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Ask The Agent — Madeleine Milburn
Simon Whaley chats to Madeleine Milburn, one of the UK’s Leading literary agents, about the literary fiction genre.
The feature first appeared in print in the June 2024 issue of Writing Magazine.
Madeleine Milburn taught English in Germany after graduating from St Andrews University. However, after a chance connection with a woman running a small independent publishing company, she changed jobs and learned all about the Frankfurt Book Fair and translation rights. After working for A P Watt, the UK’s oldest literary agency, she established the Madeleine Milburn Agency in 2012.
What do you enjoy most about being a literary agent?
Talent spotting is one of the most exciting parts of the role; being the first to recognise new talent and work with a writer to help shape their manuscript before matching them with publishers all over the world. I also love negotiating and fighting for my clients! Working with authors, book after book, to turn them into bestselling brands is the most satisfying part. I’ll never forget the 1 am call from the US publisher of Eleanor Oliphant is Completely Fine to squeal down the phone that it was №1 on the New York Times bestseller list.
