How a literary agency works

[Brian G Turner]

Here's a decent in-depth piece about the Andrew Lownie Literay Agency:
How does a literary agency sell its authors?

Even though I don't think they do SFF, there's an interesting amount of detail in the account.

One thing that really does surprise me, though, is that - unless I've misunderstood it - they pay third-parties to evaluate manuscripts, which makes their role sound more managerial than knowledge-driven.

 

[Jo Zebedee]

I think that depends on the agency - most I know of evaluate in-house.

 

[Teresa Edgerton]

Smaller agencies may operate very differently. Certainly every agent I've ever worked with did.

 

[Dan Jones]

I was under the impression Andrew Lownie was a pretty big agency? In which case it might make some sense to outsource if they are overwhelmed.

 

[Venusian Broon]

I was under the impression Andrew Lownie was a pretty big agency? In which case it might make some sense to outsource if they are overwhelmed.

From the article it states that they send out 1-2 manuscripts a day to outside experts, whoever they are, for further readings. That is after they have cut down from about 100 they receive a day from straight submission, so they are sorting the slush pile themselves. Of that 250-500 a year that they apparently highlight they only take 20. So I guess they are doing the 'easy' cut and just picking the manuscripts that on first glance look excellent. They get another opinion of someone who can take a bit of time to go in depth and then I suppose they reconvene and perhaps just concentrate on the manuscripts with the reports that came back with raving reviews?

I suppose you have to ask with those sorts of volumes, how many people would you have to employ to have the whole process in house? And perhaps more importantly have a wide and deep as possible knowledge of all genres of books? Given that book markets tend to be fickle they clearly think it's cost effective to to do some outsourcing of 'genre knowledge' to someone who is totally invested in that area. Seems reasonably sensible to me (if that's the way they do it!)

 

[Tanja Bisgaard]

Those are pretty depressing numbers - 20 authors out of 20.000 a year! I wonder if it's like that at all agencies...?

 

[Dan Jones]

Those are pretty depressing numbers

Depressing, perhaps. But not impossible...

The question you've got to ask is: are those 20 successes the result of Geniuses At Work? Or the result of graft, honing craft, learning, perseverance and a (very) thick skin?

 

[Tanja Bisgaard]

Depressing, perhaps. But not impossible...

The question you've got to ask is: are those 20 successes the result of Geniuses At Work? Or the result of graft, honing craft, learning, perseverance and a (very) thick skin?

Thank you for pointing out the positive way of looking at it!

 

[Jo Zebedee]

Those are pretty depressing numbers - 20 authors out of 20.000 a year! I wonder if it's like that at all agencies...?

Yes. short answer. As it was put to me when I got here - you're up against the formula one drivers, who have experience in subbing and writing. So, take your time, get your crits, learn the craft and climb up there with them.

The biggest mistake most writers make is trying to get stuff out there too quickly, before they really know their own processes and writing strengths. I did it, every writer I know, practically, has done it at some stage. The odds are scary but when you realise that 97% of those subs rule themselves out easily by:

Not adhering to submission guidelines
Writing a poor query letter
Opening the book in a generic fashion
Grammatical errors in the opening

You can bring yourself up to the 3-5% who will get a serious look. And then the odds are, actually, not that horrendous.

 

[Ursa major]

Those are pretty depressing numbers - 20 authors out of 20.000 a year!

And how many of those 20 get a publishing deal?

 

[Jo Zebedee]

And how many of those 20 get a publishing deal?

Ha! Indeed.... In my experience more agented authors don't get a deal than is ever known. Between being quietly dropped, to being kept on an agency's books with no sale, being agented most certainly does not equate to a deal, let alone one with a significant publisher.

 

[Tanja Bisgaard]

Yes. short answer. As it was put to me when I got here - you're up against the formula one drivers, who have experience in subbing and writing. So, take your time, get your crits, learn the craft and climb up there with them.

The biggest mistake most writers make is trying to get stuff out there too quickly, before they really know their own processes and writing strengths. I did it, every writer I know, practically, has done it at some stage. The odds are scary but when you realise that 97% of those subs rule themselves out easily by:

Not adhering to submission guidelines
Writing a poor query letter
Opening the book in a generic fashion
Grammatical errors in the opening

You can bring yourself up to the 3-5% who will get a serious look. And then the odds are, actually, not that horrendous.

OK - that makes me feel a little better - and realise just how important it is to write and write - get feedback and become better. Imagine - when I first started thinking of getting my stuff out there about a year ago, I thought I was amazing and wrote brilliantly! Bless my ignorant soul Now I know it's a craft, I need to practice, and slowly I will get better! But for sure I'm not there yet!

Thanks again for pointing that out!

And I can see the next thing I will be asking this forum about - in a few months hopefully - is how to write a good query letter!

 

[EJDeBrun]

This was very helpful.

For sure there are certain standards and that is true across every creative profession. You have to strive to be the best to even make it past the chopping block.

 

[Stephen Palmer]

100% of my 20 year professional publishing career has been done without an agent.

Just saying.

 

[Tanja Bisgaard]

100% of my 20 year professional publishing career has been done without an agent.

Just saying.

That is really impressive! 20 years!! How have you gone about marketing your books? And do you find sales are high enough to give a bit of an income?

 

[Stephen Palmer]

That is really impressive! 20 years!! How have you gone about marketing your books? And do you find sales are high enough to give a bit of an income?

I'm not really in it for the income, though that is nice when it arrives. Sales are so variable in this biz it's impossible to predict what they'll be. You never know what's going to be a hit and what a miss.

As for marketing, I do what everyone does - be part of communities, get involved in interesting online conversations, meet people, go to an occasional con; and write books that I want to write. Then I let my fans have a say… When I was with Orbit they got me lots of good promo, and my current publishers are excellent too. I still think that ultimately - even in this age of the internet - it's word of mouth that matters. If people like the Factory Girl trilogy, they will tell their friends.

 

[Tanja Bisgaard]

What a great attitude

 

[Jo Zebedee]

I'd second Stephen. I've got further without an agent than I ever did with and have a publisher already lined up to look at my next novel before it's even completed.

 

[Tanja Bisgaard]

I'd second Stephen. I've got further without an agent than I ever did with and have a publisher already lined up to look at my next novel before it's even completed.

So does that mean you contact publishers directly?

 

[Jo Zebedee]

So does that mean you contact publishers directly?

You can always contact publishers directly - most small publishers take direct subs although they may open for them only for periods. I was shocked how quickly my agent dropped from agent-only publishers to ones I could have subbed to myself.