Kremer appointed managing director at David Higham as Goff moves to chair of board

Lizzy Kremer has been appointed managing director (m.d.) of David Higham Associates with immediate effect, as Anthony Goff moves into the new role of chair of the board of directors.

Goff has been at the helm of the agency as m.d. for more than two decades, taking up the position in 2000. During his tenure, the agency has doubled in size through the hiring of new agents and mergers with four other literary agencies. He will continue as a full-time agent and shareholder of the company, working with his clients including the Estate of Roald Dahl, Bernard Cornwell and Peter May.

Kremer has worked as a director of the company and head of books, a role which will now be taken on by her fellow agent Andrew Gordon. Her career in publishing began as a book publicist, followed by work with the late agent Ed Victor for seven years, before joining DHA in 2004. 

She is known for her representation of high profile novelists including Paula Hawkins, Kate Morton, Milly Johnson, Sarah Vaughan and Lucy Diamond, as well as self-published author Rachel Abbott. During her service on the committee of the Association of Authors’ Agents, and then as president from 2018 to 2020, Kremer was an outspoken advocate on many issues. She addressed issues including author income, the urgent need for inclusivity in publishing and the value of mentorship, both through her long established blog at publishingforhumans.com and through her leadership in the writing of an industry-wide commitment to professional behaviour, which urges colleagues to speak up about work-based harassment and bullying.

“In Lizzy we have exactly the right person to take the agency forward in the years to come," Goff said. "Lizzy is both kind and clever. She has a better understanding of our business than any agent I’ve ever come across and is a terrific advocate for authors and colleagues alike. With the help of the whole company, I know she will take David Higham to new heights."

Kremer said: “Anthony has been a fantastically successful m.d. and the proof is in the strength today of the company he has led, which is full of the most creative, smart, humane and impressive people I could ever wish for as colleagues and which represents an outstandingly talented group of authors, illustrators and scriptwriters. Anthony’s influence has been his notably collaborative and inclusive management style, cool-headed strategy and a wealth of experience and support for the team. He has been running the best agency in town, and accordingly now I have the best job! I couldn’t be more honoured and excited."

David Higham represents a range of writers of commercial and literary fiction and non-fiction, in all media and languages. Recent bestsellers include the Tom Gates series by Liz Pichon (Scholastic), debut literary novels Exciting Times by Naoise Dolan (W&N) and Acts of Desperation by Megan Nolan (Vintage), alongside non-fiction authors including Merlin Sheldrake, Owen Jones and Robert MacFarlane. It has also also run highly competitive auctions in the past year, with deals including those for Jessica George’s debut Maame (Bloomsbury) and Ore Agbaje-Williams’ The Three of Us (Cape).