There has been lots of coverage of this story over the weekend about the Patsy’s upcoming autobiography - a project I  am working on with my colleague Duncan Millership who is Patsy’s theatrical and primary agent.  Here is the full story from The Press Association….

Patsy Kensit is in talks over an autobiography deal, which is set to lift the lid on her days as a wild child and Brit Pop figurehead as well as her colourful family background. Kensit’s episode of BBC1’s Who Do You Think You Are, which showed her investigate the life of her late father Jimmy Kensit, who was involved with notorious gangsters the Krays and the Richardsons, attracted more than seven million viewers. The actress is planning to include letters between Reggie Kray and her father in her work. Kensit said of her book: “I’m 40 now and I think it’s a good time to start writing it. I’ve done a few things in my life that might be of interest.”

Kensit, who has had a string of rock husbands including Oasis’s Liam Gallagher, also recently signed up for a further two years as Faye Morton in the BBC1 series Holby City.

Simon Trewin, Kensit’s literary agent at United Agents, said: “Patsy has been at the top of everyone’s hit list for years and publishers are massively excited that she is finally putting pen to paper - as this is going to be one of the biggest books of next year.

“People are already suggesting she writes fiction as well in the future and that is very much in our thinking. This is not a one-book proposition - Patsy is a whole publishing brand waiting on the launch pad.”

Duncan Millership, Kensit’s theatrical agent, said with Kensit you had several books in one. This included her life as a child star, a wild child hanging out on the New Romantic music scene of the 1980s; a pop star; a film star; a Brit Pop icon and a prime time TV star on Emmerdale and Holby City.

He continued: “Add in her family background, her no-holds barred style and it will be one of the hottest books of 2009 - with the same appeal as best-sellers such as Russell Brand’s Booky Wook, Piers Morgan’s Don’t You Know Who I Am? and Katie Price’s Being Jordan.”

Congratulations to Tom Vanderbilt on hitting the New York Times Hardback Non-Fiction Bestseller list with his wonderful and timely TRAFFIC - Why We Drive The Way We Do (and what it says about us).

The blanket review coverage in the U.S has been extraordinary and Penguin Press are set to publish in the U.K later this year. I urge you to listen to Tom’s interview here and to read some of the reviews here. I represent Tom on behalf of Zoe Pagnamenta who has recently launched her new agency in the U.K.

“Tom Vanderbilt is one of our best and most interesting writers, with an extraordinary knack for looking at everyday life and explaining, in wonderful and entertaining detail, how it really works.

–James Surowiecki, author of The Wisdom of Crowds

I am delighted to announce that Ian Fleming Publications Ltd (IFP), the Fleming family company that owns the copyright to the James Bond books, has appointed me to manage the worldwide English language literary rights in the Ian Fleming titles and Young Bond.

Corinne Turner, Managing Director of IFP said, “Simon Trewin joins us at a very exciting time. The centenary year has generated a phenomenal amount of interest in Fleming - the writer - and his work. We’ve achieved an incredible amount and now wish to build on our successes by taking on a dedicated literary agent.   In this way, we benefit not only from the expertise of a talented agent but also of the whole team at United Agents. We very much look forward to working with Simon.” 

Ian Fleming Publications’ rights include Ian Fleming’s James Bond novels, Chitty Chitty Bang Bang and the best-selling Young Bond series by Charlie Higson.  Foreign rights for these will continue to be managed by The Buckman Agency.  

Read the full press release ………..

Press Release

Stricly embargoed until 00.01 hrs Monday 7th July 2008

Ian Fleming Publications Ltd appoints literary agent Simon Trewin of United Agents

Ian Fleming Publications Ltd (IFP), the Fleming family company that owns the copyright to the James Bond books, has appointed United Agents’ literary agent, Simon Trewin, to manage worldwide English language literary rights in the Ian Fleming titles and Young Bond. The appointment is effective from the beginning of July 2008.

Corinne Turner, Managing Director of IFP said, “Simon Trewin joins us at a very exciting time. The centenary year has generated a phenomenal amount of interest in Fleming - the writer - and his work. We’ve achieved an incredible amount and now wish to build on our successes by taking on a dedicated literary agent.   In this way, we benefit not only from the expertise of a talented agent but also of the whole team at United Agents. We very much look forward to working with Simon.”

Ian Fleming Publications’ rights include Ian Fleming’s James Bond novels, Chitty Chitty Bang Bang and the best-selling Young Bond series by Charlie Higson.    Foreign rights for these will continue to be managed by The Buckman Agency.  

Devil May Care, the centenary James Bond novel written by Sebastian Faulks, and the MoneyPenny Diaries by Kate Westbrook will remain in the care of Aitken Alexander Associates.

