Wonderful news from Elina Ahlback Literary Agency: We are very happy to welcome a new agent, Eliot Baker, to our excellent team. We are growing and investing in the sales & marketing of Finnish literature abroad, with the goal being to ten-fold exports in the coming years.

Eliot started at our agency on the 9^th of November, 2020, focusing on sales in the US, UK & Commonwealth, and Asia alongside CEO Elina Ahlbäck and in collaboration with the agency’s co-agents.  Eliot is responsible for marketing & communication, including social media, newsletters, website, reviews, and catalogues in collaboration with the EALA team. Eliot has a Master’s from Boston University in Science Journalism and a B.A. from Pitzer College in Literature, sandwiching a post-Baccalaureate in pre-Medical and Health Studies from the Harvard Extension School.  Eliot charted a weird but rewarding career path from Harvard science labs and Health Newsletters to a Nantucket newsroom and on to the vibrant tech start-up scenes of Helsinki, Finland and Seattle, Washington. A published novelist like his mother, Eliot is thrilled to apply his sales & marketing skills in a field he is most passionate about, helping connect Finnish and Nordic authors with international audiences.

Join us in congratulating Eliot and welcoming him to the Elina Ahlback Literary Agency!
Contact us at: http://www.ahlbackagency.com/contact-us/

Here are all of our wonderful team members and their responsibilities:

Elina Ahlbäck
CEO & Owner, Literary Agent
Film & TV rights in collaboration with Agency’s media rights representative
Germany
U.S., UK & Commonwealth, Asian territories,  and Spain, Latin America,  Portugal

Julia Kellums
Literary Agent
Nordic Countries, the Netherlands, France, Germany (Children’s)
Scandinavian Subrights: Macmillan US Children’s & Simon & Schuster US Children’s
Social media & Communications

Toomas Aasmäe
Literary Agent 
Czech Republic, Hungary, Italy, Poland, Russia, Baltics, and Eastern & Southern Europe, world Arabic
Digital Business development

Eliot Baker
Literary Agent, Marketing Manager 
U.S., UK & Commonwealth in collaboration with Agency’s co-agents
Asian territories in collaboration with co-agencies
Marketing, Social media & Communications

Nicole Myyryläinen
Rights Coordinator
Contracts and royalties
Helsinki office administration

Co-Agents:
U.S., UK & Commonwealth: Rhea Lyons, HG Literary
China & Taiwan: The Grayhawk Agency
Japan: Japan UNI Agency, Inc.
Korea: Danny Hong Agency
Spain, Latin America, Brazil, Portugal: MB Agencia Literaria’

Worldwide Media Rights
Gudrun Giddings
Los Angeles office:
8549 Wilshire Blvd., Suite:1087
Beverly Hills, CA 90211
USA

Marketing & Communication
Marc Graser, Senior Content Strategist
Eliot Baker, Marketing Manager

FILI’s next grant application period begins on October 1st and lasts until the November 1st. It’s time to make decisions to acquire rights to our fantastic titles, and then you can immediately apply for a translation grant!

Translation grants
Up to 70% of translation costs from Finnish or Finland-Swedish can be covered by a FILI translation grant. There are 3 application periods in a year, and the fall application period is 1.10.-1.11.2020.

Printing grants
If you are publishing translations of Finnish picture books or comics, you can apply for up to 1000€ printing cost grant.
Don’t have a Finnish title in your list yet? Browse our digital rights guide and request materials.

Below are our top pics from each genre:

FICTION:

THE MOST BEAUTIFUL WORD by Emmi Pesonen

Warm, humorous and beautiful debut novel from the point of view of a stepmother. Patchwork family life, and new beginnings.

Amanda’s life is revolutionized when Onni curves into her life with a yellow minibus, four children riding along. Happiness, the laundry pile and the dish mountains grow in their new home. Everything is always lost, and the house is permanently messy, but Amanda firmly believes that love conquers all obstacles. But when Onni’s behavior starts to get weirder, she has to decide if love truly fixes everything.

NONFICTION:

THE GREATEST OF ALL IS LOVE: THE MARIMEKKO STORY by Ulla-Maija Paavilainen

The breathtaking rags-to-riches story of Marimekko’s former owner and CEO Kirsti Paakkanen, who turned the fortunes of the iconic brand around. This is the true story of how a retired businesswoman took over the practically bankrupt Finnish design house and turned Marimekko into a successful worldwide brand name.

