Christopher Little Literary Agency

The Christopher Little Literary Agency is a firm of literary agents based in London. Its clients have included Darren Shan, A. J. Quinnell, Pip Vaughan Hughes, Philip Kazan, Pippa Mattinson, Cathy Hopkins, Robert Mawson, Robert Radcliffe, General Sir Mike Jackson, Wladyslaw Szpilman and Janet Gleeson.[1] Christopher Little, who ran the agency, also managed Harry Potter author J. K. Rowling from 1995 until 2011 and has been credited with single-handedly managing Rowling's career and turning the Harry Potter franchise into a multi-million pound industry. He has been described as "the luckiest agent ever" who was half of "the most commercially successful relationship in literary history".

History

Christopher Little

Little's father was a Coroner and Battle of Britain fighter pilot. Born in York, West Yorkshire, Little studied at Queen Elizabeth Grammar School in Wakefield until he left post O levels. He joined his uncle's textile firm in 1958 but following his death and subsequent sale of the business in 1959, moved to T. F. Firth carpet manufacturers as an export sales trainee. In 1961 he was awarded a John Speak Foundation foreign language scholarship (through the Bradford Chamber of Commerce) and spent a year in Paris working with Firth’s French affiliate. He returned to Yorkshire but having found a bigger world, moved back to France where he sold office supplies (carbon paper) on a commission-only basis throughout France before working his way out to Hong Kong via Thailand, Malaya, Singapore and Borneo, again selling carbon paper before arriving in Hong Kong in 1965 to seek employment there. He joined Sir Jacob Behrens textile merchants selling high quality British worsted suiting materials to wholesalers in Hong Kong, Singapore and Japan. In 1967 he moved to selling Mutual Funds and in 1970 transferred to that firm’s Swiss Bank as their Far East representative primarily because of his knowledge of Asia and his fluent French. This involved considerable travel particularly through Vietnam, Cambodia & Laos.[1]

He returned to the UK in 1974 and settled in London. Finding it difficult to get a good job he opened his own recruitment company, Christopher Little Consultants which he continued to run until 1992. However in 1979 Little was persuaded by his old school friend and fellow Hong Konger Philip Nicholson to sell his first novel. He found a Publisher first in the US for Nicholson's book Man on Fire published under the  pseudonym  A.J. Quinnell. Little then established the Christopher Little Literary Agency. Little found that he liked working with creatives and as a result the agency grew alongside the recruitment business, representing some 20 authors by 1992 at which time he sold the recruitment agency. [1]

Little died on 7 January 2021, following a long illness.[2]

J. K. Rowling

In 1995 Little received 3 chapters of a manuscript from J. K. Rowling (then known as Joanne Rowling) who was looking for representation. Looking at a list of literary agents she saw the name "Christopher Little" and, believing it to sound like a character in a children's story, sent him the first three chapters of Harry Potter and the Philosopher's Stone.[3] Little responded four days later requesting the balance of the book, thinking there was something special about it. Every major UK publisher turned the book down but a small publishing company had just opened a children’s department Bloomsbury Publishing. They too saw the potential and bought UK Commonwealth publication rights in 1996 for one book for £2,500, a small figure but he believed it to be his "masterstroke". The US rights for one book in the United States subsequently went to auction after word of mouth and positive reviews raised significant interest in the property which went for a six figure sum. Foreign language publication rights were subsequently sold in over 80 languages.[1] In 2007 he was estimated to have received at least £50m from the franchise. Little has been called "the luckiest agent ever" and is credited with turning Rowling into a "literary superstar".[4] The pair have been described as being "the most commercially successful relationship in literary history".[5]

Little's association with Rowling did not end well with the author choosing to leave Little. She left to join one of Little's former business partners, Neil Blair, as he set up his own agency. This led to Little considering legal action against the author but the dispute was settled amicably. The details of the settlement remain confidential.[5]

Other authors

The Christopher Little Literary Agency has represented numerous authors, mainly in commercial fiction, including Darren Shan, Anne Zouroudi, Erin Kinsley, and Janet Gleeson. It has also represented people with their autobiographies, including Madeleine by Kate McCann and Soldier by General Sir Mike Jackson.[6] Films included The Pianist, The Vampire’s Assistant and the Harry Potter series.[1]

References
  1. "About The agency - Christopher Little". Christopher Little. Retrieved 2020-09-24.
  2. Chandler, Mark. "Agent Christopher Little dies, aged 79". The Bookseller. Retrieved 11 January 2021.
  3. Hastings, Chris; Bisset, Susan (15 June 2003). "Literary agent made £15m because JK Rowling liked his name". The Telegraph. Retrieved 24 March 2018.
  4. Sharp, Rob (3 July 2011). "Harry Potter and the furious feud: Rowling banishes her literary agent". The Independent. Retrieved 24 March 2018.
  5. Walker, Tim (25 January 2012). "Harry Potter author JK Rowling pays off the man who conjured up her millions". The Daily Telegraph. Retrieved 24 March 2018.
  6. "Christopher Little". Agent Hunter. Retrieved 24 March 2018.
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