how I became one (and you can too) (although you should know that not all personality types jibe wit
What is it like to be a literary agent?
Would I be good at doing the work of a literary agent?
Would I enjoy being a literary agent?
How does one get started at being a literary agent?
Even more so, however, it’s for me, me, me.
People email me questions like this about 2-3 times a week. Some are college and MFA students; others are editors, writers, and people from entirely different careers who want to defect to Team Publishing. And I love to see it! It’s an honor to lower the ladder and welcome more people to this line of work.
Yes, and: my clients are my first priority when I’m on the clock. And also, I have three children. And also, I am on the board of two nonprofits I care about deeply. And ha ha ha I’m losing my mind.
Which is all to say that I no longer have the bandwidth to offer individuated informational-interview emails or coffees to aspiring agents. But I CAN write this impersonal newsletter and send it in link form in the future when people come a-knockin’! ::sad jazz hands::
I’m writing this in hopes that it’s interesting to those of you not interested in becoming agents as well — provided you’re at least interested in how we tick.
If you subscribe to this newsletter and/or are at the point of asking agents for informational interviews, I imagine you’re beyond needing to know what a literary agent is.
In case I’m wrong, here in brief is the answer I give my relatives at Thanksgiving when they ask me, “what kind of books do you publish?”
Ha ha, I don’t actually publish anything. I’m more like a talent agent in Hollywood, but not in Hollywood and just for people who write books. I spend most of my time helping my authors put together the most commercial possible permutations of whatever books they want to write. I also pitch them to editors at major publishing houses, solicit deal offers, negotiate contracts, monetize their ancillary rights, troubleshoot their problems, and advise them on long-term career strategy. In exchange, I get 15% of their book income.
OK, so that’s the big-picture job description. Now let’s get into the next-level stuff.
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