The Bookseller - Trade Interviews - Lizzy Kremer, David Higham Associates m.d. | ‘We are conscientious in our contract work and we’re proud of that’

The secret to a great agency? Lizzy Kremer leans forward with an almost conspiratorial air and says: "It's the admin."

The David Higham AssociatesAgents for the negotiation of all rights in fiction, general non-fiction, children's fiction and picture books, plays, film and TV scripts (home 15%, USA/translation 20%, scripts 10%). Represented in all foreign markets. Preliminary letter and return postage. All adult submissions should be typed with double line spacing on one side only of A4 paper and pages should be numbered. Be sure to include a covering letter; a full plot synopsis of the proposed book; the first two or three chapters of the book; a CV and a stamped addressed envelope. Founded 1935 (DHA) managing director is only half-joking. The swashbuckling side of agenting matters, of course-the multi-publisher auctions, inking TV and film deals, helping authors on their journeys, which, if luck and skill meet, includes bestseller lists and prizes. But doing the hard work of ensuring authors get paid what is due-which, as any agent or writer will tell you, is rarely straightforward-is the bedrock.

Kremer says: "Part of what originally drew me to DHA was a diligence about the business of agenting. And that means a keen sense of unseen advocacy and active engagement with publishers, plus a kind of fearlessness about asking difficult questions.