Sally Holloway

I represent not only a number of award-winning and bestselling authors but also many writers whose careers have only just begun, across a broad range of non-fiction.

I think that we are living through one of the best periods for non-fiction writing for a very long time. While fiction has traditionally been seen as the area of writing that pushes the boundaries, whether of style or subject matter, that is no longer the case – non-fiction writers are becoming increasingly adventurous in both how they write and what they write about. Exciting times!

On a personal level, I love finding out about new ideas, new worlds, new people, but also reading material that challenges both my own beliefs and those of society at a broader level. I am always on the look-out for authors who can write with authority, wit and originality in the fields of ‘Big Ideas’, popular psychology, contemporary issues, economics and business (though not ‘how to’ books). I also like writers who can explain complex ideas entertainingly or who are able to transport me into a different world, in areas as diverse as popular science, history, biography, literature, popular culture. I would love to find more writers of narrative non-fiction who have important stories to tell, especially investigative journalists. And as a former editor, I particularly enjoy working with writers to help transform a great idea into a great book.

Books that have been published recently that reflect some of the things I am looking for are: Oliver Bullough’s Moneyland and Butler to the World, which combine first-class investigative reporting of an important issue with a witty and highly readable style; Lea Ypi’s Free, her brilliantly evocative memoir of life in Hoxha’s Albania; Sathnam Sanghera’s Empireland, which tackles an emotive, complex subject in a thoughtful and nuanced way.

I am a Trustee of the Jane Grigson Trust and the founder and administrator of the Jane Grigson Trust Award for first-time writers on food and drink.