The Agency
About
Founded in 1963, Greene & Heaton Ltd is a literary and media agency with a diverse range of clients. These include novelists, travel writers, scientists, biographers, historians, ghost writers and children’s writers and illustrators, each of them prominent in their field, and also TV presenters, production companies, and food/restaurant and other brands.
We handle all manner of activities for our clients from straightforward book representation and contract negotiation, to film and TV adaptations, journalism, personal appearances, corporate speaking engagements, and television presenter agreements; in short we help with whatever our client is called upon or wants to do. As literary agents we work closely with our clients, where necessary or desired, to help polish their proposals, to edit their texts, and to give advice about positioning in the fast-changing publishing landscape.
Writers such as Michael Frayn and P.D. James have been clients of the agency since the early days, while a broad range of contemporary writers and rising stars have joined their ranks since – Laura Barnett, Mark Barrowcliffe, Helen Callaghan, Suzannah Dunn, Jeremy Duns, Hugh Fearnley-Whittingstall, Andrea Gillies, Keo Films, Leon Restaurants, Ian McGuire, Thomasina Miers (Wahaca Restaurants), the Royal Society, C.J. Sansom, Marcus du Sautoy and Sarah Waters, to name just a few.
Our clients have either won or been shortlisted for all the major literary prizes: the Booker, the Orange, the Samuel Johnson, the Wellcome Trust and the Aventis for science writing, the Costa (and Whitbread), the Orwell Prize for political writing, many of the Guild of Food Writers Awards and the Glenfiddichs, and many of the Crime Writers Association “Daggers”.
Philosophy
At Greene & Heaton Ltd:
- We listen carefully to our clients, their needs, hopes and ambitions, and aim to do everything in our power to help them achieve their goals
- For our writers, we give editorial advice and help where wanted
- We work closely with our clients on strategy, negotiation tactics etc, keeping them informed all along the way
- We keep ourselves informed about the market for our clients’ work and we liaise with a global network of co-agents to offer specific expertise where needed
- We track all aspects of the commercial exploitation of our clients’ projects, be it book publication, film, tv or other use
- We collect payments promptly and pass them on quickly
- We chase overdue accounting, and check statements, including royalty statements, for errors
- We revert rights where the licensee is no longer exploiting them
- And at every step of the way, we offer advice to enable our clients to make the best decisions for themselves and their work, and to help them develop to their maximum potential
Greene & Heaton Ltd is defined by the people we represent, and by the care and attention we devote to them.
Internships
Greene & Heaton runs a full-time, paid internship programme (minimum wage). Our interns provide administrative support to the agents as well as working on foreign rights and maintaining our website, Twitter feed and internal databases. Applicants should be passionate about books and associated media, have an excellent standard of written English, and be happy to get involved with all aspects of assisting a busy literary and media agency.
We are not currently looking for an intern. When we reopen applications, details will be posted here and on our Twitter page @GreeneandHeaton.
If you’re searching for an internship or entry level job the following websites and hashtags may be useful:
The Bookseller, https://jobs.thebookseller.com...
Creative Access, https://creativeaccess.org.uk/...
#workinpublishing
#jobsinpublishing
Some individual agencies advertise vacancies through their own websites so it may be helpful to check those too. The Association of Authors’ Agents website has a Members Directory with links to the relevant sites.
Most publishing houses have dedicated careers pages on their websites where they’ll advertise internship opportunities. Penguin Random House, Hachette, HarperCollins and Profile Books all run ongoing internship and/or traineeship schemes.
Beyond literary agencies and trade publishing houses, keep in mind opportunities at literary festivals or other events, bookshops, literary scouts, university and academic presses and journals.
