Drawn to Books
We are a small picture book Agency with big ideas. We specialize in picture books for children and illustrated books for all ages. Based in Milan, the original mission of the Agency was to package and sell editorial projects by Italian artists into the international market, but over time our mission expanded. We are now honoured to represent authors and illustrators from Italy, France, Germany, England, Ireland, Spain, Brazil, Poland, Russia, Japan, Taiwan, and the United States, selling rights worldwide.
Representing an eclectic selection of debut and award-winning authors and illustrators, our clients' books have won numerous awards and garnered starred reviews in prestigious publications.
We actively assist our clients in all phases of the editorial and publishing process, providing hands-on editorial support, art direction, and expertize in pitching projects and negotiating contracts.
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Debbie Bibo
Born in Los Angeles to a spirited Japanese mom and an unconventional American Jewish dad, I grew up in a sleepy suburb of Northern California, now the hub of the Silicon Valley. After earning a degree in Political Science at the University of California in San Diego, and working at a language school in San Francisco, I moved to Italy to teach English in 1992. While carrying on with my teaching, I enrolled in an invaluable three-year photography program at the Istituto Riccardo Bauer in Milan. My background in photography and the visual arts landed me my first job in publishing, working for the contemporary art publisher Charta, where I learned the ABCs of bookmaking and bookselling. I was fortunate to have had the opportunity to work with artists such as Marina Abramovic and Shirin Neshat. I moved on to work for the art publisher Skira, managing their international sales and distribution, and then for 5 Continents Editions where, among other things, I edited a series of books on design, co-published with the Museum of Modern Art of New York. After twelve years of publishing and two years of project management for a design studio, I founded my Agency in 2011. When asked what makes a good agent, my one-word reply is: vision.
Listen to Debbie’s conversation with Giuseppe Castellano on The Illustration Department podcast and with Alessandro Mele on Il Mondo Invisibile (in Italian only).
For the illustration on this page:
© Polina Kalashnikova
For the photos of the books:
© Luca Mariani and Alice Turchini