The MM Agency is incredibly excited to share that our very own Director and superstar agent, Madeleine Milburn, will be lending her hand to the Toronto International Festival of Authors (TIFA) as an esteemed guest and panellist.
2020 marks the 41st year of the event, which is Canada’s “largest and longest-running festival of words and ideas”. It is being held between the 22nd October and the 1st November, and although the event will not be held in person, proceedings are going on as planned in a revamped virtual format. This year’s theme is “Bringing a New World into Focus”; over 200 authors, alongside other creative professionals, will be brought together for an enriching week of panels, networking and performances. This is the 13th year of the International Visitors (IV) Programme, which involves a deep dive into Canadian publishing and the domestic market.
Madeleine has been hand-selected as one of the Distinguished Guests of this dynamic programme, which includes an all-access pass to the week’s events. Her itinerary will involve exciting discussions on global publishing trends, bringing Canadian voices to the world, virtual site visits to Canadian publishing houses, and much more.
Wednesday the 28th October will be a particular highlight – on this day, Madeleine will join a panel titled “Pitching and Closing the Deal”, moderated by Carolyn Forde, who is a senior literary agent at the Transatlantic Literary Agency. Panellists will discuss the most important elements and challenges of pitching, closing and negotiation.
Many will already be aware of Madeleine’s keen insight into the Canadian market, and excellent existing network. She has made countless stellar deals for her authors in the country involving big-name publishers like Simon & Schuster Canada, HarperCollins Canada and Penguin Random House Canada. Madeleine also proudly represents Canadian debut author Ashley Audrain, whose upcoming literary suspense novel, The Push, is easily the most hotly anticipated debut of 2021, and was swept up in a whirlwind of international deals at Frankfurt last year. The title will be published by Penguin Random House / Michael Joseph in the UK and Penguin Random House Canada in January 2021.
Coincidentally, Madeleine’s biggest deal this year has been for quirky murder-mystery debut The Maid by Nita Prose – another Canadian author, who happens to be Vice President/Editorial Director at Simon & Schuster Canada. The book sold to US imprint Penguin Random House / Ballantine for a record-breaking sum for the Agency, to be released in 2022.
We’re sure that the event will be a wonderfully informative time for everyone involved, and hope that it can aid the development of an even larger presence in the Canadian market for the MM Agency!
