The BKS Agency

What The BKS Agency does

The BKS Agency is a London-based literary management agency founded in 2018 that represents well over 100 authors globally, selling rights across domestic, foreign, audio, film, and television markets. Its core offering is author representation: agents acquire clients via open submissions segmented by genre, negotiate publishing deals on their behalf, and co-sell subsidiary rights through a network of publisher and agency partnerships including Absurd Ventures, DunnFogg Agency, l'Archipel (Editis group), and The Accidental Agency. The agency's roster spans fiction (crime, thriller, speculative/literary, SF, horror, graphic novels) and non-fiction (business, psychology, science, health, history, politics, biography, sport, travel, music, and neurodiversity), with authors that include Sunday Times bestsellers, Olympic athletes, actors, and thought leaders.

The business is operated by a team of five agents and an assistant, structured around genre-specialized principals. The three founders—Jessica Killingley (Managing Director), Jason Bartholomew (Rights Director, also CEO of parent Midas Group), and James Spackman—each spent over 20 years in-house at major publishing houses (Hachette UK, Penguin Random House, Hachette Book Group USA, Bloomsbury, Profile Books). Joanna Kaliszewska joined in 2021 as Rights Director and Agent, and Caroline Adams joined in 2026 as assistant. The agency is part of the Midas Group, an award-winning cultural communications agency with offices in London and New York, and is a member of the Association of Author's Agents. BKS also positions itself as neuro-affirmative and has published guides for neurodivergent authors.

The agency earns revenue through commissions on author deals, the standard model for literary representation, with no publicly disclosed pricing. Customer segments are authors (the primary represented client base) and publishing counterparties (partners to whom co-selling rights services are delivered). Marketing is conducted through the agency's website, direct submissions, author referrals, and industry networks. Adjacent offerings include The AUTHORity Blueprint, a self-study programme on self-publishing non-fiction. There is no proprietary technology platform, no AI/ML capability, and no disclosed funding or external ownership.

Name

The BKS Agency

Legal name

The bks Agency

Website

https://thebksagency.com

Company type

Private

Founded year

2018

Operating status

Operating

Headcount range

1–10 employees

Short description

The BKS Agency is a London-based literary management agency founded in 2018 that represents over 100 authors globally, selling rights across domestic, foreign, audio, and film/TV markets. It is part of the Midas Group and operates with a team of five agents plus an assistant.

Ownership category

akta.pro rank

Product category

Literary Agency Services

NAICS

Book Publishers (51313), Book Publishers (513130)

SIC

Books: Publishing Or Publishing & Printing (2731)

akta.pro primary industry

Rights, ISBN & Publishing Administration Services (Identifiers, Metadata, Royalties) (MPAJAJAK)

Keywords

• Literary management
• Author representation
• Rights sales
• Book publishing services
• Literary agency

Headquarters

HQ city

London

HQ country

United Kingdom

HQ region

Europe

Offices1 record

Markets served

GTM type

B2B

Offering type

Services

Cost components

Personnel, Operations, Marketing or Sales

Revenue model

1. Author Representation and Rights Commissions: The agency earns commission from representing authors and selling their rights across domestic, foreign, audio, film & television markets. They work with publishers and agencies to sell rights on behalf of their authors and partner publishers/agencies.

Go-to-market motion2 records

Distribution channels1 record

Marketing channels4 records

Core offering

The BKS Agency is a London-based literary management agency that represents over 100 authors and sells their rights across domestic, foreign, audio, film, and television markets worldwide. The agency works closely with authors to support their writing careers and collaborates with publishers and partner agencies to help books reach their full potential. The agency also offers a self-study online programme, The AUTHORity Blueprint, covering how to write and self-publish a non-fiction personal development book.

Product overview

The BKS Agency is a London-based Literary Management Agency founded in 2018 that operates as a single, unified service offering. Rather than a software platform, the agency's core products consist of author representation services, rights sales (domestic, foreign, audio, film & television), and manuscript submissions evaluation. The agency represents over 100 authors including Sunday Times bestsellers, Olympic athletes, actors, musicians, and thought leaders across fiction and non-fiction genres. Additionally, The AUTHORity Blueprint is offered as a self-study online programme on how to write and self-publish a non-fiction personal development book. The agency also produces guides such as the Neurodivergent Non Fiction Authors Rights Guide and the Guide to the Publishing Industry for Neurodivergent Authors.

