Nagle launches literary agency in Dublin celebrating Irish writing

Former HarperCollins Ireland publisher Conor Nagle has started up an eponymous literary agency based in Dublin, prioritising Irish-focused publishing. 

HarperCollins closed its editorial function in Ireland in July following Nagle’s resignation, three years after launching HarperCollins Ireland as a standalone imprint. 

Nagle hopes his new organisation will fulfil a niche. “The Nagle Agency has its roots in a couple of ambitions,” he told The Bookseller. “Firstly, having spoken to a great number of authors and publishing professionals, I felt there was a real need here, in Ireland, for a new and more dynamic form of author representation – an agency that could take a more hands-on role, yes, in identifying and really developing talent, but also in helping authors settle into longer and more fulfilling creative partnerships.”  

He added: “Obviously, there’s a commercial dimension to all this, but publishing has to be about more than quick-fire deal-making; that’s an approach that’s so often self-defeating, especially when lasting success and innovation so often hinges on intangibles, like the spark that’s struck when like-minded people find each other. My role, as I see it, is to use the full range of my in-house experience to unite authors with the individuals and teams who will help them realise their full potential, creatively and commercially. 

“Additionally – and somewhat selfishly – all this will allow me to return to my real passion: working directly with authors during those formative stages, to draw their ideas into focus and craft a really compelling vision for their work.”

The office is based in Dublin and “given the heavy emphasis we’ve placed on close collaboration with clients, our focus for the forseeable future will very much be on Irish-originated and Irish-oriented publishing,” Nagle said. He added:  

“That being said, we’ll be casting our net widely within those limits: we’re open to receiving submissions from authors of fiction, non-fiction, and children’s literature.”  

Nagle told The Bookseller how his editorial experience inspired him to start his own company working directly with authors. “I started in out publishing a decade ago now, when I took up a role as a commissioning editor with Gill Books, or what was then the trade division of Gill & Macmillan.

“I joined at what turned out to be an exciting time for the company, which afforded me the freedom to work on an exceptionally broad range of titles, running the gamut from political memoir and sports biography to investigative journalism, lifestyle, and commercial fiction.  

“Early in 2020, I joined HarperCollins UK as the publisher of its new Irish division, HarperCollins Ireland, where I spent three years establishing a base for the company’s Irish publishing.”  

Nagle, named a Bookseller Rising Star in 2022, helped publish more than 80 titles at this stage, with Irish bestsellers and the titles collecting 25 Irish Book Award nominations and seven wins across a variety of fiction, non-fiction and children’s categories. 

He can be contacted at conor@thenagleagency.com.