Archive for April 13th, 2010

Chick Flick Tuesday highlights the best chick flicks in the movie world as well as bringing you news on upcoming chick flick releases as well as letting you all know about which chick lit books are being made into chick flick movies!

This week’s pick is the rather fantastic The Proposal. I watched it a few months ago and I fell completely in love with the film. I am a huge fan of Sandra Bullock (Miss Congeniality will be appearing soon on here, I’m sure) and I think she’s a completely outstanding actress. She really excels in romantic comedies and The Proposal is no different. I thought Ryan Reynolds was also fantastic opposite Sandra and I was really impressed with his performance. But, for me, the performance of the film was Betty White who played Andrew’s (Ryan Reynolds) Grandma, she really made me laugh!

For three years, Andrew Paxton has slaved as the assistant to Margaret Tate, hard-driving editor at a New York publisher. When Margaret, a Canadian, faces deportation for an expired visa, she hatches a scheme to marry Andrew - he agrees if she’ll promise a promotion. A skeptical INS agent vows to test the couple about each other the next Monday. Andrew had plans to fly home that weekend for his grandma’s 90th, so Margaret goes with him - to Sitka, Alaska - where mom, dad, and grams await. Family dynamics take over: tensions between dad and Andrew, an ex-girlfriend, Andrew’s dislike of Margaret, and her past color the next few days, with the INS ready to charge Andrew with fraud.

With our previous two industry interviews, they’ve actually been with those working at a publishing house, and I realised we didn’t have any book agents to ask to interview so we put the call out amongst authors and the fab Tara Hyland offered up her agent, Maddie Buston who works at the Darley Anderson Agency. She was thrilled to be part of our Industry Interview series and here are her answers!

1. Can you tell us, in as little or as much detail as you like, what it is you do in the publishing agency.

I consider my main roles as a literary agent to be talent spotting, deal making, author care and editing. I need to find talent, work on the manuscript with the writer, submit to the best possible publishers for the book and negotiate the highest advance and royalties as possible. Caring for our authors needs is a huge part of being an agent – helping with book ideas, editorial work, publicity, pitching books at all the major book fairs, drawing up contracts, doing everything to ensure that the publisher grows sales book after book, the list goes on….

I am also head of the Rights Department selling rights to our authors’ works in the US and across the world, and have recently been appointed as Deputy MD of the Children’s Book Agency.

2. How did you end up working as the head of rights & women’s fiction agent at Darley Anderson?

After graduating from St Andrews University I worked in Germany for an international exchange scheme with the European Training Services. I worked for a small independent publisher out there and spent every evening researching the world of literary agents and publishers. I have to admit I didn’t know much about literary agents – not many people can name an agency like they can a publisher. I found the world fascinating, particularly the Frankfurt book fair and applied to do some work experience with Blake Friedmann before landing my first job at A P Watt Literary, TV and Film Agency where I worked in the Rights department. Two years later I moved to the Darley Anderson Agency as the Rights Manager and was promoted the following year to Head of Rights. With a special interest in Women’s and general fiction, I started to take on my own clients that year. I am now also the Deputy MD of the Darley Anderson Children’s Book Agency so will agent exceptional work in that area – particularly YA and cross-over books.

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I am a huge huge fan of Christina Jones so I was pleased when I saw that she has a new book, The Way To A Woman’s Heart, due out on 2nd September 2010. I’ve loved all of her earlier works and even after making her books slightly more magical I still loved them! I really love the cover for The Way To A Woman’s Heart and I can’t wait for it’s release! Here’s the synopsis:

Cooking the perfect menu for the perfect date always seems simple at the time…

Escaping from corporate city life into the heart of the Berkshire countryside, Ella Maloney had been expecting to find rural tranquillity and a chance to indulge in her favourite pastime - cooking. So when she meets a devastatingly delicious chef by the name of Ash Lawrence, Ella knows she’s died and gone to food heaven.

Things go from divine to celestial for Ella, however, when her favourite top-rated TV cookery programme - Midnight Feast - comes looking for a venue to film their latest show. But while Ella is pulling out all the culinary stops to become their most successful ontestant ever, Ash is busy cooking up the ultimate recipe for winning Ella’s heart - or should that be a recipe for disaster…?