Whitney & Hughes Literary Agents

Old Hack · Oct 2, 2011

I've been asked what I think about this agency but as I'd not heard of it before, I thought I'd ask about it here.

From its website:

Welcome ...

Whitney and Hughes is a literary agency, otherwise known as a publishing agency. We represent writers and their written works to publishers and assist in the sale and deal negotiation of the same. We represent novelists and non-fiction writers. We are paid a fixed percentage of the proceeds of the sales we negotiate on behalf of our clients by their publishers, so our services are effectively supplied without direct cost to our authors.

Why Whitney & Hughes ...

Authors turn to us for several reasons. Quite a few well-known, powerful, and lucrative publishing houses do not accept unagented submissions. As a knowledgeable agent we know the market, and we can be a source of valuable career advice and guidance. Being a publishable author doesn't automatically make someone an expert on modern publishing contracts and practices. Many authors prefer to have an agent handle such matters. This also prevents the author's working relationship with his or her publisher from becoming strained by disputes about royalty statements or late cheques.

There's nothing about who works at the agency, what experience or sales they've made, or who their clients are.

Although they're saying the right things there, there are also a few things that make me stop and think. For example, the language is stilted and just a bit off-key; and I've not heard of literary agencies also being called publishing agencies.

So what do you all think?

Filigree · Oct 2, 2011

Seems just a bit opaque, to me. I've never heard of them, but then I only pay attention to UK agencies that rep sf&f. Not enough information to go on. Certainly not enough to warrant a query.

Theo81 · Oct 2, 2011

No clients listed. No genres listed. Nothing about what they are looking for. Requests a 1-2 page query letter which wants to know the "purpose" of the work (I've no idea it this is supposed to be explained literally ("I have a large gas bill and feel this novel will enable me to pay it") or abstractly ("I want to inspire people; allow them to know they are not alone; raise their consciousness! With a little tolerance, we can overcome the prejudice tree frog/elephant hybrids face in their daily lives"). I suspect they're asking why you wrote the novel, which I have seen on some agency guidelines.

The text from the front page seems bizarre to me (as well as setting off little *ding* alarms at the word "lucrative"). There are plenty of agencies whose websites have this kind of basic "what does an agent do" info, but I have *never* seen it on a front page and I've never seen it without the standard "Buy a Copy of Writers' and Artists'" advice.

[speculation] Somebody, somewhere, has arbitrarily decided to be a literary agent [/speculation]

Or, this website is online but the text proper hasn't been put on it (which begs the question of why it's there, but even some of the top UK agencies have dire websites. I wouldn't condemn them for it.)

CaoPaux · Feb 24, 2013

Found a client: http://uk.linkedin.com/in/socialitepete

CaoPaux · Apr 5, 2015

FWIW, the cache of a (former?) client's page gives us the name David Hughes:

The Team

JMI is an elect group of industry professionals who are dedicated to representing Jody Medland’s work within the marketplace.

D a v i d H u g h e s – L i t e r a r y A g e n t

David is the co-founder of the Whitney & Hughes Literary Agency and any correspondence intended for him should be sent to:

Whitney & Hughes Literary Agency
79 Nightingale Lane
London
SW12 8LY

Tel: 0208 419 8436
Email: [email protected]
Web: www.whitneyandhughes.co.uk

CaoPaux · Feb 17, 2017

Things found down the rabbit hole ... sole client apparent, Peter Jarrette, is published by Dynasty Press Ltd. (the Jody mentioned above "adapted [him] for TV"). Dynasty is owned by David Hornsby and Georgia Collin Campbell. W&H site is registered to Georgie Campbell. Until recently, an unrelated domain was registered to Hornsby using W&H's email and address.

So.

Whitney & Hughes Literary Agents

Old Hack

Such a nasty woman

Filigree

Mildly Disturbing

Theo81

CaoPaux

Mostly Harmless

CaoPaux

Mostly Harmless

CaoPaux

Mostly Harmless