# Christopher Little

> Mediated Wiki article. Canonical URL: https://mediated.wiki/source/Christopher_Little
> Markdown URL: https://mediated.wiki/source/Christopher_Little.md
> Source: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Christopher_Little
> Source revision: 1345844068
> License: Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 4.0 International (https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/4.0/)

**Christopher John Little** (1941 – 7 January 2021) was an English literary agent, most famous for representing [J.K. Rowling](/source/J._K._Rowling) from 1995 to 2011.

## Early life and career

Little was born in [York](/source/York) in 1941, and grew up in [Liversedge](/source/Liversedge).[1] His father, Bernard, flew [Spitfires](/source/Supermarine_Spitfire) for the [Royal Air Force](/source/Royal_Air_Force) in the [Battle of Britain](/source/Battle_of_Britain) during [World War II](/source/World_War_II) and became an officer of the [Order of the British Empire](/source/Order_of_the_British_Empire). He later became a coroner. His mother, Nancy (Pickersgill) Little, was a secretary.[1] Little left school at 16 to work for his uncle’s textile firm. He later worked for another textile company in France, and then moved to Southeast Asia, where he worked in sales. He returned to London in 1974, and founded the recruiting firm Christopher Little Consultants.[1][2]

The recruitment firm grew, but it was sold in 1992 after Little's literary agency started representing about 20 authors and became his main business.[3]

## Career as a literary agent

Little established the [Christopher Little Literary Agency](/source/Christopher_Little_Literary_Agency) in 1979 after successfully promoting the book *[Man on Fire](/source/Man_on_Fire_(Quinnell_novel))*.[2] In 1994 he represented [Anna Pasternak](/source/Anna_Pasternak), author of *Princess in Love*, about [Diana, Princess of Wales](/source/Diana,_Princess_of_Wales).[4]

In 1995, J.K. Rowling sent Little the first three chapters of *[Harry Potter and the Philosopher's Stone](/source/Harry_Potter_and_the_Philosopher's_Stone)* after choosing him from a list of literary agents.[1] Ultimately, his agency was responsible for negotiating initial publishing of [Harry Potter series](/source/Harry_Potter) with [Bloomsbury Publishing](/source/Bloomsbury_Publishing).[1]

In 2011, Rowling switched to a new agent, [Neil Blair](/source/Neil_Blair_(agent)), the copyright lawyer from Little’s firm. Little threatened to sue, but he backed off after Rowling paid him £10 million.[1][2][5]

## Personal life

Little's first marriage was to Linda Frewen in 1975. They had two children and divorced in 1987. He married his second wife, Gilly, in 2012.[2][4]

Little died from cancer on 7 January 2021, at age 79 at his home in London.[1][6]

## Legacy

J.K. Rowling after his death said in a statement: “Christopher Little was the first person in the publishing industry to believe in me. Being taken on by his agency was a huge break for an unknown writer. He represented me throughout the 10 years I published Harry Potter and, in doing so, changed my life”.[1]

[Darren Shan](/source/Darren_Shan) wrote: “If Chris believed in you, he remained loyal to you and supported you to the best of his ability.”[4]

## References

1. Risen, Clay. [Christopher Little, Who Built an Empire Around a Boy Wizard, Dies at 79](https://www.nytimes.com/2021/01/27/books/christopher-little-dead.html). *New York Times*, 27 January 2021. Retrieved 6 February 2021.

1. ["Christopher Little, literary agent who steered JK Rowling and Harry Potter to global success – obituary"](https://www.telegraph.co.uk/obituaries/2021/01/15/christopher-little-literary-agent-steered-jk-rowling-harry-potter/). *The Telegraph*. 2021-01-15. [ISSN 0307-1235](https://www.worldcat.org/issn/0307-1235). Retrieved 2025-01-11.

1. ["About The agency - Christopher Little"](http://www.christopherlittle.net/about/). *Christopher Little*. Retrieved 24 September 2020.

1. ["Christopher Little obituary"](https://www.thetimes.com/culture/books/article/christopher-little-obituary-03s3l3tgs). *www.thetimes.com*. 2021-01-12. Retrieved 2025-01-11.

1. Kirk, Tristan (2021-06-11). ["Revealed: £10m payout for Harry Potter agent after Rowling fallout"](https://www.standard.co.uk/news/uk/ps10m-payout-harry-potter-agent-jk-rowling-fallout-b940107.html). *The Standard*. Retrieved 2025-01-11.

1. Chandler, Mark. ["Agent Christopher Little dies, aged 79"](https://www.thebookseller.com/news/agent-christopher-little-dies-aged-79-1232522). *[The Bookseller](/source/The_Bookseller)*. Retrieved 11 January 2021.

---
Adapted from the Wikipedia article [Christopher Little](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Christopher_Little) by Wikipedia contributors ([contributor history](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Christopher_Little?action=history)). Available under [Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 4.0 International](https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/4.0/). Changes may have been made.