Fix, Sara takes the reader on an enthralling journey, from her first tentative steps into the water, to meeting other swimmers from around the world who share her passion and who can help her answer the question: what is it about cold water that proves irresistible to an increasing number of people?

You can cast your vote for The Cold Fix here.

Finally, following the success of her debut book, Mortal Monarchs: 1,000 Years of Royal Deaths, we are delighted to announce that current publisher, Wildfire, have snapped up Suzie Edge's second non-fiction work, Vital Organs. 

​Editorial director Philip Connor acquired world rights from Emily Glenister.

The synopsis reads: “From Napoleon’s penis to van Gogh’s ear, and Marie Antoinette’s teeth to Marie Curie’s bone marrow, Vital Organs brings together the remarkable stories of body parts that have made history. 
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This collection of the world’s most notable limbs, organs and appendages includes how Queen Victoria’s armpit led the development of antiseptics; why Percy Shelley’s heart refused to burn; and the strange case of Hitler’s right testicle.”

Vital Organs will be published in hardback, e-book and audio in September 2023. ​
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Wildfire snaps up medical historian Edge's book on 'world's most famous body parts'

1/11/2023

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Medical historian Dr Suzie Edge’s Vital Organs: A History of the World’s Most Famous Body Parts has been signed by Wildfire. 

Editorial director Philip Connor acquired world rights from Emily Glenister at DHH Literary Agency. Vital Organs will be published in hardback, e-book and audio in September 2023. 

The synopsis reads: “From Napoleon’s penis to van Gogh’s ear, and Marie Antoinette’s teeth to Marie Curie’s bone marrow, Vital Organs brings together the remarkable stories of body parts that have made history. 
This collection of the world’s most notable limbs, organs and appendages includes how Queen Victoria’s armpit led the development of antiseptics; why Percy Shelley’s heart refused to burn; and the strange case of Hitler’s right testicle.”

Wildfire published the author’s first book, Mortal Monarchs: 1,000 Years of Royal Deaths, in September 2022. 

Edge is a molecular cell biologist and medical historian whose TikTok channel (@suzieedge) has amassed more than 323,600 followers and 6.3 million "likes" since August 2020.

She said: “I am delighted to be working with Phil Connor and the Wildfire/Headline team again in a follow-up to my debut Mortal Monarchs. Vital Organs tells the fascinating and sometimes gory stories of famous body parts from history and from all around the world. We had such a wonderful response to the publication of Mortal Monarchs in 2022 and I’m very excited to bring another instalment in 2023.”
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Connor commented: “The whole team at both Wildfire and Headline loved working with Suzie this year and are thrilled to welcome her back for another book. Suzie continues to go from strength to strength, not just making her writing debut but seeing her already impressive online audience almost double in 2022. Vital Organs is the perfect project to continue Suzie’s publishing career: her trademark mix of wicked humour and impressive research is sure to appeal to her existing fans and win her legions of new ones.”

From The Bookseller article | Lauren Brown
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DHH News Roundup 3rd - 8th January 2023

1/6/2023

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Out later this week, the buzz for Heather Darwent's debut, The Things We Do To Our Friends, is ramping up and within the last seven days, has picked up some incredible pre-publication reviews and was chosen as one of Apple Books' 'best books of January' and one of the Financial Times' best in new and upcoming fiction for 2023.
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"Intoxicatingly dark with an uneasy undertone throughout, this twisted thriller about toxic friendships makes for compulsive reading."
​Heat

"Dark and gripping."
The Independent

"Seductive and sinister."
Woman & Home

"Themes of obsession, revenge and desire collide in twisty, dark and delicious feminist thriller."
Big Issue North


Congratulations to Barry Walsh whose new novel, Danny Boy, was published last week. 

The perfect nostalgic, coming-of-age novel for 2023, the book also received a gorgeous write-up from MyWeekly:

"Having grown up in a sprawling housing estate in Pimlico, Danny finds himself reaching a crossroads one summer as he prepares for his A-levels and then university while his friends decide on their paths. Over the course of one pivotal summer, their bonds are tested to the limit when things take a darker turn and Danny begins to question everything.Gloriously nostalgic, this coming-of-age novel perfectly captures the spirit of post-war London. Perfect for fans of Call The Midwife."

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The third in M. W. Craven's bestselling Washington Poe series, The Curator, has been sold to Leidykla Sofoklis in Lithiania, the same Baltic home for the first two in the series, The Puppet Show and Black Summer.

Also published last week, and in paperback, was the second book from People of Abandoned Character author, Clare Whitfield: The Gone and the Forgotten. 

