Olivia Maidment joined the Madeleine Milburn Literary Agency in 2020. Previously, she worked with award-winning authors and global literary brands during her time at The Blair Partnership and United Agents. As well as representing a list of literary, upmarket and book club fiction as a literary agent, Olivia was recently promoted to Head of Books, working closely with the directors to implement wider agency direction and strategy. In this Q&A, I ask Olivia to explain more fully exactly what book club fiction is, what’s trending in the publishing market, and authors’ most common mistakes when submitting their work.  

Congratulations on your recent promotion! Can you tell us a little about your career journey?

I started my career as an intern at the Madeleine Milburn Agency back in 2016. I’d found out about literary agents whilst obsessively googling ‘jobs for English graduates’ post university and ended up cold emailing every agency in the country trying to get work experience (luckily, MMA replied!) From there, I went on to becoming an Agency Assistant at The Blair Partnership where I worked across a team of agents, before moving to United Agents as an Agent’s Assistant working directly with Caradoc King and his incredible roster of authors such as Graham Swift, John Lanchester, and Philip Pullman. In 2020, I re-joined MMA in a full-time role as an Associate Agent, where I began to build my own list whilst assisting Madeleine Milburn. After some successes with my own authors, I was promoted to full literary agent in 2021 and – excitingly – was recently promoted to Head of Books, which means I’ll be working closely with the company directors to implement strategy for the agency alongside championing and expanding my own list.

How have you ended up representing fiction in the literary, upmarket, and book club space, and are these your personal favourite genres or did you build experience in these genres through previous work?

I’ve been really fortunate in my Assistant and Associate roles to have worked across so many different genres and with so many authors who are excelling in their own sections of the market, from children’s to crime & thriller to non-fiction to colouring books. Literary, upmarket, and book club fiction have always been my favourite genres to work on, and I was very pleased to be given the opportunity to build my list in this area. I know some agents prefer to have a gap between the type of books that they read for pleasure and the ones that they champion at work, and I completely understand that desire. For me however, it is these types of books that have made me a reader and that have shaped so much of my understanding of the world. The opportunity to work with authors who write in these spaces as my actual job is a privilege I still can’t quite comprehend, and I feel lucky to be doing it every day.

“When I think about book club fiction, I think about it quite literally as a novel which would work well for a book club audience due to having some interesting topics or meaty themes, or conversation starting questions at the heart of it.”

Can you explain exactly what you mean by “book club” fiction? And why are you drawn to novels in this genre?

When I think about book club fiction, I think about it quite literally as a novel which would work well for a book club audience due to having some interesting topics or meaty themes, or conversation starting questions at the heart of it. It is fiction that is widely accessible and drives you along with the characters and plot but calls for a depth of thinking or discussion. I love book club novels that combine all of the above with masterful writing and characters that really come off the page to bring the world of the novel to life.

What draws you towards a writer?

I really admire writers who have a commitment to craft and style in their work. As an agent, I love to work editorially and working closely with an author who has taken the time to develop their voice can be such a creatively inspiring experience, and it is so enjoyable to be a part of that process. I am also really drawn to writers who are interested in using their work to give voice to themes, issues, or ideas, whether they do that through a high concept genre blending novel or an intimately told narrative. The inspiration behind what the author is writing is always very exciting to me.

Who is the last writer you signed and what made you take them on?

I’ve recently signed an author who has written the high concept, speculative literary fiction novel of my dreams and we are about to jump into the editorial process to get her book ready for submission to publishers. I’m always looking for that moment when you are reading a book or a manuscript or a submission, when something happens that makes you really sit up straighter and leaves you in awe of the way the writer has you in their grasp, and this author’s ability to create moments like that from the word go made me desperate to work with and represent her.

“Sci fi, fantasy and romance are spaces that are doing brilliantly right now.”

What are the top mistakes authors make when submitting to you?

