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Blackberry Interview
Posted on 14 July 2006. © Copyright 2004-2008 WriteWords
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WriteWords talks to Barbara Gorna, of newly formed literary agency Blackberry
Tell us all about Blackberry; recent history, ethos, list etc
Barbara Gorna is a co-founder of Redhammer, whose client list included Audrey Eyton, Justin Wintle, and Donald Trelford, amongst others. Blackberry was started after her split with Redhammer. Clients include Balraj Khanna, Paul McMullen, Fiona Ross, David Phillips. Working in tandem with Blake Friedmann, she believes that new media means that both film and literary intellectual rights should be exploited in the best way for the writer.
How do you find writers?
We are a small agency and prefer to work with previously published authors, and develop their talent.
What excites you about a piece of writing-
It’s a bit like a camel, hard to describe but you know one when you see one. As a screenwriter myself I recognise the ‘magic’ you need to pull the reader into the story and keep them reading on.
and what makes your heart sink?
Bad presentation; bad spelling; ignoring guidelines. Writing that is too ‘detached’; or overwritten and flowery.
 Comments by other Members
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Posted by :
 Dee at 12:10 on 15 July 2006
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Best wishes with the new venture, but what a shame your doors are closed to unpublished writers… excludes most of WW membership.
Dee
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Posted by :
 Gulliver at 14:57 on 15 July 2006
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| WriteWords talks to Barbara Gorna |
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Well, Barbara Gorna doesn't seem to want to talk to us. If we can't find people in the industry who are prepared to make the effort to encourage writers, why waste webspace on them?
There's nothing new here. And, by the way, it's very easy to describe a camel! It's big, with a long neck and one or two humps on its back. It stinks from both ends and has a tendency to spit when annoyed.
Is it time for my close-up now, Mr Demille?
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Posted by :
Anj at 18:51 on 15 July 2006
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| We are a small agency and prefer to work with previously published authors, and develop their talent. |
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Hardly going out on a limb. Ah well, I don't suppose everyone can, unlike us unpublished writers every day of our lives until we're published enough for someone to be interested enough to develop us ...
Andrea
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Posted by :
 Anna Reynolds at 19:16 on 15 July 2006
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I think, however, that Blackberry would be a good place to go if you have been published by a small press or are unhappy with a present agency and are looking for someone keen to make their mark- that's why we interviewed them. WW is home to all sorts of authors/writers at all different stages of their writing careers, and it is possible that a really great pitch might get through- presumably Barbara Gorna would not have been so happy to be interviewed otherwise.
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Posted by :
CarolineSG at 18:27 on 16 July 2006
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No offence to anyone concerned here, but I did kind of think this was a bit of a non-interview. Doesn't really warrant being highlighted on the usually excellent Writewords home page. Anna, have to be honest here - it doesn't sound as though she was keen to be interviewed!
(slinks away, wondering whether this is too controversial!)
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Posted by :
PantsonFire at 13:02 on 17 July 2006
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I don't think that was too harsh Caroline. After all, that last line
| Re-write; re-write; re-write and listen to your publishing editor |
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actually made me laugh out loud.
Pretty poor interview by the usually high WW standards
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Posted by :
Anna Reynolds at 14:13 on 17 July 2006
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Like I say- WW has lots of different writers at all stages of their careers; agencies who are actively wanting new unpublished authors are very rare. We highlight all interviews on the home page, as standard, and Barbara Gorna was very happy to be interviewed. Can't really say much more than that- this isn't supposed to be interview of the year, guys, simply a way of giving as much info about a company/indidivual as they want to reveal.
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Posted by :
CarolineSG at 18:17 on 17 July 2006
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Fair dos, Anna. Was just so short!
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