Simon Trewin is co-head of the book department of United Agents Ltd, which was founded in 2007. Trewin’s client list includes Henry Chancellor, author of James Bond: The Man and his World, a joint venture with Ian Fleming Publications.

Simon Trewin said, “I remember picking up a battered old paperback edition of Dr. No when I was a teenager and I was bowled over, at once, by the masterly storytelling of Ian Fleming. I quickly read the whole series and became a huge fan so I am naturally thrilled to be appointed to manage this prestigious estate. I am very much looking forward to working with the Fleming family on raising awareness levels of Ian Fleming even higher over the coming years”.

- ends –

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For further information please contact

Lucy Chavasse or Jane Acton at Colman Getty

Tel: 020 7631 2666 / email lucy@colmangetty.co.uk or jane@colmangetty.co.uk

Notes to Editors

·         For further information about Ian Fleming Publications Ltd please visit www.ianflemingcentre.com

·         For further information about the Ian Fleming Centenary please visit www.ianflemingcentenary.com

·         Simon Trewin and Corinne Turner, Managing Director of Ian Fleming Publications, are available for comment through Colman Getty

·         Images of Simon Trewin are available through Colman Getty

Ian Fleming Publications Ltd

In 1952, on completion of his first James Bond novel, Casino Royale, Ian Fleming took the advice of his accountant and purchased a small production company, Glidrose Productions Limited (so named for its founders, John Gliddon and Norman Rose). He assigned most of its rights in Casino Royale and the works which followed it to Glidrose and fifty years and two changes of name later, Ian Fleming Publications still administers Ian Fleming’s literary estate.

In 1956, on the recommendation of friend and fellow thriller writer Eric Ambler, Ian Fleming hired a young literary agent, Peter Jason-Smith, to handle the foreign translation rights in the Bond novels. For the next forty-five years, Peter was the company’s literary consultatns and some-time Chairman, guiding both it and Bond through many changes. By the time of Peter’s retirement in 2001, the Fleming Bond novels and those by Kingsley Amis, John Gardner and Raymond Benson, had sold close to a hundred million copes worldwide.

In 2003 IFP took the literary legacy of Ian Fleming in an entirely new direction, with the commissioning of Charlie Higson to write the bestselling Young Bond novels.

Today, IFP is wholly owned by the Fleming family and managed by Corinne Turner as Managing Director.

United Agents

www.unitedagents.co.uk

United Agents represent clients across all areas of the creative landscape - theatre (Tom Stoppard, Alan Bennett, Michael Frayn), film (Richard Curtis, Kevin Macdonald, Michael Apted), actors (Keira Knightley, Ewan McGregor, Kate Winslet, James McEvoy), comedy (Rob Brydon, Ricky Gervais and Stephen Merchant, French and Saunders, Justin Lee Collins, ‘Gavin and Stacey’ creators Ruth Jones and James Corden) and authors (Nick Hornby, Danny Wallace, Ruth Rendell, Joanna Trollope, Robert Harris and Julian Barnes). They also look after a number of estates including Ellis Peters, the tv/film rights of Evelyn Waugh, the tv, film and theatre rights of J B Priestley and the letters and diaries of Kenneth Williams.

Simon Trewin also represents John Boyne, author of the prize-winning novel The Boy In the Striped Pyjamas, Booker-shortlisted author Andrew Miller, Whitbread Novel-winner Patrick Neate, Orange-longlisted Scarlett Thomas, Somerset Maugham-winner Steven Hall, Danny Wallace, Fiona Neill, Zoe Williams, Robert Goddard and Petite Anglaise.

James Bond publishing

·         Over 100 million Bond books have been sold and over half the world’s population has seen a Bond film

·         Ian Fleming wrote 14James Bond books: Casino Royale (1953); Live and Let Die (1954); Moonraker (1955); Diamonds Are Forever (1956); From Russia with Love (1957); Dr. No (1958); Goldfinger (1959);  For your Eyes Only (1960); Thunderball (1961); The Spy Who Loved Me (1962); On Her Majesty’s Secret Service (1963); You Only Live Twice (1964); The Man With The Golden Gun (1965) and Octopussy and the Living Daylights (1966)

• Fleming’s other works include the children’s favourite, Chitty Chitty Bang Bang (1964), which was made into a film and stage musical, The Diamond Smugglers (1957) and a collection of travel writings called Thrilling Cities (1963)

• Devil May Care, the centenary James Bond novel written by Sebastian Faulks, was published by Penguin Books on 28th May 2008

• Charlie Higson is the author of the Young Bond books which are published by Puffin

• Samantha Weinberg, writing as Kate Westbrook, is the author of the Moneypenny Diaries

The inaugural search for The Hospital Club 100 was launched at the beginning of June this year in association with The Independent Media Weekly.

