words that matter
What we do
HHB Agency was founded in 2005 by ex-publisher Heather Holden-Brown with the aim of being approachable, imaginative, tenacious and successful. After 18 years at the helm, Heather stepped down from the agency in January 2024.
We believe that our role is to help our authors with every aspect of their careers and to respond to each client’s particular needs, offering services that range from experienced editorial advice, effective book representation and contract negotiation, to creative brand-building.
We represent writers based in Europe but have strong relationships with sub-agents for US, translation and other sub-rights, discovering all possible avenues for our authors, from film and television to personal appearances and links with national newspapers and magazines.
HHB Agency is a full member of the Association of Authors’ Agents. http://www.agentsassoc.co.uk/
Who we represent
Our family of fantastic writers includes established bestsellers and talented, fresh voices.
In the years since our foundation, we have taken delight in the success of authors ranging from journalists to historians, cooks to comedians, critics to crafters, vets, doctors, adventurers, entertainers, and those who simply have an extraordinary story to tell.
In fiction, we specialise in thoughtful but commercial women’s writing, intelligent crime and thrillers, and exceptional historical novels.
Who we are
Elly James
DIRECTOR & AGENT
Elly James joined HHB Agency in 2007 to work alongside its founder, Heather-Holden-Brown and became sole director at the start of 2024, after Heather retired. Before that, she worked in television and film development where she enjoyed the challenge of finding great storytellers, clever communicators and people with passions who have interesting perspectives or original voices. This continues to be the driver in her role as an agent, alongside the thrill of working out how to help transform a compelling idea or manuscript into a book that readers will cherish.
For non-fiction, Elly is particularly looking for experts in their fields and writers of: memoir, history, nature, science, self-development, original thinking, lifestyle and food. She is after books that give an insight into worlds we don’t know much about – that educate, illuminate and transport. This might be a groundbreaking ‘professional confessional’ exposé like THE SECRET BARRISTER or Adam Kay’s THIS IS GOING TO HURT or intimate personal stories such as Amy Liptrot’s THE OUTRUN or Tara Westover’s EDUCATED or books that open up important conversations such as Hannah Barnes’s TIME TO THINK or Katy Hessel’s THE STORY OF ART WITHOUT MEN. Within this territory, it is often the case of finding the ‘only person who can write this book’. She is especially eager to have some more strong women’s voices to champion.
Our food writers showcase the broad scope and diversity of this area of publishing territory and Elly is always keen to hear from new voices or established brands who have created a community around them with a clear concept, fresh perspectives on healthy eating, interesting angles on a particular food culture or expert knowledge.
Elly would love to find more quality commercial / popular literary fiction and is looking for writers who tell powerful stories that grip, haunt, elicit laughter or tears. She wants to be deeply moved, immersed in a world and taken by surprise by believable, flawed characters. She is after books with original voices and broad appeal. Debuts that she has recently loved have tended to have emotional heft – Alice Winn’s IN MEMORIAM, Louise Kennedy’s TRESPASSES or Joanna Quinn’s THE WHALEBONE THEATRE. She would love to find some more twisty thrillers / crime or ghost stories that feel fresh and different.