This is a part-psychological thriller, and part-coming-of-age novel and has been hailed as "beautiful, absorbing, emotional" by fellow author, Louise Beech.
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The forthcoming debut fantasy novel from Thomas D. Lee, Perilous Times, has been selected as of NetGalley's hottest new titles for spring 2023.

The book will be published in May 2023, and is available to request on NG now.

Our final book that was published last week was the hardback for Abi Elphinstone's reimagining of J. M. Barrie's beloved Peter Pan, Saving Neverland. 

Number 14 Darlington Road looks like a perfectly ordinary townhouse - at first glance anyway, but magic is good at hiding ... when it's waiting for the right person to discover it... 
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The most recent book from Victoria Selman, Truly, Darkly, Deeply, has been sold to Publish and More in Hungary. 

We have some very exciting news to come from Victoria in the coming months, so keep your eyes peeled...!

Finally, we are delighted to congratulate DHH agent, Emily Glenister, who has been made a director of the company, effective immediately.

​David Headley, managing director of the agency, said: “Emily is a dynamic, driven and passionate agent. Since joining the agency, her determination and hard work to build the agency have not gone unnoticed. 
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The time is right to recognise her contribution to our thriving agency and invite her to play an even fuller role in the future managing side of the business as a director. I want to congratulate and thank Emily for her hard work and all her successes, and I look forward to continuing to work ever more closely in the future.”

Glenister, who joins fellow directors Broo Doherty, Hannah Sheppard and Harry Illingworth, added: “Being asked to become a director came a very close second to being proposed to by my husband – and depending on my mood, it’s even better. Given DHH Literary Agency is my second home, about which I care deeply, I could not have asked for a better Christmas present. I am privileged to represent the authors I do, and work with some of the best agents in the business, who are just the most supportive colleagues I could ask for. Bring on 2023!”
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DHH News Roundup 12th December 2022 - 2nd January 2023

1/2/2023

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Happy New Year to you all! We hope you had a fantastic and restorative festive break filled with good books. 

We've got a fair amount to catch you up on - and start your 2023 TBR list with a bang!

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While it would make the perfect bookish gift any time of the year, Sean Lusk's The Second Sight of Zachary Cloudesley was selected as one of the Guardian​'s 'Best Books To Buy As Christmas Presents'.

This sumptuous historical mystery was published in the summer of 2022 and subsequently appeared in the most recent series of BBC2's Between the Covers​.

Client Lucinda Hawksley appeared on Channel 4’s Miriam’s Dickensian Christmas, in which British national treasure, Miriam Margolyes turns to her love of Charles Dickens and the festive traditions in A Christmas Carol, to see if she can rekindle her love for Christmas.
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Lucinda, who is the great-great-great granddaughter of the man himself, sat down with Miriam to discuss the beloved festive tale - and lets Miriam in to a couple of well-kept secrets…

Lucinda’s Dickens and Christmas is available to buy now.

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Climbing the historical mystery chart at lightning speed, David Fennell's Sleeper: the Definitive Collection reached no.3 over the festive period. 

The book, which is a reissue of Sleeper and Sleeper: the Red Storm (originally published in 2017 and 2018 respectively) is now a thrilling bumper collection of both books, following Sleeper spy, Will Starling, in London during World War Two.

Number 14 Darlington Road, looks like a perfectly ordinary townhouse - at first glance, anyway, but magic is good at hiding...
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Released later this week, Abi Elphinstone's Saving Neverland was selected as the Children's Book of the Week in The Sunday Times. 

"Taking on some of the best loved of Barrie's lines, this engaging and well-told story also has plenty of original invention. Its lesson is the importance, for adults and children, of staying playful as you grow older."
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We Are All Constellations, the new YA read from Amy Beashel was included in the Guardian Books' roundup of the best fiction for Children and Teens in 2022.

A heart-breaking but ultimately hope-filled tale about the stories we tell ourselves to survive, the book was released in October 2022.

Tom Hindle, author of A Fatal Crossing, has sold more than 50,000 paperback copies of his smash-hit debut since its publication in July 2022 (originally published in hardback in January 2022).

The book was a Waterstones Thriller of the Month in August 2022 and described by M. W. Craven as “an ingenious thriller”.
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Another fabulous book to look out for this year, Heather Darwent's debut The Things We Do To Our Friends was selected by Cosmopolitan magazine as one of their 'best books to look forward to in 2023'.

A compelling and intoxicating story set in the world of dark academia in Edinburgh, and with the same creeping sense of dread held by Donna Tartt's The Secret History​, Darwent's book will published on the 12th January 2022.

