Roles in Publishing: Hachette's Naomi Cartwright, Senior Rights Executive

Naomi Cartwright has always loved stories (although she’s often tempted to read endings first). It was no surprise to her family that she did an English Studies degree at the University of Nottingham before moving to London to work in Children’s Publishing. Naomi is now a Senior Rights Executive at Hachette Children’s Books and has previously worked at Puffin and Orion. She also writes short stories, blogs at www.bigcitybumpkin.blogspot.com and is working on a debut YA novel. Naomi loves travelling and among her other adventures once spent a month living with Navajo Indians in America.

What exactly does a Rights person do?

Well, in between tea breaks, we work towards licensing the subsidiary Rights we have for all our picture books, fiction and non-fiction. The exact subsidiary Rights we have vary from book to book but they can include everything from Audio to Film.

Which matters because…

Subsidiary Rights deals raise an author’s profile and help make their book profitable. Any income the author earns from a Rights deal goes against their advance. This either helps earn it out quicker, meaning the author receives royalties faster, or if that’s already happened it goes straight into their pocket (minus their agent’s commission of course).

On a daily basis

I really do drink a lot of tea. I also work closely with pretty much everyone else in the company; Design, Marketing, Production, Finance and Contracts. No day is ever the same and that’s one of the things I love about my job. I could be planning a sales trip abroad, submitting titles to international publishers, negotiating deals or speaking to an Editor about a book they want to acquire. 

A large part of my role is working on Translation Rights and it’s really important to have an idea of what different customers and markets want. For example if an Editor proposes a new fiction title we’ll consider the word length - translators often charge per word so a very long book will obviously increase an International Publisher’s own costs and make it less desirable. 

We’ll also think about where a book might sell abroad. So we’ll feedback to the Editor that a rhyming alphabet picture book, (the ones that go; A is for apple, B is for banana…) isn’t likely to sell anywhere other than America. Why? Well even if an international publisher had exactly the same alphabet as us, there’s no guarantee their word for apple would also begin with the letter A. Verse is also notoriously difficult to translate. Art style is really important for picture books too, for example whilst the French prefer quirky, distinctive illustration, the Spanish favour more commercial artwork. As the old saying goes, you can’t please everyone all of the time, so instead we always think realistically about where a book is likely to sell before we acquire it.

Who knew?

That they don’t have jelly in Denmark? I’ve always loved to travel and I really enjoy working closely with international publishers, not just because of all the weird and wonderful things that I’ve learnt along the way. Good working relationships with international publishers is key and allows us to ensure we’re able to match the right books with the right Publishing House so that they will market, grow and build our authors. 

I am in daily email contact with most of the foreign publishers I work with, but nothing compares with meeting people face to face. It’s also nice to finally meet someone you’ve been in regular virtual contact with, even if on occasion I’ve been surprised at their gender: who knew ‘Erle’ would be female?! 

In addition to the three main trade books fairs a year (Bologna, London, Frankfurt) that my department attends, we also go on a couple of sales trips a year to visit customers in their own countries. Trips are a fantastic opportunity to have longer meetings with publishers, pitching titles to them and learning more about what books they want and why. Of course, trips are also an amazing chance to visit a country you’ve never been to before. They do have a down side though and for me it’s not the early morning flights, it’s trying to conquer my appalling sense of direction in a new city when I don’t want to be late for my meetings!

So what really happens at Book Fairs?

Bologna book fair is mere days away: March 19-22

Meetings. Lots of them. And in the case of Bologna at the end of March, the occasional glass of prosecco. Primarily these trade fairs are an opportunity to meet all the International Editors we work with. We’ll pitch a selection of our newest and most exciting titles, show mocked up picture books that we’ll publish in 18 months time, discuss industry news and find out how the books we’ve already sold have done in their markets. If it sounds like a lot to cram into a half hour meeting, that’s because it is and we don’t just have one or two meetings. Most Fairs are 3-4 days long and it’s fairly common to have a full schedule and to meet a different publisher every half hour from 9am to 6pm, maybe with one break to grab some lunch if you’re lucky. I really enjoy these meetings though; after all, I’m effectively being paid to talk about children’s books all day, which I love! It’s not just Rights teams and foreign Publishers who go to Book Fairs; Art Directors, Agents and Editors all attend which makes Book Fairs an amazing opportunity to showcase new talent, in turn creating a real buzz if there ends up being a title ‘everyone is talking about’.

So what is the next big thing?

Oh Crystal Ball, please tell us!

Good question. Rights people, Agents, Editors, we all keep our eyes peeled. It might be a debut author or a genre that suddenly explodes, but it’s something everyone, including all our international partners, is looking for. 

There are trends of course, patterns in the books Publishers buy or reject. Following the success of Twilight, the YA genre expanded and there was a huge rise in the popularity of paranormal romance, which is now waning. At Frankfurt last year I was repeatedly asked for strong middle grade fiction for 8-10 year olds and real life, girl fiction that wasn’t chick lit. But of course the real trick is being ahead of the curve, which for us means having books to sell that will be bang on trend in 18 months time…

A Right good job

I’ve always loved stories, especially children’s books and knew that I wanted to work in Children’s Publishing when I left University but I’ll confess that a career in Rights was initially more luck that judgment. Now though I can’t imagine being in any other department. I love working so closely with people from all over the world, I love the opportunities I have to travel and that I’m constantly learning new things but most of all I love that no day is ever the same.

