Biography
Carole Blake has worked in publishing for 49 years. She started in a secretarial position with a small team working on a multi-volume art encyclopaedia for Rainbirds, the packagers. After eight years of progression through the company, she then became the first-ever Rights Manager for Michael Joseph, selling an enviable list of authors through the early '70s into paperback, bookclub, foreign markets and film.
She was headhunted to start W H Allen's first rights department (selling Andre Brink's first novels around the world among others), then approached to become Marketing Director of Sphere. In 1977, after 14 years in publishing, she started her own literary agency which merged with Julian Friedmann's agency to become Blake Friedmann in 1983. It is an editorially-based agency with strong emphasis on selling a wide range of rights for their clients. The company was chosen as one of only twelve British agencies commended by the Society of Authors in their first survey of literary agents some years ago.
The Agency has always emphasised the importance of creative editorial work. It now has a staff of thirteen and represents 200 writers. The Agency is represented by associate agents in more than two dozen language markets throughout the world. Julian Friedmann heads the agency's film and television division; Carole Blake heads the book division. She does not represent fantasy or science-fiction, or juvenile material, and now concentrates almost exclusively on fiction.
She is a past President of the Association of Authors' Agents. During her term as President she instigated and produced a survey of royalty statements that led to many British publishers radically changing the content and style of their royalty statements.
She is the past Chairman of the Society of Bookmen, only the second female Chair since the Society was founded in 1921. She is a member of the advisory board for City University's post-graduate publishing course, and UCLA's post-graduate publishing course. She was a board member for the book trade charity, The Book Trade Charity (BTBS) for many years, and served as Chairman from 2004 until 2007. She is now a lifelong Patron for the charity, and became President in Spring 2010. She has been in Who's Who since the 1998 edition. She was Chairman of the judges for BBC TV's 8-hour short story competition series 'End of Story' broadcast in 2004. She wrote a regular 'Agent's Diary' for Mslexia magazine for several years.
Her book, FROM PITCH TO PUBLICATION: Everything You Need To Know To Get Your Novel Published, was published in August 1999 by Macmillan. They reprinted three weeks after publication, and twice again in the first year of publication, a UK book club made it their main choice and bought 30,000 copies. It is now in its 12th UK printing and is used by publishing companies and literary agencies to train new staff and is proscribed reading on many post-graduate publishing studies and creative writing courses.
The Times said: '... a shocking, and at times disheartening, read for aspiring authors.' 'Carole Blake writes lucidly and with a light touch ... an invaluable guide.' Daily Mail. '... an ideal set-text for anyone studying publishing.' The Independent. '... hugely informative ... an exceptional chapter on contracts and a brilliantly funny hit list.' The Bookseller. 'Stunningly comprehensive...it serves as an essay on the current state of the publishing industry, offering not just information but structured arguments and opinions, thus making it of interest to members of the trade as well as to authors. It can be read not only from the point of view of getting a novel published but by people wanting to get ahead in the industry or be an agent themselves.' InPrint (journal of The Society of Young Publishers).
It has been reviewed widely in British national papers and magazines, and in Ireland, Australia, South Africa, Holland and Israel. Maeve Binchy, in a review in The Daily Mail said: ' It's honest and practical, and I know if it had been around when I was young, I'd have published my first novel long before I was 42.'
'Wish I could have seen it years ago! Almost on every page I experienced the Nabokovian thrill of recognition or approval. And I shall make sure that it is highly recommended for each one of my Creative Writing students.' -- Andre Brink
She was headhunted to start W H Allen's first rights department (selling Andre Brink's first novels around the world among others), then approached to become Marketing Director of Sphere. In 1977, after 14 years in publishing, she started her own literary agency which merged with Julian Friedmann's agency to become Blake Friedmann in 1983. It is an editorially-based agency with strong emphasis on selling a wide range of rights for their clients. The company was chosen as one of only twelve British agencies commended by the Society of Authors in their first survey of literary agents some years ago.
The Agency has always emphasised the importance of creative editorial work. It now has a staff of thirteen and represents 200 writers. The Agency is represented by associate agents in more than two dozen language markets throughout the world. Julian Friedmann heads the agency's film and television division; Carole Blake heads the book division. She does not represent fantasy or science-fiction, or juvenile material, and now concentrates almost exclusively on fiction.
She is a past President of the Association of Authors' Agents. During her term as President she instigated and produced a survey of royalty statements that led to many British publishers radically changing the content and style of their royalty statements.
She is the past Chairman of the Society of Bookmen, only the second female Chair since the Society was founded in 1921. She is a member of the advisory board for City University's post-graduate publishing course, and UCLA's post-graduate publishing course. She was a board member for the book trade charity, The Book Trade Charity (BTBS) for many years, and served as Chairman from 2004 until 2007. She is now a lifelong Patron for the charity, and became President in Spring 2010. She has been in Who's Who since the 1998 edition. She was Chairman of the judges for BBC TV's 8-hour short story competition series 'End of Story' broadcast in 2004. She wrote a regular 'Agent's Diary' for Mslexia magazine for several years.
Her book, FROM PITCH TO PUBLICATION: Everything You Need To Know To Get Your Novel Published, was published in August 1999 by Macmillan. They reprinted three weeks after publication, and twice again in the first year of publication, a UK book club made it their main choice and bought 30,000 copies. It is now in its 12th UK printing and is used by publishing companies and literary agencies to train new staff and is proscribed reading on many post-graduate publishing studies and creative writing courses.
The Times said: '... a shocking, and at times disheartening, read for aspiring authors.' 'Carole Blake writes lucidly and with a light touch ... an invaluable guide.' Daily Mail. '... an ideal set-text for anyone studying publishing.' The Independent. '... hugely informative ... an exceptional chapter on contracts and a brilliantly funny hit list.' The Bookseller. 'Stunningly comprehensive...it serves as an essay on the current state of the publishing industry, offering not just information but structured arguments and opinions, thus making it of interest to members of the trade as well as to authors. It can be read not only from the point of view of getting a novel published but by people wanting to get ahead in the industry or be an agent themselves.' InPrint (journal of The Society of Young Publishers).
It has been reviewed widely in British national papers and magazines, and in Ireland, Australia, South Africa, Holland and Israel. Maeve Binchy, in a review in The Daily Mail said: ' It's honest and practical, and I know if it had been around when I was young, I'd have published my first novel long before I was 42.'
'Wish I could have seen it years ago! Almost on every page I experienced the Nabokovian thrill of recognition or approval. And I shall make sure that it is highly recommended for each one of my Creative Writing students.' -- Andre Brink