The Greenhouse Literary Agency – the transatlantic children’s agency run by former Macmillan UK Children’s Publishing Director Sarah Davies and owned by Working Partners – has appointed Julia Churchill to grow the British side of the business.

Churchill was formerly an agent with the Darley Anderson Agency in London where she built a strong reputation for spotting new talent in the children’s fiction area.

The Greenhouse launched in January 2008 following Davies’s move to the USA. Based in Washington DC and London, and representing both American and British writers, the agency specializes in fiction for children and teens (though not picture books at the moment).

It has had a string of successes through its first year with seven debut authors sold, several of them at auction. Among these have been major U.S. deals for Sarwat Chadda‘s The Devil’s Kiss and Lindsey Leavitt‘s Princess for Hire (both to Hyperion, Fall 2009 and Spring 2010 respectively). Other novels have been sold to Clarion, Farrar Straus and Egmont USA.

Davies attributes much of this success to the Greenhouse’s commitment to working editorially with authors before submission.

Sarah Davies says: “The Greenhouse’s first year has been a fabulous journey, and I’ve loved discovering, developing and selling fresh talent on both sides of the Atlantic. I’m very proud that even before its first anniversary, Greenhouse has the platform to grow. Julia Churchill is a talented and creative agent, plus she’s got the skills to work closely with authors in developing their material and helping them reach their full potential – something that has become a trademark of the Greenhouse. Her appointment will enable me to focus even more on the U.S. market, knowing that Julia is out there building our British stable of authors.”

Chris Snowdon of Working Partners says: “We could not be happier with Greenhouse’s first year, and are delighted Julia will be joining the team in January. We are well on track to achieve our goal of becoming the agency of choice for children’s authors on both sides of the Atlantic.”