Roles in publishing: Bryony Woods, Literary Agent's Assistant

Bryony Woods is obsessed with all things book-related, and is lucky enough to have her ideal job – working in one the UK’s top literary agencies. She started her career working in libraries, where she developed her passion for children’s and YA fiction, before going on to complete an MA in Publishing at UCL. Whilst completing the MA she interned in literary agencies across London, before being offered her current job at the Caroline Sheldon Literary Agency in 2010.

As a person who has always loved books and reading, I think I might just have the best job in the world. I am constantly surrounded by books and manuscripts, and I love nothing more than finding a talented new writer with a book that’s crying out to be published.

But although many writer-orientated websites focus on this aspect of the job, looking for new talent is only a small part of what I actually do.

It’s not all glamour and cocktail parties.

While I may occasionally get to go out into the world and hobnob with super-talented authors and editors, the majority of my time is spent taking care of all the little jobs that keep a literary agency ticking over – updating the website, maintaining the databases that keep track of territories and sub-rights deals (such as audio, large print and film deals), chasing payments, sending proof copies to sub-agents etc.

I spend a lot of time reading contracts, checking the language used in various clauses and the percentages stated (e.g. royalties). Agents spend many hours negotiating the finer details of publishing contracts on behalf of their clients, so it’s important to ensure that the contract we send to an author for signing is correct.

Luckily for me, I love contracts almost as much as I love books. And no, I don’t think that’s weird. Honest.

The creative side of my job includes writing blurbs and putting together colourful catalogues of our clients and the titles we represent, as well as making up artists’ portfolios for our illustrator clients. This is especially important in the run up to major industry book fairs such as London or Bologna, where we have lots of meetings with editors who’ll be looking to acquire new authors or titles.

I also deal with some of the permission requests that come to the agency. When a person or company – perhaps an editor compiling an anthology, or a revision guide or website – requests the right to print an extract from a client’s work (most often a poem or short story), I will get out my trusty calculator and negotiate the best possible licence terms and fee.

But my absolute favourite part of the job is finding new, talented writers, and wonderful books that we can help turn into a commercial success. I am constantly on the lookout – whether I’m reading submissions at my desk, meeting new writers at a party, even while I eat and sleep.

Reading submissions (aka the Slush Pile) is a full-time job in itself, and everyone in the office pitches in and does their share of reading on top of their other day-to-day workload. We get thousands – yes, THOUSANDS – of submissions, of all kinds: the good, the bad, the truly weird and sometimes the downright ugly.

But every now and then I come across a voice so powerful that it grabs me and demands to be heard, a character that I just can’t get out of my head, or a page-turner that makes me drop absolutely everything else just so I can finish reading it. That’s when I know I’ve found something really special.

Tips for writers:

I’m often asked for advice on how best to approach an agent. But to be honest, the only thing an agent cares about when looking at your submission is that you’ve written a damn good book.

Other than that, I’d simply advise that you check individual agency guidelines, keep your approach smart and professional, and that you’re passionate about your work. If that passion shines through in your covering letter, an agent is more likely to want to pick up your manuscript and start reading.

The best moment so far:


I’ve tried and failed to pinpoint just one moment since I started this job that stands out as the best. It could be the first time I read a submission and fell head-over-heels in love with it; it could be logging on to Amazon just after a book was published and seeing the first fantastic customer review come in; it could be the excitement when a long-awaited sequel was delivered by a client (or maybe the moment during reading where I realised it was even better than the first book); or it could be the any of the times I’ve entered the office kitchen to discover that someone has brought in a cake. As I say, it’s impossible to choose.

The thing that most surprised me about the job:

The thing that still surprises me is the pace. It’s easy to get the impression from various blogs or websites that all agency employees do is lie around reading manuscripts, eating cake* and drinking champagne**.

But the truth is that most days I barely have time to stop and catch my breath.

Even when I’ve reached the end of my mammoth TO DO list, there are still emails to respond to, phone calls to answer, submissions and manuscripts and reviews to read.

*Ok, I admit it – there is quite a lot of cake.
** There may also be the occasional glass of champagne

Sometimes this job is very stressful, and I constantly find myself wishing that there were more hours in the day.

It’s not a job I could ever leave at the office, and my pile of Books-To-Read is usually taller than I am (and I’m not exactly short).

But aside from the perilous towers of books slowly taking over my flat, I honestly think I have the best job in the world. I can’t think of anything else I’d rather do.
Slushpile note: submission guidelines for the Caroline Sheldon Literary Agency can be found here. And OF COURSE Caroline Sheldon is the best literary agent in the entire world: she sold Slated, as reported here. Oops. I'm giving away my secret identity again, aren't I?