All about literary agents: how I became one (and you can too) (although you should know that not all personality types jibe with the job)
I get a lot of questions from aspiring literary agents and the agent-curious, eg: how did I fall into this career? What would I advise someone considering a similar path now? Here's what I say.
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?
If you’ve ever asked yourself one of these questions, this week’s newsletter is for you.
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.
I’m not going to spend too much time here on what literary agents are.
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.