Rocking Chair Books is a literary agency focusing on literary fiction, upmarket commercial, and commercial fiction and general non-fiction for publication around the world. Our motto is a great story is a great story.
No reading fee.
We represent Brian Turner, Zena el Khalil, Lakambini Sitoy, Conflict Relief, Elle Symmonds.
Fiction, women's fiction, literary fiction, non-fiction, humour, history, autobiography, memoir, Mind, Body & Spirit, health, cookery, arts and crafts, crime, children's fiction (home 15%, overseas 20%). Also represents a small number of scriptwriters. Read more
Specialises in commercial and literary fiction, non fiction, biography and auto biography (particularly related to politics, show business and the music business) and scripts for film and television. Does not deal with poetry, science-fiction, children's books or educational textbooks. Read more
hhb agency ltd was founded in 2005 by Heather Holden-Brown. The agency represents writers of non-fiction - in particular, journalism, history and politics, travel and adventure, contemporary autobiography and biography, books about words and numbers, popular culture and quirky humour, entertainment and television, business, family memoir, food and cookery - and commercial fiction. hhb agency ltd is always pleased to hear from talented writers. Please call or email before sending in your material.
Please do not send international postal vouchers with submissions. As a small agency which believes strongly in regular and consultative personal contact, they do not represent writers based beyond Europe.
Permissions: If you wish to quote from a book by one of their authors, it is suggested you write first to the Permissions Department of the publisher of the original edition of the book, setting out clearly details of the quotation/s you wish to use and for what purpose.
ltd was founded in 2005 by Heather Holden-Brown. The agency represents writers of non-fiction - in particular, journalism, history and politics, travel and adventure, contemporary autobiography and biography, books about words and numbers, popular culture and quirky humour, entertainment and television, business, family memoir, food and cookery - and commercial fiction. Read more
General non-fiction: autobiography, memoir, business & self-help, web-to-book, food and drink, health, lifestyle, parenting, self-help, how to, popular science, history, culture, reference, humour & gift and TV tie-in.
Non-fiction only: autobiography and biography, topical subjects, history, lifestyle, popular culture, entertainment, true crime, health and nutrition, illustrated books.
No unsolicited MSS. No reading fee. Will suggest revision. The agency does not represent screenwriters, but rather sells rights for books to film and television industries.
"Why isn't there more sex in your books?" I get this question a lot. In my DMs. In my email. In Zoom book club meetings, bookstore signings, and festival events. This, more than any other, seems to be the question my enthusiastic (and apparently thirsty) fans are burning to ask. Written inquiries are usually punctuated with fire emojis, or more commonly, a string of bright red chili peppers. Read more
I write dark fantasy stories for adults that explore survival after sexual trauma and war. My work focuses on the aftermath of sexual violence and the way my protagonists stubbornly live well after the unthinkable. There are no on-page depictions of SA in my work. Read more
I write a historical fiction series set in World War Two London. My protagonist is a Scotland Yard detective called Frank Merlin. I place great importance on being historically accurate in my books. I take the view that as I am attempting to transport my readers to a very different time and place, accuracy is a key element to doing that successfully. Read more
Booksellers report that more customers are switching to paperbacks as household budgets tighten, with agents and publishers also predicting a shift towards the cheaper format. Read more
A decade ago fiction was said to be migrating to digital-but in 2022 adult fiction sales were £164m greater than its 2014 low, propelling the market to a strong total in the past 12 months.
HarperCollins, which laid off a "small number" of workers last fall, is taking more drastic steps to reduce its workforce, and plans to cut 5% of its employees in North America by the end of the current fiscal year, which ends June 30. Some jobs were eliminated today.
For the first time since 2019, Nielsen was able to report data for the full year-and it seems most publishers have been reaping the reward of a bountiful few years, with a number posting all-time highs.
The backlist boom which surged during the pandemic continued with a mighty push from TikTok in 2022, as nearly two-thirds (£1.19bn) of Nielsen BookScan revenue last year came from editions published in 2021. This is the second-highest share of revenue for a TCM 12-month period coming from titles released prior to the beginning of that year.
'Go for broke. Always try and do too much. Dispense with safety nets. Take a deep breath before you begin talking. Aim for the stars. Keep grinning. Be bloody-minded. Argue with the world. Read more
'By the time I am nearing the end of a story, the first part will have been reread and altered and corrected at least one hundred and fifty times. I am suspicious of both facility and speed. Good writing is essentially rewriting. I am positive of this.'
Culture is a slippery concept; it's one of those terms we all know the meaning of until we actually think about it. For the writer, culture can be a two-edged sword: ignore it and your story lacks depth, colour and context; focus too much on it and you risk bamboozling - or worse, boring - your reader into putting the book down. Read more
Unpublished authors 18 years old or over resident in the UK.
Entry fee £8
Prize:
Book contract with HQ with advance of £7,500 and agent representation
The Primadonna Prize for unsigned and un-agented authors will, for the first time, offer the winner a book contract with HQ with an advance of £7,500 for world English rights. Read more
'Go for broke'
'Go for broke. Always try and do too much. Dispense with safety nets. Take a deep breath before you begin talking. Aim for the stars. Keep grinning. Be bloody-minded. Argue with the world. Read more