Heather Mitchell Interview

Heather Mitchell was born in Montreal, Canada. She started her career in Paris as a sports agent and continued for 15 years before the allure of books brought her skills as an agent to New York and to Gelfman Schneider in 2006. Heather represents a number of best selling authors, but she is particularly interested in narrative non-fiction, historical fiction and young debut authors with strong voices.

HOW TO PUBLISH A BOOK: I see from your bio that you began your career in Paris as a sports agent. What was that experience like? Who did you represent? How did sports agenting help prepare you for being a literary agent?

Heather Mitchell: I began working in Paris for the Executive Director of the Association of Tennis Professionals (ATP) in 1979, just when the sport was becoming "Big Business". From there, I went to work for a sports agency, Proserv, as the media and marketing representative for the Men's Tour.

Finally, I was recruited by the largest and most successful international agency, International Management Group (IMG) as the first female agent of male tennis players. I represented a load of young Swedish pros - some who went on to be ranked in the top 10 in the world. Finally, I joined a small "boutique" agency, that represented a select number of very successful athletes and I worked almost exclusively with Boris Becker.

HOW TO PUBLISH A BOOK: Tell us about how you made the decision to leave sports agenting and transition to being a literary agent. What motivated the change?

Heather Mitchell: I loved those years working in tennis. I travelled the world many times over in grand luxury while working 24/7. The tennis circuit is a little like a travelling circus; all the business is done on tournament site – and there is no "off-season," and the players, their agents, coaches, families travel week to week, tournament to tournament with journalists and tennis officials. I loved every minute of it, but I did not want to spend my whole life and career on the road and at a certain point I was ready to settle down and raise a family in the US. I loved Paris. I tell people that I was born in Montreal, but I really grew up in Paris. It was there that I started my adult life, and it will always be my spiritual home, but I was ready for the next chapter in my life in another mesmerizing city: New York.

HOW TO PUBLISH A BOOK: How is living in New York similar or different to living and working in Paris? Which do you like better?

Heather Mitchell:  After I married (an American) I took some time off to be a full time Mom to my two young children. When I was ready to go back to work a friend said to me "if you had a magic wand, what kind of job would you like to create for yourself?" And it was that moment that I suddenly blurted out: A LITERARY AGENT! All those years on the tennis tour, I devoured as many books as I could possibly fit in my bag (pre-Kindle days...I'm imaging how many more books I would have been able to read!) and I followed the world of publishing in the business section the way a sports fan would leap to the Sports section. It was my escape world when I needed a break from tennis.

So it was logical that when I was ready to start a second career, I would look to the world of books.

HOW TO PUBLISH A BOOK: How did the job at Gelfman Schneider come about?

Heather Mitchell: I loved books, and I loved being an agent; I loved the representation of talent - being like a lioness when it comes to defending and protecting a client: their rights, their image, their longevity. I enjoyed negotiating contracts, and I enjoyed the servicing of those contracts to make sure everyone was just as happy at the end of the contractual period as they were at the beginning. So I thought, why couldn't I marry my true love (literary) with my experience (agent)?

I needed to find an agency that would share my enthusiasm, and fortunately for me, it did not take me long to find Jane Gelfman and Deborah Schneider - and the agency that they formed almost 30 years ago - and it was just what I was looking for: a small but thriving agency, with a stellar reputation.

HOW TO PUBLISH A BOOK: Who are some of the authors you represent?

Heather Mitchell: My true love is fiction, but I realized very quickly when I started that it might be a little easier to break into non-fiction given the increased demand from publishers and I have represented works of narrative non-fiction and memoir, with a foray into thrillers, YA and historical fiction as just about every agent now takes on clients from a variety of genres. Similar to my years in tennis, I take on few clients at a time, preferring to service the contracts, from conception to birth. And just as I came into pro tennis when it was on the cusp of great change, so too was the publishing world when I started. I remember first seeing a Kindle from our friends at Amazon before it was launched to the public, and thinking - how long will it take to overtake hardcovers? Well not long, as we now know. I also remember starting when self-publishing was considered a taboo, and now it has lost its stigma and is a viable option for some authors.

HOW TO PUBLISH A BOOK: What are you most eager to represent?

Heather Mitchell: I do believe that although the industry is changing rapidly and publishers are becoming much more selective in what they acquire and publish, good books - whether in digital or physical form - will continue to be in great demand, and I think even with a changing publishing landscape, authors would be wise to enlist an agent that they trust and respect, to help them navigate the terrain over the long haul.

I am eager to take on more narrative non-fiction.

HOW TO PUBLISH A BOOK: How should prospective clients contact you?

Heather Mitchell: The best way to submit to any agent is to follow the guidelines on the agency's website. 

_____

Stacey says: First, thanks so much to Heather for taking the time to speak with us at How to Publish a Book. A couple of interesting points to highlight in this interview for our readers.

1. Notice how selective Heather is in choosing her clients. She only represents a handful of writers at any one time (i.e., less than 10) and has a very clear focus of interest (i.e. narrative non-fiction). Make sure that if you're querying Heather that you've got the kind of book she wants.
2. Again, it's cool to see an industry professional pointing out how the stigma surrounding self-publishing has vanished in recent years. Self-publishing is very much a proving ground for debut authors to show how well their books can sell, what type of platform they have, and how well they can market their books.
3. It's interesting, too, to highlight just how quickly eBooks have supplanted hardcover book sales. One motif of the How to Publish a Book website is just how quickly the landscape of publishing can change and consequently how nimble writers (and publishers) must be to adapt to such changes. At How to Publish a Book, we advocate embracing new technologies, being open to change, and never fixing yourself too concretely to any one way of publishing and marketing books. Truly, how to publish a book is constantly in flux as cultural and economic demands change.