Liane-Louise Smith
Head of International Rights
After completing an MPhil in Linguistics at Cambridge University, I started my career in publishing in the contracts team at Transworld Publishers (Penguin Random House) where I learnt the nuts and bolts of the industry. I then moved into the international publishing world, starting off at Random House Children’s Books, before moving over to agenting and joining Furniss Lawton in 2012. In 2019, I became Rights Director at the Madeleine Milburn Literary Agency where I was shortlisted for Rights Professional of the Year in 2020.
I am passionate about languages and storytelling and believe there should never be barriers between books and their readers. I love working in the international publishing world for this reason and always delight in seeing authors’ work travel around the world.
When not sharing books with international colleagues, I can be found dancing or singing jazz, or learning about the intricacies of the Finnish case system! I speak French, Spanish and Italian, am currently learning Portuguese and Norwegian, and always eager to add to the list!
