CATHERINE MILNE

Catherine Milne has worked in publishing for many years, including with Penguin Books, Allen & Unwin, and since 2012, with HarperCollins, where she has been Head of Fiction since 2017.  Her list is eclectic, ranging across fiction and non-fiction, but consistently award-winning and bestselling. It includes such successes as Trent Dalton, Julia Baird, Holly Ringland, Meg Mason, Jacqueline Maley, Alli Parker, Jacinta Parsons, Stan Grant and Rick Morton. She’s particularly interested in crossover/commercial literary, book club and upmarket fiction and non-fiction.

What is the minimum word-count your agency or publishing house accepts? 
50-60K is the minimum, if it's a novella - but these can be hard to get across the line. For a standard novel, approx. 90K words is the norm.

Which historical sub-genres or genres are you not looking for?
I'm open to any sub-genres, although not as keen/experienced with historical fantasy as the other subgenres.

Is there a historical sub-genre you're particularly keen to see?
As above

Which historical sub-genre is your personal favourite?
I read very widely, so I'm not sure that I have a favourite...

What is your major turn-off in a book?
Bad dialogue. And the inclusion of a scene early on where the protagonist looks at themselves in the mirror and describes what they see - ugh, so clunky.

What is likely to really impress you besides an engaging voice and well-written book?
Something that always grabs my attention is when an author has a personal connection to the story in some way, or some kind of emotional connection to the story.

Any advice to your potential pitchers?
Make sure you have the right comparison titles/authors

If you could have dinner with any historical figure, who would it be and why?

The answer to this question changes on any given day, depending on mu mood, but right now, I'd love to share a Negroni with Nancy Mitford - I think she'd be gossipy, elegant, incisive, opinionated, highly amusing and possibly a little terrifying - an ideal dinner companion.