I think the most common mistake in the submissions that come in for me are those that are in genres or areas of the market that I don’t represent, for example young adult fiction or a cosy crime or mystery. I do my best to forward these on to other team members at the agency where I can, but most of the time it is potentially a waste of the author’s time and a waste of a submission which would have been better sent to an agent who could be a better fit.

What do you want to see in a cover letter?

This is a bit of a dull answer but the cover letters that really jump out to me on first glance are always the ones that feel refined in terms of their content – when the author has taken the time to really work out what the most important elements of their book and their query are, and trimmed down extraneous information that makes it hard for me as an agent to get to the heart of the project that they are pitching, and presented that information in a clear and accessible way. Less can really be more on this front, I think.

Can you tell us what submission you’re currently hoping to find in your inbox? What stories are you looking for?

This is such a hard question as I think the best things tend to come as surprises! I am always looking for literary, upmarket, or book club fiction and tend to fall very quickly for well-crafted and precise contemporary novels, and also for work that mixes grounded human stories with high concepts and imagination. I’d love querying writers to look at my page on my agencies website and get in touch if they feel like I could be a good fit for their project based on the areas of the market that I specialise in.

What’s trending in the publishing market at present?

Sci fi, fantasy and romance are spaces that are doing brilliantly right now. Whilst these are not areas of the market that I work in personally I’ve been able to witness the vibrancy of these genres first hand through the work of some of my colleagues who are achieving great successes for their authors. It has been incredible to hear about the huge appetite of readers in these spaces, and how the publishing industry worldwide is responding with specialised imprints and the acquisition of exciting new talent.

I’ve heard that it’s harder for cross-genre novels at the moment, is that true? If so, why might that be?

I have been told that it has become more difficult to place books that fall between two stalls when it comes to genre right now, which I imagine may be because of how incredibly well commercial genre fiction is performing and how defined and engaged those audiences are. That said, I am sure there are always exceptions to that when it comes to the right projects.

“I have been told that it has become more difficult to place books that fall between two stalls when it comes to genre right now, which I imagine may be because of how incredibly well commercial genre fiction is performing and how defined and engaged those audiences are.”

For my own list, I really love upmarket or literary fiction with elements of genre (e.g. literary leaning speculative fiction like Station Eleven, or literary leaning horror like The Only Good Indians) and for me I think the lines could probably be a bit more blurred when it comes to cross-genre so long as the overall effect works.

(See Tess’s blog post on How to Describe Novels Who Don’t Fit into a Genre)

Would you say it has become harder for writers to find representation and become published since COVID? If so, why? What advice can you give them to help them stand out?

From my perspective and from what I can tell from my own experience as an agent, I don’t feel like things have become significantly more difficult since COVID when it comes to finding representation or a deal. I think lockdown had a big impact on so many people in the industry, from the writers to the agents to the editors and much more widely across other departments too – I personally found it difficult to feel as creatively engaged as I usually would whilst stuck inside all the time. However, since lockdown has ended, I feel like there is a huge sense of buoyancy and excitement across the industry and a desire to find great writers telling exciting new stories.

My biggest pieces of advice to writers would be to read as much as they can in their area of the market and to share their work with friends and fellow writers for feedback ahead of submission. Knowing the lay of the publishing land in your genre and refining your work with early critiques can be valuable when it comes to querying.

What are you currently excited about (be it on your list or relating to the market)?

I’m very excited about a project I’ve been working closely on the past few days by a brilliant young writer called Karishma Jobanputra. She is the author of a lyrical and provocative short story collection which is concerned with the dynamics of the female body and its politics. She is also currently developing her debut novel in the literary fiction space. From the moment I read Karishma’s work, I was struck by her talent both as a writer and an exceptional storyteller. Not only that, but her approach to different themes in her writing feels fresh and unique, and I love the breadth of her creative thinking and ideas.

Follow Olivia on Twitter at @liv_maidment and submit to her on the Madeleine Milburn website.