My job is one that takes on many forms. I work for both DHH Literary Agencyand Goldsboro Books. But both of these jobs have one thing in common: I sell books, or try to.
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Now I am not a literary agent myself yet, I do not have my own list. I am David Headley’s assistant at the agency and I help him editorially and indeed in all that I can with the authors he already represents, and those that we take on along the way. I also run our agency blog, publicise our authors on social media and generally help the other agents in the same way. It’s a very busy job, and as you can imagine I spend a large portion of my time with my head in a book or kindle. A lot of the material is that which I would read anyway but some isn’t, and that is part of the challenge; it certainly broadens my reading horizons. Over the last week we have submitted a few exciting manuscripts so fingers are firmly crossed in anticipation of good news for them. They are great books that deserve to find the right home. What makes this part of the process all the more fun is the fact that our team all get on so well and everything is a joint effort. No one is out on a limb, someone will always help and so submission time can be fun as well as terrifying.  This is one of the most thrilling parts of the job anyway; realising that the novel you have been working for God knows how long is ready to be released into the wild. You write a synopsis and what you hope is a killer pitch, and then watch it fly.

What I do know is that I have begun the journey towards discovering my first client, and that I hope I am not very far away from building a list. This is the driving force behind all that I do; it makes me want to learn and to be successful. But not only for myself, but for whichever author I can help to achieve their own dreams. I cannot wait to discover an author whose work I fall in love with, who I build a relationship with, and eventually sell on to whatever publisher it may be. That is the dream anyway, I haven’t found that author yet and besides, I can’t kid myself, I have a lot to learn. I’m sure that will never stop being the case.

With DHH Literary Agency and Goldsboro Books being connected, working at Goldsboro is the perfect complement to being involved in the agency.Goldsboro Books is a thriving bookshop in a time of trouble for many others. It is a place where every day I see what is popular with our customers. Indeed it is a place where I can sell the books that I have already read and loved and pass them onto the next reader. Seeing what the public relates to through Goldsboro helps me in every stage when I come to read a submission for the agency for example, or read a recently delivered manuscript from an existing client. I can cast a clinical eye over the words in front of me and truly think about it from two perspectives, that of an agent and that of a bookseller. It isn’t only that though, Goldsboro is a place where you are right in the heart of the publishing industry. I meet new people every day whether they are publicists, editors or authors that I have admired for years (Anthony Horowitz is signing upstairs as I type). Again, building these kind of contacts is invaluable and is only going to help when the time comes to send out that first solo submission.

So, a bit about my taste. It is varied. I am a huge fan of fantasy, I think there is some outstanding fantasy being published at the moment and I devour as much as I can. I love the darker and edgier side of it, Joe Abercrombie being my top dog, and this year I fell in love with The Incorruptibles and Smiler’s Fair (which we had as a book of the month at Goldsboro). Yet I am also an avid reader of general/literary fiction (from the beginning I loved The Luminaries and wanted it win last year’s Booker prize-I somewhat ignored the prize this year with the lack of David Mitchell on the shortlist). Emily St. John Mandel’s Station Eleven and The Bone Clocks have been real highlights for me this year as I find them genre bending and beautifully written stories – post-apocalyptic and fantastical, but literary genius. I think American fiction is wonderful; Charles Bukowski and Cormac McCarthy are two of my all-time favourite authors. US highlights this year for me have been The Enchanted by Rene Denfeld and Fourth of July Creek by Smith Henderson – both having echoes of Cormac McCarthy, and both outstanding debuts. Then I will always enjoy a great crime novel, A Pleasure and A Calling being my number one in this genre this year with its unforgettable voice, and Eva Dolan’s work has fast become one of my top crime series. The only genre I somewhat hesitate over is historical fiction, it just doesn’t do it for me in the same way as these others but you can always question what actually constitutes historical fiction nowadays as I’ll happily read something set in the past, especially if it has a twist to it.

To be honest, I’m just looking for a fantastic story, beautifully written and wrought with the vital ingredients of tension, comedy and wisdom. I am a complete sucker for quirky, stylish, original writing and a well written unreliable narrator for me is one of the most exciting things I can read. Vivid characters that both disgust and endear me I love in equal measure and I love both lyrical prose and sharp sentences (Bukowski…) Everything though, comes back to the writing, how the words transfer from the page to your brain, and the reaction that then takes place. I sometimes read books where I have to take breaks between chapters just to allow the words to sink in – that’s when I know I’m onto a good one. Anyway, I could go on because as you can see, I’m not fussy…

Follow Harry on twitter: @harryillers
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I hadn’t been to Frankfurt for years, but it hasn’t changed much – the Messe does make Earl’s Court look like a model exhibition hall rather than the massive arena that we all know and love.

