Holly Smale

“Writing can be a solitary path but with Kate I have always felt like I’m on the winning team.”

Holly is the internationally bestselling and award-winning author of teen book series Geek Girl, translated into 30 languages and now a top ten Netflix series, co-created, written and exec produced by Holly herself.

Her first adult novel, Cassandra In Reverse, was selected as a Reese Book Club pick and a Radio 2 Book Club pick.

In 2021, at the age of 39, Holly was diagnosed as autistic. Suddenly a lot of things made sense. Holly regularly shares, debates about and celebrates neurodiversity in the national press, TV and radio; on podcasts and social media.

HOLLY’S BOOKS

I Know How This Ends, Penguin/Mira, 2025; Cassandra in Reverse, Penguin/Mira, 2023; Geek Girl (10th Anniversary Edn), HarperCollins, 2023; Love Me Not (The Valentines), HarperCollins, 2021; Far From Perfect (The Valentines), HarperCollins, 2020; Happy Girl Lucky (The Valentines), HarperCollins, 2019; Forever Geek (Geek Girl 6), HarperCollins, 2017; Sunny Side Up (A Geek Girl Special), HarperCollins, 2016; Head Over Heels (Geek Girl 5), HarperCollins, 2016; All Wrapped Up (A Geek Girl Special), HarperCollins, 2015; All that Glitters (Geek Girl 4), HarperCollins, 2015; Geek Drama (for World Book Day), HarperCollins 2015; Picture Perfect (Geek Girl 3), HarperCollins, 2014; Model Misfit (Geek Girl 2), HarperCollins, 2013; Geek Girl, HarperCollins, 2013.

HOLLY’S TV CREDITS

Geek Girl - Co-creator, executive producer and writer.

REVIEWERS

“Absolutely beautiful. I didn’t want it to end.”

Beth O’Leary

“Full of joy that sings through the pages.”

Catriona Silvey

“Utterly brilliant!”

Zoe Ball

Latest Book

THE WRITER WHO MOST INSPIRED HOLLY

My love of stories was cemented at a very early age by Enid Blyton: she convinced me of the power of books, of escape, of imagination, and I knew immediately that I wanted to spend my life trying to create a little of that magic too.

HOW HOLLY BECAME KATE’S CLIENT

For Kate, I thank the alphabet. I was twenty-five, unemployed and clueless. I’d spent years writing but I was terrified and unsure. I had two manuscripts, but couldn’t find the courage to send either of them out.

So I turned it into a game. I got The Writers and Artists Yearbook and decided to “race” my manuscripts against each other: sending one from A to Z through the list of agents and the other from Z to A.

Kate worked for Aitken Alexander; my journey stopped at A.

HOLLY ABOUT KATE

It was Kate who turned me from a hopeful, idiotic upstart into a real writer. She believed in me and encouraged me to start seeing writing as a career I might genuinely have a shot at.

In the many years of working with Kate, her passion, loyalty and commitment have never flickered. Writing can be a solitary path but with Kate I have always felt like I’m on the winning team.

KATE ABOUT HOLLY

When I read the opening of Holly’s first book I had to represent her. Her brilliance is to combine laugh-out-loud wit and warmth with terrific stories, important themes and amazing characters; characters you want to be, or to love, or to love to hate, or to be related to. Holly also inspires women and girls to dream, to make great choices, and to laugh, love and maybe mess-up along the way. I’m so proud to represent Holly and to know her.