BAME submissions markedly up, agents report

Agents are responding to a surge in demand for books by underrepresented voices by bringing more titles by black, Asian and minority ethnic (BAME) authors to Frankfurt, including Candice Carty-Williams’ Queenie, Frannie Langton by Sara Collins and Hold by Michael Donkor.

Editors are keen to acquire more titles by BAME authors following intense scrutiny of the diversity of the UK book trade and its output in the past year. While welcoming the increase in titles from BAME authors, figures in the trade are hoping it is not merely a “publishing bandwagon”.

Piers Blofeld, agent at Sheil Land, said: “There’s quite a lot of BAME fiction being acquired—publishers have hired people to acquire in this area and agents have looked a bit harder for it. On one level it’s clearly a good thing, but there’s a smidgeon of concern. I hope it’s not people jumping on the classic publishing bandwagon, and that this doesn’t peter out after a couple of years.”

PFD’s Alexandra Cliff praised the increased number and quality of titles by BAME authors on offer, but highlighted that this should not be seen as “tokenism”. Hardman & Swainson agent Joanna Swainson agreed, adding: “It’s important that this isn’t seen as a ‘trend’, but rather as redressing the balance.”

Agents and editors also reported a “significant rise” in historical fiction and dystopian fiction in a “confident” and “buoyant” market, as well as the continued presence of psychological thrillers, though few spoke of standout titles in the field. Alison Hennessey, editorial director at Bloomsbury, said: “There continues to be a surprising number of psychological thrillers on submission, considering that the trend is on the wane with a very saturated market. I’ve noticed a significant rise in historical crime fiction and literary suspense.”

Louisa Joyner of Faber, which inked a pre-fair deal for The Rapture by Claire McGlasson, a début set in 1926 in London, has also noticed the abundance of historical fiction. She suggested the trend was more uplifting than darker psychological thrillers in an unstable political climate. “As times get harder, people desire something different out of fiction,” she said. “With historical fiction there’s still jeopardy, but because it is not in a contemporary setting, it offers some distance.”

Publishers are also keen to replicate the success of titles such as Jessie Burton’s The Miniaturist (Picador) and Sarah Perry’s The Essex Serpent (Serpent’s Tail), said Sam Eades, editorial director at Trapeze Books, who added that the industry was on the lookout for a replacement for the waning psychological thriller genre.

Sara O’Keeffe, editorial director at Atlantic, said she had received a “remarkable number” of dystopian novels, “which is perhaps not surprising given the fact that Trump is practically begging for the End Times to begin”.

In non-fiction, an author’s platform is becoming more important, with editors looking for writers who already have a significant online following, who know their markets or “have a presence in those areas”. Medical memoirs are also being hunted down following the success of Adam Kay’s This is Going to Hurt (Picador), but publishers are more cautious about buying sport titles. Suzanne Baboneau, m.d. of S&S UK’s Adult Publishing division, said: “A few years ago, we might have gone for sports titles and now perhaps we’ve put the brakes on. All of us have been burned by athletes, at some point”.