Wow! This very well written piece brings home the pressures that are on an agent. It must be quite overwhelming at times.
I really want to find an agent, and subsequently a publisher, for my next novel. As this article points out, pushing sales is very difficult for the self-published, and I am quite proud that I’ve made it to over 600 copies sold of my first novel, “Eleven Miles.” Even though I get great reviews for this book, it takes a lot of effort to sell each copy. If I can get myself a good agent for the next one, life should be easier; in theory.
I’ve got a copy of the Writers and Artists Yearbook 2017 sitting on my shelves, but even when one is so well equipped, it is difficult to get the hunt started.
Reading Jessica’s article has worried me even more. I can see another perspective on this and I am beginning to wonder if I should add to the obvious burdens that these agent carry by pushing my writing their way. But I suppose that’s what they are there for.
By the way, I love the title of this blog post! Thank you Jessica.
Agent X stretched after a poor night’s sleep. She really ought to get more exercise…spend less time staring at screens…eat more sensibly.
But a new day beckoned. She had a fascinating submission to read – she’d requested the full ms after tearing through the first three chapters and was looking forward to finding out what happened next. She wasn’t entirely sure how to place it, but the writing was so good and the premise so original, she was expecting competitive bids from several publishers. If, of course, another agent didn’t snap it up first, like the author she’d been slightly too slow to respond to last year who ended up with a six figure advance.
Her existing authors were clamouring too. There might be answers to their questions among the 112 new emails in her inbox. She made coffee, cut a crisp pear into safely unsticky wedges and took them…
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