Talia Samuels' joyful, festive queer romance debut, The Christmas Swap​, will be published by Penguin Michael Joseph in a deal negotiated by Emily Glenister, as part of the prize for the PMJ Christmas Love Story competition.

The winning novel by Samuels, follows Margot Murray, a newly single businesswoman with no interest in a cutesy seasonal romance, who agrees to pose as the girlfriend of unlucky-in-love Ben Gibson.

His family live in a picture-perfect manor in the countryside and every year ask when he’s going to meet “The One”. Ben realises only one thing will stop them asking – introducing them to his new “girlfriend”.
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The story can only go one way. Margot is sure to fall in love for real. And she does. With Ben’s sister, Ellie.

Rebecca Hilsdon at PMJ bought World Rights to the book, which is due for publication in October 2023.

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Penguin Michael Joseph to publish its Christmas Love Story competition winner’s festive rom-com

12/18/2022

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Penguin Michael Joseph has acquired the “uplifting and joyfully festive” The Christmas Swap by the winner of the PMJ Christmas Love Story Competition, Talia Samuels.

Editorial director Rebecca Hilsdon acquired world rights from Emily Glenister at D H H Literary Agency after Samuels was selected out of hundreds of applicants last year when Penguin Michael Joseph launched the contest. 
The PMJ Christmas Love Story Competition is an opportunity for unpublished writers in the UK and Ireland to submit their festive, feel-good romance novels to be considered for publication by the publisher.

Entries were judged by a panel from the Penguin Michael Joseph editorial team, as well as Times journalist Phoebe Luckhurst, author of The Lock In (published by PMJ).

The winning novel follows Margot Murray, a newly single businesswoman with no interest in a cutesy seasonal romance, who agrees to pose as the girlfriend of unlucky-in-love Ben Gibson.
His family live in a picture-perfect manor in the countryside and every year ask when he’s going to meet “The One”. Ben realises only one thing will stop them asking – introducing them to his new “girlfriend”. The story can only go one way. Margot is sure to fall in love for real. And she does. With Ben’s sister, Ellie.

Samuels said: “This experience has been a dream come true from the start – not least because I received the good news while tucking into a jalfrezi. Rebecca has been the perfect fit as an editor and her guidance has helped shape this book into all I wanted it to be and more. I am beyond delighted to be sharing this story full of love, silliness and queer joy.”

Hilsdon said: “It was wonderful running our Christmas Love Story Competition last year and we were lucky enough to read stories from so many talented writers. However, Talia’s novel was precisely what we were looking for – warm-hearted, festive and funny – and will be the perfect seasonal romance for 2023.”

Glenister added: “Talia is one of those rare gems of an author, whose writing makes you feel like you’re chatting to your best mate and The Christmas Swap is no exception. We need far more queer love stories in the commercial fiction space and I am so excited that this very funny, very frank (and at times rather sexy) story will soon be in readers’ hands!” The Christmas Swap will be published in October 2023.

​From The Bookseller article | Lauren Brown
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DHH News Roundup 5th - 11th December 2023

12/10/2022

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In our final DHH News Roundup of 2022, we have some fantastic updates from your from our clients. 

Thank you to all the readers, publishers and of course, clients, who continue to make the world of books such a delight to wake up to every day. 

Have a very Merry Christmas and a Happy New Year!

Love,
​DHH Literary Agency

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We were delighted to see the below endorsements for Chris McGeorge's most recent book, A Murder at the Castle:

"McGeorge is an accomplished master of misdirection and as we join faithful servant, chef extraordinaire and amateur detective Jon on his journey into the Windsors’ stronghold of dirty secrets and hidden desires, the suspects and their motives tumble out like a sack of warring ferrets ... [A] gripping slice of pure Christmas escapism."
Lancashire Evening Post
"It's the perfect stocking stuffer for book lovers who get into thrillers ... Everyone's a suspect in this who-dun-it, in this spine-tingling yuletide mystery."
The Week

The cover for Stephen Moss' forthcoming book, Ten Birds That Changed the World​ (March 2023, Faber), has been revealed:
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For the whole of human history, we have lived alongside birds. We have hunted and domesticated them for food; venerated them in our mythologies, religion and rituals; exploited them for their natural resources; and been inspired by them for our music, art and poetry.

In Ten Birds that Changed the World, naturalist and author Stephen Moss tells the gripping story of this long and eventful relationship through ten key species from all seven of the world’s continents. From Odin’s faithful raven companions to Darwin’s finches, and from the wild turkey of the Americas to the emperor penguin as potent symbol of the climate crisis, this is a fascinating, eye-opening and endlessly engaging work of natural history.

