At a time when more and more owners of literary agencies are using the sale of their firms to large companies as their exit strategy, David Black has opted for an internal approach for the sale of his eponymous agency, selling it to Sarah Smith, who has spent 14 years at the David Black Literary Agency.

Black told PW while he still intends to remain active in the agency, including continuing to work with his clients, he said it was time to bring in new leadership. “Many of the people I grew up with are aging out of the business,” Black said. “If the agency is going to continue, it needs to grow.” To achieve that growth, Black said it is important that the agency be led by someone who has grown up with the generation that will soon be leading publishing. While Black said he has no “end date” dictating when he will step away from the agency, he said it is crucial “to create a path forward.”

Smith said doing the transition will now allow her to take over day-to-day management and business strategy duties, “while David is still on top of his game.” Smith’s immediate plan to grow the 11-person agency, which focuses on working with nonfiction authors, calls for adding an agent dedicated to working with fiction authors. “With the foundation we have, there is no reason we can’t grow” in fiction, Smith said.

Smith said she is grateful that Black chose to entrust the future of the agency to her rather than sell to a conglomerate, something Smith and Black agreed would not be in the best interests of those working at DBLA or for its approximately 300 clients. Becoming part of a bigger company would make it harder for DBLA’s agents to give authors the type of attention they get from a smaller firm, Black said.

Smith said she sees “eye to eye” with Black “on the ethics and values of the way he does business and of his client advocacy and aggressive dealmaking” and plans to continue that tradition forward. “The level of attention and advocacy clients receive will not change,” Smith stressed. In addition to adding another agent, Smith’s initial focus will be on shoring up relationships with publishing-adjacent colleagues, such as those in Hollywood and overseas.

While some industry veterans lament how publishing has changed, Smith noted that she began her career during the panic over e-books and the impact of the Great Recession. “What I’ve learned is that there is always something someone is freaking out about,” Smith said. “I’ve learned to roll with the punches and embrace the challenges of the day.”

Despite the change in ownership, Smith said, the mantra of DBLA will remain “maximizing value while making the best match possible.”