 In essence, it’s a search for the authentic stars and media power across London’s creative industries; film, television, music, new media, journalism, publishing, performing arts, marketing PR undefined events, fashion, art, advertising, media law undefined recruitment and celebrity.

The hot 100 list was announced today…

Over 5,000 people voted and the resultant list features the likes of Amy Winehouse, Liz Murdoch, Jonathan Ross and Banksy and, hilariously, also one ‘Simon Trewin’.  So today I am officially the 84th most creative person in London - not quite sure what it means other than the fact that Carlos Acosta, Principle Guest Artist, Royal Ballet (London’s 85th creative person) is looking at my name and thinking, ‘damn this Simon Trewin fellow’.

Borders

Pictured with me and Cat are my assistant Ariella Feiner (left) and Tessa Girvan (right) from ILA who has been busy selling Cat’s novel worldwide. View some pictures of the night in question here.

Zoe Pagnamenta

Pagnamenta said. “I appreciate all the support I have received from clients, editors, and fellow agents  as I embark on this step, and I look forward to the challenges and fulfilment of being an independent agent.”

Pagnamenta headed up Peters, Fraser & Dunlop’s New York office from its opening in 2003, until May 2008, representing many writers, including Catherine Banner, Alan Bennett, Beatrice Colin, Anthony Horowitz, Hermione Lee, Hisham Matar, Fiona Neill and Adam Nicolson into the US and Canada on behalf of PFD in London and other UK agencies, as well as representing her own clients. Previously, she spent six years at the Wylie Agency. She began her career in publishing at Random House in London and Basic Books in New York. Her extensive list of clients includes Brendan Koerner, Wangari Maathai, Louis Masur, Alice Mattison, Ben Ratliff, Liesl Schillinger, Tom Vanderbilt and Dirk Wittenborn.

The new firm’s offices are located on Bond Street in Manhattan.

John is in excellent company, with John Steinbeck’s Of Mice and Men and Roald Dahl’s James and the Giant Peach also nominated.  You can read more about the scheme here.

Robert Popper’s alter-ego Robin Cooper’s hilarious volume THE TIMEWASTER LETTERS is published in the US this week. To celebrate this event Robin Cooper has been making prank phone-calls to a number of establishments with bizarre requests. Oh deary me….listen here

The Bookseller’s Bursary is open to all current permanent members of staff serving either in any of Waterstone’s bookshops or in any other function, such as at Head Office or in the field. Entrants are invited to submit a sample of writing up to 3,000 words in length, on any subject as long as the entry is fiction, narrative non-fiction or children’s writing aimed at ages 5 and up. Entries will initially be judged by a panel of booksellers and Head Office staff, before a final shortlist is judged by an industry panel consisting of Fiona Kennedy (Waterstone’s Non-Fiction Category Manager, Ariane Koek (Director, Arvon Foundation), Francesca Main (Simon and Schuster Commissioning Editor), and Simon Trewin (United Agents). The winners will be announced in September.

Simon Trewin commented, “The world needs to encourage new writers – they are our lifeblood. I am thrilled to be part of this wonderful initiative.”

Joel Rickett

There has been so much other press in recent days about the launch that I have archived it here. You can also visit our website here

As C.C. Humphreys, Chris has written five historical fiction novels. The first, ‘The French Executioner’  was runner up for the CWA Steel Dagger for Thrillers 2002. Its sequel, ‘Blood Ties’, was a bestseller in Canada. He has written three books about Jack Absolute - this ‘007 of the 1770’s’ - ‘Jack Absolute’, ‘The Blooding of Jack Absolute’ and, most recently, ‘Absolute Honour’. All have been published in the UK, Canada, the US and translated widely. As ‘Chris Humphreys’ he has written a trilogy for Young Adults ‘The Runestone Saga’. His latest adult novel: THE LAST CONFESSION -  the true history of DRACULA which will be published worldwide in 2008 and 2009.

Congratulations to Scarlett Thomas whose novel THE END OF MR Y is on the Orange Broadband Prize For Fiction Longlist 2008 announced today.

She joins United Agents client Tessa Hadley, author of THE MASTER BEDROOM,  and a host of other female authors to make up a list which aims to celebrate excellence, originality and accessibility in women’s writing. The Chairman of the Judges Kirsty Lang said “There is a great balance on this list, not only in its international reach and range of human experience, but also between first novels and some established writers that haven’t perhaps had the recognition they deserved”. The shortlist is announced on the 15th April and the winner, who receives a cheque for £30,000 and a trophy (the ‘Bessie’) is announced at a ceremony in London on June 4th.