Folio Literary Management has acquired Harold Ober Associates, a full-service literary agency founded in 1929 that has represented some of the literary titans of the 20th century, including F. Scott Fitzgerald, William Faulkner, Agatha Christie and J.D. Salinger.
President of Harold Ober Associates, Phyllis Westberg, said the merger is "a perfect pairing of the traditional and the new." And Jeff Kleinman, a founding partner at Folio, said the acquisition brings his firm "the legacy of an eminent institution in the history of American publishing."
Folio has 20 literary agents and represents more than 1,000 authors with a number of Nobel Laureates, celebrities, Newbery winners and Caldecott medalists among its clients. A spokesperson for Folio said that with the sale, Westberg will be retiring, along with Ober agent Craig Tenney. Three Ober agents will be joining Folio full-time: Dan Laventhall, Karen Gormandy, and Alex Smithline.
Kleinman added that the deal will, he hopes,will bring "the Harold Ober heritage to new heights and connect the agency’s outstanding authors with new generations of readers."
Note: This story has been updated from its original form to reflect addition details about the acquisition.
