Literary agent’s life and bank balance magically transformed by Harry Potter
Christopher Little, who has died aged 79, was running a small literary agency when in 1996 he received three chapters of a manuscript from a penniless 30-year-old author called Joanne Rowling. She had chosen his name from a list of literary agents in an Edinburgh library, thinking he sounded like a character from a children’s story.
Rowling’s package was opened by Bryony Evens, Little’s office manager, whose attention was drawn to the contents of the black folder inside. It was clearly a children’s book, a genre that the agency rarely handled because Little considered there to be no money in it. Evens was intrigued and showed the manuscript to
Fleur Howle, the agency’s reader, who was similarly impressed. Little agreed that they should ask for the rest of the manuscript, which duly arrived.
Evens recalled being unable to put it down, adding: ‘‘Chris read it overnight and we made a list of the things we thought weren’t quite strong enough, and then we wrote to her.’’ Rowling once said she had ‘‘assumed it was a rejection note’’, but Little’s letter was to say that he would be pleased to take her story on his usual terms: 15 per cent of gross earnings for the UK market and 20 per cent for merchandising rights, film, US and translation deals. ‘‘It was the best letter of my life,’’ Rowling recalled. ‘‘I read it eight times.’’
She agreed to the agency’s editorial suggestions and revised her manuscript. Nevertheless, Little cautioned against getting her hopes up, saying: ‘‘Remember, Joanne, this is all very well, but it’s not going to make you a fortune.’’
He sent the work to Penguin, Transworld and Harper Collins, all of whom rejected it. However, Bloomsbury, a small company that had just opened a children’s department, saw the potential and bought the UK and Commonwealth rights for £2500, a small figure but one that was later described as a masterstroke on Little’s part because it left US and foreign language rights open to future negotiation. Meanwhile, Joanne Rowling was re-christened JK Rowling because Little felt that boys were unlikely to read a book by a female author and the use of ambiguous initials would attract both boys and girls.
Soon American publishing houses were offering six-figure sums while Hollywood studios were sniffing around. As the franchise grew, with books, films and merchandising, Little was working his Potter-style alchemy, turning Rowling into a literary superstar. According to last year’s Sunday Times Rich List, she is now worth £795 million. Little also did well, appearing on the 2012 list with £55m.
He became a familiar if quiet presence at Potter premieres, a tall and imposing Albus Dumbledore-type figure with a shock of white hair and enormous bushy eyebrows.
Rowling was not Little’s only author. He also represented writers with autobiographies to sell, such as General Sir Mike Jackson, the author of Soldier, and Kate McCann, who wrote Madeleine, about her missing daughter.
The partnership with Rowling eventually came to an unhappy end in 2011 when Neil Blair, Little’s business partner, announced that he was starting his own agency and Rowling was going with him. Little was devastated and there was talk of legal action, but none followed; he was far too discreet to allow their differences to be aired in public. Instead, he continued to enjoy what he did best: long client lunches and arranging book deals.
Christopher John Little was born in Yorkshire, the son of a wartime fighter pilot who was appointed OBE. In 1958 he left school to join an uncle’s textile business, but his uncle died the following year and the business was sold. At that point he became an export sales trainee with a carpet manufacturer. In 1961 a foreign language scholarship from the Bradford Chamber of Commerce enabled him to spend a year in Paris.
Although he returned to Yorkshire, he had now discovered a bigger world and soon moved back to France, selling carbon paper to offices on a commission-only basis. He worked his way east via Thailand, Malaya, Singapore and Borneo, again selling carbon paper, before in 1965 arriving in Hong Kong, where he sold British textiles to wholesalers in Hong Kong, Singapore and Japan, and later joined Swiss Bank as its Far East representative.
He returned to Britain in 1974 and settled in London, but after having difficulty finding a good job he opened a recruitment agency, Christopher Little Consultants. The following year he married Linda Frewen. The marriage was dissolved in 1987 and he is survived by their two sons. In 2012 he married Gillian, who also survives him.
Before long Little had been approached by Philip Nicholson, an old friend and fellow former Hong Kong expatriate, to handle his first novel, Man on Fire, written under the pseudonym AJ Quinnell. It sold 7.5m copies and became a Hollywood film. Enjoying the literary work, Little began expanding, although for many years he ran the agency as little more than a hobby.
Eventually he was representing about 20 authors and in 1992 decided to jettison the recruitment agency business. Like all agents he occasionally missed an opportunity: in 2007 an enterprising Jane Austen fan sent him and other literary figures some of Austen’s works with only minor changes, only to have them rejected.
Like many of his tribe, Little was a committed bon viveur. He looked the part, with his shaggy white eyebrows, spectacles dangled round his neck on a string and silk handkerchief in his jacket pocket. Knowing that he was dying of cancer, he put great care into arranging his authors’ transition to new agents at Curtis Brown.
However, his wealth meant that he was able to splash out. On one occasion he wrote a cheque for a friend who needed a £1m loan to tide him over a business deal, guaranteeing it only with a handshake. He spent £250,000 on a 60th birthday party with more than 200 guests at Chelsea Physic Garden and at other times enjoyed being on water. ‘‘I do love sailing,’’ he once said. ‘‘But I rent the boats when I want them, it does save a lot of hassle.’’
Little remained an intensely private man, never discussing his work with Rowling, even after their split. However, speaking in 2000 he explained that Harry Potter had changed the lives of everyone associated with it. ‘‘We thought it would do well, but we never imagined we would have a success on this scale,’’ he said. ‘‘But Joanne is a consummate pro and has kept her feet on the ground.’’ – The Times