Happy Publication Day to Mark de Jager - Homecoming's Fall was published in paperback last week. This is the standalone addition to the 'After the War' series. A band of elite warriors, who missed the fall of the Kinslayer, are tasked with stopping a new evil…
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Victoria Selman's latest novel, Truly, Darkly, Deeply was selected as a Woman & Home Book of the Year, as well as a Book of the Year for Prima magazine. 

Huge congratulations, Victoria!

Also published this week was Love Under Contract, the debut novel from Cassie Connor. For fans of Emily Henry and Tessa Bailey, this is the perfect read to cosy up with this Christmas. 
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The Plant Hunter by T. L. Mogford was named as one of The Times' Books of the Year:

"The Plant Hunter is full of suspense and at time, laugh-out-loud funny. I was sad when I got to the end. Job done, T. L. Mogford."

Another cover reveal this week was for Maddie Please's Sunrise With the Silver Surfers!​
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Newly single at sixty, Elin Anderson decides it’s finally time for an adventure of her own. With her marriage to tedious Tom now officially over, Elin plans to visit the family she hasn’t seen in years. First stop: Australia!

But going home is harder than Elin thought. Everywhere she turns Elin sees brightness and colour, which only makes her own life seem even more drab and beige. How has she let herself fade away?

Determined to have some fun, Elin reluctantly agrees to join The Silver Surfers – a group of seniors who travel the coast, only caring about their next big adventure. Because life’s too short to watch the ocean when you could be making waves…

There’s only one catch – her road trip companion, Kit Pascoe. Kit is a man who doesn’t know the meaning of the word fun and makes it clear to Elin that this adventure will be subject to his own strict rules.

But with every new day, Elin slowly begins to rediscover who she really is. And she’s certain that rules are meant to be broken…aren’t they?

The new book from Noel O'Reilly, The Darlings of the Asylum, was published in hardback, eBook and audio last week. It is the second novel from the Wrecker author and is a gripping new dark historical fiction and captivating winter read for 2022…
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We are very happy to welcome Katy Harrison to the Agency. Katy, who joins Emily Glenister's list, is working on her debut novel, Together In Electric Dreams​.

Bestselling author, Becca Day, has sold her next two psychological thrillers to current publishers Embla Books.

In a deal negotiated by Emily Glenister, Hannah Smith bought World English Language rights and the first in the contract, The Secrets We Buried, will be published in summer 2023. 

Becca's debut novel, The Girl Beyond the Gate (March 2022) was a Top 15 Kindle Bestseller.
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Finally, congratulations to Graham Bartlett, who last week saw his debut novel, Bad For Good, win the Editor's Choice Award at the Crime Friction Lover Awards 2022. 

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Embla Books seizes two new ‘breathtaking’ thrillers from Becca Day

12/10/2022

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​Embla Books, the digital-first commercial fiction imprint of Bonnier Books UK, has snapped up two new psychological thrillers from Becca Day.

Hannah Smith, who helped launch Embla before recently moving to Penguin Michael Joseph, acquired world English-language rights from Emily Glenister at DHH Literary agency. The first of the two, The Secrets We Buried, will be published in summer 2023, with the next to follow in early 2024.

Smith’s replacement Cara Chimirri will be publishing both new Becca Day books in her role as editorial director. Chimirri said: “Becca Day is absolutely at the top of her game and delivers exactly what fans of psychological thrillers are looking for. She had me hooked from the very first page and her masterful twists never fail to take me by surprise. The way in which readers have reacted to Becca’s amazing writing has been extraordinary, and we are beyond thrilled to be publishing two new outstanding thrillers from her.”

Day, whose first two books, The Girl Beyond the Gate and All Her Little Lies, were also published by Embla, said: “I am so excited to be continuing my journey with Embla for two more books. The whole team is so wonderfully collaborative, making my début experience an absolute dream. I can’t wait to see what we all come up with next with the exciting addition of Cara Chimirri’s editorial vision.”

Glenister said the “phenomenal success” that Day achieved with Embla for her début, The Girl Beyond the Gate, is “testament to the dedication and vision they set out to have from the get-go”.
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“I couldn’t be happier that Becca’s next two heart-pounding psychological thrillers will continue to be published by them, with the addition of Cara Chimirri, whose excitement echoes fiercely that of the rest of the Embla team. Becca’s star is well and truly on the rise,” she said.

​From The Bookseller article | Lauren Brown
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