I flew out on Wednesday morning, and David was there to meet me at the airport. We decided that joint meetings would be the best idea as we were meeting a number of foreign publishers that neither of us had met.  Having settled myself into my room, it was with a sense of anticipation and purpose we set off to the Messe.  Luckily David knows his way around the tube system so we were there in a jiffy with a spring in our step.  It is a wonderful feeling to be part of such a huge industry – all the big international publishers were out in force, their stands dominating Hall 8 (next year they are moving into Hall 6 which will make life easier for everyone).  There is also something thrilling about seeing the covers of one of our books enlarged and lit up –as was the case at the Hesperus stand with their wonderful feature of The Last Pier by Roma Tearne – so that as you walk past you can’t miss it, and more importantly nor can anyone else.

The days were full of meetings, but I’d like to highlight a few to illustrate what exactly happens at a book fair.

One was with the CEO and Managing Director of the French publishers Univers Poche, kindly arranged by one of the UK scouts, Daniela Schlingmann.  Getting into the agents centre should be easy, particularly as our meeting was legitimate, but the system demands that you register and have your bags checked (for the fourteenth time) before we were allowed in.  The French were charming and seemed keen on a number of our authors and in turn were interested in us becoming sub agents for several of theirs.  Neither of us had anticipated this, but if we were able to broker a deal for them it would obviously cement our relationship – and let’s be honest, this entire business is based on relationships.

Another meeting was rather more tricky – with a small independent English publisher with whom I have been chatting about a non-fiction book about female serial killers, No One Escapes, written by the wonderful Carole Hayman, who is one half of the irresistible series, Ladies of Letters.  It wasn’t the easiest of meetings;  the editor has been considering this proposal for over a year, but sitting and discussing it eye to eye, we eventually managed to come to an arrangement, and the deal was done.  I was over the moon and raced off to phone Carole who was tickled pink.

Much of Frankfurt involves wandering through the extensive halls and it was lovely to bump into so many friends and colleagues. There seemed to be a buzz in the air; people do appear to be acquiring books, with a degree of caution, but the gloom of the last few years does seem to have lifted a little.

On Wednesday evening we met up with our American agent, Jonathan Lyons from Curtis Brown US.  He is utterly charming, erudite and astute, so time spent with him is always inspiring. We found ourselves in the Hessenhof  which is the watering hole  nearest to the Messe, and needless to say swarming with publishers – I’m not quite sure what the term is for a hotel  full of publishers… A posse? A covern? A pride?

Thursday morning we were at the Fair reasonably early to see Monica Gram atLeonhardt & Høier Literary Agency A/S because David has managed to secure a deal for one of her authors,  Ragnor Jónasson. David has sold Ragnar’s atmospheric, gritty thrillers Snowblind and Dark Night (Bjartur Veröld), in a two-book deal to Karen Sullivan, former Managing Editor of Arcadia books who has just launched her own publishing house Orenda Books.  This is Jonasson’s  first-ever English publication so there was much to celebrate.
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The other exciting thing about Orenda is that Karen has also acquired WEL rights in one of our other books, The Abrupt Physics of Dying by Paul Hardistyand we’ve already had enquires of interest from French, German and Polish publishers, so it is looking good.  We have every faith in Karen – and her inimitable enthusiasm – and wish her every success with this new venture.

We also saw the US Publisher Llewellyn Worldwide. Their crime editor Terri Bischoff has acquired two of our authors, Adrian Magson and Eve Seymour, so it was good to chat through their covers, their marketing plans and their distribution.  We tried to interest them in CrimeFest next year, because it would be good for Terri to meet her authors – watch this space.

Another very valuable meeting, again courtesy of Daniela, was with Weltbild, the German publishers, who also run a bookshop so there was some synergy between us all.  Elisabeth Steppich is young and enthusiastic and seemed to be keen on all our books, so hopefully there will be more good news on that front soon.  We also managed to catch up with our Polish agents, Macadamia, and although their market is tough, they remain stalwart in their support of our authors.
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On our last night, despite terrible weather and an attack of exhaustion, we had been invited to join David Luxton Associates, another UK agency for dinner.  Twelve of us, including our invaluable foreign rights agent, Louisa Pritchard, and their Brazilian agent had an extremely jolly supper – but rest assured, David and I declined the offer of a trip to the Frankfurter Hoff and were back in the hotel before midnight.
It was a great trip – productive as well as fun – and it made me realise just what a friendly and inspiring business this is.  I wouldn’t want to work anywhere else – books and people are the most rewarding combination in the world


PS. Stop Press: Louisa has just finalised a deal for Paul Johnston’s The White Sea with his Greek publisher, Psichogios – just goes to show how valuable Frankfurt actually is.


Follow Broo on twitter: @BrooDoherty