Differentiator

Problem solved

Functional benefit

Named customers2 records

Segments1 record

Ideal customer profiles2 records

Technology focussed No

API detail

Has API

No

API docs

API detail

Core technology

AI maturity

App detail

Partnerships

Six partnerships are on record, tiered core and minor.

• Absurd VenturescoreStrategic or Co-development PartnerThe agency partners with Absurd Ventures to sell rights on their behalf. Absurd Ventures is a storytelling-driven entertainment company developing original IP universes.
• DunnFogg AgencycoreStrategic or Co-development PartnerThe agency partners with DunnFogg Agency to sell rights on their behalf. Film & TV rights for some represented authors are handled through DunnFogg Agency.
• l'ArchipelcoreStrategic or Co-development PartnerThe agency partners with French publisher l'Archipel (part of Editis group) to sell rights on their behalf.
• The Accidental AgencyminorStrategic or Co-development PartnerThe agency partners with The Accidental Agency to sell rights on their behalf.
• Midas GroupcoreOthersThe bks Agency is part of the Midas Group, a communications group with offices in London and NY. Midas provides bespoke PR, social and marketing campaigns for arts and publishing clients.
• Association of Author's AgentsminorOthersThe agency is a member of the Association of Author's Agents, endorsing the principles in the Association's Code of Practice.

Scale indicators2 records

Recent moves7 records

Expansion highlights5 records

Broad incumbents

• WME (William Morris Endeavor): Global talent and literary agency representing authors across publishing, film, TV, and podcasts. Operates with a much broader portfolio and far greater scale, but overlaps directly in book publishing rights and book-to-screen representation.

Others

• Watkins (Osprey Group): Publishing division of the Osprey Group focused on personal development and wellness titles. Comparable because James Spackman, a BKS founder, was previously MD of Watkins, making it a relevant adjacent reference point for the agency's strategic positioning.
• Profile Books: Independent UK publisher connected to The BKS Agency through James Spackman, who was previously Publisher of Pursuit (Profile's cycling imprint). Represents a downstream counterparty in the agency's value chain rather than a direct competitor.
• Midas Group: Parent company of The BKS Agency, providing bespoke PR, social, and marketing campaigns for arts and publishing clients. Operates as the parent and provides shared services and capability, including through Jason Bartholomew (CEO of both).

Direct peers

• Curtis Brown: One of the UK's largest and oldest literary and talent agencies, representing authors across fiction and non-fiction with global rights sales. Directly comparable as a UK-based literary agency selling domestic, foreign, and subsidiary rights, although significantly larger and more established.
• AM Heath & Co: London-based literary agency with a long history of representing authors across fiction and non-fiction. Direct UK peer with similar commission-based model and rights sales across domestic and foreign markets.
• Andrew Nurnberg Associates: International literary agency specializing in selling translation and subsidiary rights on behalf of authors and publishers worldwide. Directly comparable focus on foreign rights, which is a core element of The BKS Agency's offering through partners like l'Archipel.
• United Agents: Major London-based literary agency representing authors in fiction, non-fiction, and across all rights categories. Closely comparable to The BKS Agency in business model and genre breadth, though substantially larger and with a much longer history.
• Janklow & Nesbit: Prestigious New York and London literary agency representing authors of fiction and non-fiction and selling rights globally. Comparable in its focus on quality author rosters and multi-territory rights sales, though based primarily in the US.
• David Higham Associates: Long-established UK literary agency offering author representation across fiction and non-fiction with global rights sales. Direct competitor in the same London market with overlapping genre coverage and similar commission-based model.

Market position

Strengths5 records

Weaknesses5 records

Competitive moat4 records

Key risks5 records

Key highlights6 records

Customer concentration

• LinkedInlinkedin.com/company/the-bks-agency

Revenue estimate

Valuation estimate

Number of profiles

Profiles5 records

Funding overview

Funding rounds

Investors

Funding detail is available on the Subscription and Enterprise plan.Contact sales →

M&A

Investments

M&A and investment is available on the Subscription and Enterprise plan.Contact sales →

Frequently asked questions about The BKS Agency