THE COOKE AGENCY ANNOUNCES FORMATION OF THE COOKE AGENCY INTERNATIONAL— McCLELLAND & STEWART and RANDOM HOUSE OF CANADA FIRST TWO CLIENTS

Dean Cooke, President and co-owner of The Cooke Agency, and Vice President and co-owner Sally Harding, announced today the creation of a new company, The Cooke Agency International, to sell foreign rights on behalf of Canadian publishers and literary agencies. The first clients of The Cooke Agency International are McClelland & Stewart Ltd. and Random House of Canada Limited.

The Cooke Agency International will operate as a separate and distinct company from The Cooke Agency, one of Canada's leading literary agencies representing bestselling and award-winning authors from Canada and around the world including Guy Vanderhaeghe, Richard Wright, John Irving, and Sarah Waters. The Cooke Agency International will have its own offices, to be housed at 366 Adelaide Street East, Toronto, and will be overseen on a daily basis by Subsidiary Rights Director Suzanne Brandreth. Dean Cooke and Sally Harding will work on behalf of both companies, as will Mary Hu, Literary Assistant. Additional staff members will be announced in the coming weeks.

Regarding the genesis for this new business, Dean Cooke said, "In speaking to various publishers, it is clear that there are challenges in maintaining a foreign rights business, and that changes were imminent in the way publishers handle this business. We're all getting on the same planes to go to the same places to sell a handful of titles. This is an area where success and strength can best be leveraged by a list of titles with greater range and depth. The Cooke Agency International, in particular Suzanne Brandreth, has excellent contacts with foreign publishers and already works with co-agents around the world selling a broad range of titles and genres for both the adult and children's market. There seemed to be an opportunity to represent publishers' and agents' lists in a more efficient and effective way."

McClelland & Stewart President and Publisher Doug Pepper commented, "I have known Dean for years and worked with The Cooke Agency for close to two decades and couldn't be happier with this new alignment. This agency has very strong international connections and their service to their authors is exemplary. I believe that together, McClelland & Stewart and The Cooke Agency International will make a profound impact on exporting the best of Canadian literature."

"The Cooke Agency International will be very effective with the strength of the list they will be representing internationally, which we believe will be mutually advantageous," said Brad Martin, President and CEO of Random House of Canada.

The Cooke Agency, a wholly-Canadian owned literary agency with offices in Toronto and Vancouver, represents over 100 fiction, non-fiction and children's writers. Established in 1992 by Dean Cooke, in 2007 the agency merged with The Harding Agency, and is now co-owned by Sally Harding.