Kate Ormand: Hi, Isabel! So nice to be chatting to you on the brand new site. The old website didn’t have a blog, so what made you decide to add one this time?
Isabel Atherton: Hello, dear, Kate! I think social media has really moved on since I first set up the agency. With that in mind, I want to reach out to a wider audience and let people know about the awesome talent we represent and to show all the fantastic things our clients are up to. I hope it’ll be a place people visit and enjoy reading about the industry.
KO: What made you want to give the agency website a makeover?
IA: The old website is as old as Creative Authors – seven years in fact. It has done us proud over the years attracting new talent. I did feel it was time for a refresh and with my move to New York and our growing list of illustrators – I felt we needed a website to reflect these changes.
KO: The agency has grown, and is continuing to, with new talent being added and exciting new deals being shared. New Year, new site – what are your hopes/goals for 2015?
IA: I very much want to keep working with lovely people and helping them to realise their dreams of being published. I also want to continue building up my publishing contacts in the US while retaining those in the UK.
KO: What kinds of books are you currently looking to acquire? What are you open to?
IA: I represent the extremely talented, Tristan Donovan, who has written a fascinating title: Feral Cities: Adventures in Urban Wildlife, where he digs below the urban gloss to uncover the wildlife that we share our streets and homes with. It’s such a great premise and directly impacts us. I’d love to see more thoughtful non-fiction submissions.
KO: And to finish, can you give us a selection of your favourite books? Ones you haven’t worked on!
IA: Goodness, this is a tough question! I have a BA(hons) and MA in English Lit, so I have read a lot. Off the top of my head I would say the following books have really stayed with me:
The Ballad of the Sad Café – Carson McCullers
A Confederacy of Dunces – John Kennedy Toole
If on a Winter’s Night a Traveler – Italo Calvino
The Drowned World – JG Ballard
The Master and Margarita – Mikhail Bulgakov
The Collector – John Fowles
Just Kids – Patti Smith
The Great Gatsby – F. Scott Fitzgerald
KO: Thanks so much, Isabel!
IA: Thank you, Kate!
“I’ve learned so much since joining Creative Authors in 2012. Isy’s negotiated well over twenty book deals for me since then and has always been very supportive. Her advice and knowledge of the publishing world have been invaluable in helping me progress as a writer and illustrator.”
Ged Adamson, Creative Authors Client