Arabella Stein signs up for Bright Group

Literary agent Arabella Stein has joined illustrator agency Bright Group international’s London office.

Stein, whose official title at Bright is senior agent, reports directly to m.d. and founder Vicki Willden-Lebrecht. She will take on some of the company’s existing clients as well as looking for new talent.

Stein told The Bookseller she wanted to help her clients to have as broad a career as possible. “The market for children’s books is exciting globally, not just in the UK. We are going to be looking at doing everything we can do for our illustrators. Yes, it’s about picture books, but also activity, educational and commercial work.” Bright Group is particularly interested in helping its lesser-known artists become brands, she added.

Stein was previously a director at the Abner Stein Literary Agency and has worked at Pan Macmillan, Fourth Estate and Bloomsbury. Her move to Bright Group represents her first foray into a job where the focus is on children’s books and illustration. Stein
said: “It’s about getting the appropriate marketing and recognition for their work, for example getting their name on the front cover, if that’s what they want. Illustrators sometimes have to fight for attention from publishers—not because publishers don’t want to give it, but because of the pressures in publishing.”

Willden-Lebrecht said Stein’s “background and new thirst for children’s literature” meant she was the “perfect person” to support Bright’s middleweight artists. “On meeting Arabella I was dazzled by her intelligence and wonderful likeability, as I know my clients will be,” Willden-Lebrecht said.