YOUNG ADULTS:
A BEAUTIFUL DAY TO DIE by Veera Salmi

Isra has decided to die. But before that she needs to complete a rescue mission! Embark on a road trip with Isra, her friend Leo, 900 euros and a stolen sky-blue Hyundai.

Leo and Isra are not the most popular kids of their high school. They don’t have high expectations, and nobody expects much of them. So why not take a break from school – and a break from life, and try to do something meaningful before it’s all too late?

Funny, realistic and tragic story of teenagers who don’t know what they want, and are tired of trying to figure it out on their own.

MIDDLE GRADE:
Mabel Merryweather Series by Noora Kunnas, illustrated by Teemu Juhani

Book 1: Mabel Merryweather and the Miniature Pirates
Nick and Lilly’s visit to their rule-loving, child-hating uncle turns into an adventure as the children get to know their exiting, eccentric neighbor: Mabel Merryweather. Mabel and her friends are preparing for a flower arrangement competition, when the town is hit by a jeweler thief. Nick, Lilly and Mabel have their own problems as Mabel’s decorative miniature pirates have come to live and are rummaging through the backyards. And what happened to the main judge of the competition – a pop singer Monika who disappeared in the same day?  Something must be done to bring peace and order back to the town of Dalton.

Book 2: Mabel Merryweather and the King of the Thieves
In Book 2 Nick and Lilly are back at Uncle Jim’s – but that’s okay because it means more adventures with Mabel Merrywether. This time Dalton town is celebrating a local poet’s 140th anniversary, and everyone is dressed up as a character from a poem. But amongst the happy people there’s also a gentleman thief who has terrorized art museums all spring. Through many mistakes and misunderstandings Nick and Lilly help the police to catch a thief – and to teach a lesson to a grumpy literary critic.

Elina Ahlbäck Literary Agency Oy Ltd. is one of the leading literary agencies in the Nordic countries, selling Finnish and Nordic authors’ translation and media rights worldwide.  Founded in June 2009 by Elina Ahlbäck, CEO and owner, the Agency has offices in Helsinki, Amsterdam, New York and Los Angeles. The existence and brand of the Agency are well known and identified both in international markets and in Finland. In 2020, the Agency was selected among the top three literary agencies in the world and shortlisted for The 2020 International Excellence Awards at The London (Virtual) Book Fair. In 2019, the founder of the agency was selected as the Agent of the Year at the 10th Anniversary Gala of the Association of Agents and Managers in Creative Industries (AGMA).

The Agency represents authors from all Finnish publishers including over 80 active writers and illustrators with translations into more than 50 languages. Our fastest growing business area is selling stories and media rights to the Hollywood entertainment industry and to other production companies in film, TV and streaming industries. In our Agency we highly value the long-term personal contacts created with the world’s leading publishers who are great influencers in the publishing community.

We are looking for new passionate Literary Agents to join our great team and raise the pioneer of Finnish literary exports with 11 successful years to a new international level. Our goal is to ten-fold the exports of Finnish literature and to become the leading Literary Agency in Northern Europe. We offer a truly innovative, international and passionate working environment in the global publishing industry.

The Literary Agent we are looking for

• Has experience and skills in the publishing, gaming, film, TV or entertainment industries
• Has a proven record in sales, especially new business
• Has excellent communication skills & a growth mindset
• Is passionate about stories, Finnish & Nordic books and reading
• Is digitally oriented, savvy with social media with interest in growing our digital & social media presence
• Has experience in utilizing digital sales and marketing tools
• Is an agile, trustworthy team player

The appointed Literary Agent will be responsible for selling Finnish authors’ works to international publishers in specific geographical areas. Being successful in the work requires excellent cooperation with the Agency’s team, authors, international publishers and local agents. The passion for exporting Finnish literature to the world is reflected and included in the performance and sales skills of the Literary Agent, as well as in encounters with international customers, publishers and buyers. In addition to customer orientation, the Agency’s core values and brand cornerstones include: How to create buzz, excitement and momentum in selling rights to publishers and producers face-to-face as well as digitally!

”The future of agency business is here”

Please send in your application and motivation letter to rekry@ahlbackagency.com by 15^th September, 2020. In case of questions, you may call on Thursday 3^rd September at 13:00 – 15:00 at +358 400 548 402 (CEO Elina Ahlbäck). For more information, visit our website: https://www.ahlbackagency.com/