Are you a writer, keen to submit to a literary agent but are daunted by the prospect?

It can be scary, exposing yourself to criticism and (often the inevitable) rejection, but it can reap huge rewards. Literary agents are gateways to avenues that can’t be accessed by publication any other way. From their role as skilled editors to contract-wrangling gurus, agents are an important and vital part of the traditional book publishing journey.

I’ve worked with my agent – Ed Wilson at Johnson & Alcock – for over five years now (I had to check through this blog to actually remember how long it’s been!) and in that time we’ve worked on three novels together, and a few other projects too (which I can hopefully share one day soon).

Being a naturally nosy person, I’m always keen to find out more about how the agenting game works, and I thought some of my blog followers might be interested too. So I sat down with Ed to ask a few questions about his day to day role, his top tips for authors, and what to avoid in your submissions.

Hello Ed! So, how did you get into the agenting game?

No great genesis myth for me, I’m afraid.

Straight out of University, I interned at various agencies and publishers for a year or so, before eventually jamming my foot in the door of a publisher. A senior editor suggested my skillset was better suited to agenting than working for a publisher – not, I later realised, intended as a compliment – and so I ended up back at Johnson & Alcock, where I’d interned previously. And here I am, 18 years later, as director and co-owner.

What’s the typical day in the life of a literary agent?

Fairly standard: a morning reading on the chaise longue, while my assistant feeds me grapes. Then I head to Dukes for a midday Martini, followed by lunch at the Wolseley – sometimes the Dover Sole, sometimes a chop or two – and a gentle afternoon snoozing back on the chaise longue. It’s exhausting.

(Sadly, those days are gone. Did they ever exist? Probably not…)

My job, like most others, involves a lot of emails. I try to do as much of my work face-to-face as possible, but most of the nitty-gritty – contracts, invoices, royalty statements – involve sitting at a computer. Very dull. The agency has a real sense of community, and we discuss ideas and authors constantly. It’s an open plan office and we’re rarely quiet. But the tap tap tap of fingers on keys is the constant background noise.

I have a very full client list, and managing them takes up all my time. Between selling UK and US rights, translation (handled by our fabulous Head of Rights, Hélène Butler), and fielding film and TV interest, the day rapidly disappears. I represent both living authors and literary estates, and each client has their own challenge. At any given time, I’m probably developing anything between two and ten ideas – be they proposals, samples or manuscripts – which is as much as my tiny brain can handle.

Most of my reading (both submissions and existing authors) takes place outside office hours. In the evenings there are occasional book launches and parties, especially around the Book Fairs (London in April, Frankfurt in October). It is a job that expands beyond the normal working day, but we all have lives and try to accommodate that. We support flexible working, try to be understanding that people have lives, and families, and needs outside the office, and we trust our staff to be in the right place to do the job they need to do.

And for the record, I’ m not actually a fan of Dukes – and I’d take a Negroni over a Martini any day (if you’re buying).

What makes an agent take notice of one submission over another?

The volume of submissions we receive is extraordinary, especially post-lockdown. Sometimes 70-100 a week. Please remember that when berating the slowness of agents! We would love to respond to everything within a week, but it’s simply not practical. We are humans too.

There isn’t one thing that can make a book stand out: just some magical combination of talent, concept, approach, and timing. And then the writing has to be up to scratch, obviously. And don’t forget the other factor: a bit of luck…

How do numbers of book submissions compare to the numbers of authors that get taken on by literary agents?

The reality is that I take on very few authors. But that rule is made to be broken.

The difficult thing to communicate (without depressing everyone) is that the volume of submissions is wickedly high, while the number of authors we take on is very, very low. That’s the reality of it. As I say above, I regularly receive up to 100 manuscripts a week and my colleagues get the same number. Some of those are duplicates – so people who blind copy in everyone at the agency – which we disregard.

And those are just the blind submissions, the unsoliciteds, the so-called Slush Pile. We also get recommendations from colleagues and authors, attendees from talks we’ve done, people we’ve been mentoring , and books from our existing authors.

Consider that, and the fact that I maybe take on a maximum of 2-3 clients a year now. Some agents might take on a couple more, and some will take on none. But the hit rate is really low. Authors need to play the game, to submit to multiple agents, to keep going. You do need to persevere. Try to target agents earlier in their careers, they’re likely to have more time/space on their lists. Don’t just go for the big names. Be creative.

What is the decision-making process when taking on a new author?

Due to my list being relatively static, I’m basically on the lookout for something I’ve never seen before.

There’s no point in me duplicating authors, so if I have someone writing (for example) a crime series set in the North East of England, I’m not going to sign another writer who does that. (Actually, crime and regional crime in particular is really a big area. So, find an area that hasn’t already got a good crime series and go for that…)

It might be tempting to think that if an agent represents an author who does the same type of book as you’re writing, they’ll take you on. But that’s not necessarily the case. Understand what you write and how it’s different to other authors and make that clear when you submit.

And what should writers NOT be doing in their submissions?

I try not to focus on the negatives, but most of it comes down to the same advice. You’ve got to know what your book is, and not make easy mistakes that might put an agent off. Be clear, calm and professional.

Follow the submission guidelines on the agent’s website. Be clear about what you’re pitching, and why you’re sending it to that agent. A surprising number of authors don’t know what their book is –even down to whether it’s fiction or non-fiction – and you need to have this worked out before you start querying. Where will your book sit in a bookshop? Which authors/books do you see your book alongside?

Try to understand where your book fits into the market. And then be able to convey a sense of this to the agent they’re querying. You need to be able to give a short elevator pitch – not because you’re actually going to get stuck in an elevator with a major publisher – but because we are all time-poor, and it’s a useful skill to be able to distill the essence of your book quickly. If you genuinely can’t answer the question ‘What is your book about?’ then you have a problem…

Keep your query letter short and to the point. And don’t worry so much about the synopsis. Authors tie themselves in knots ! It’s a tool. All you’re trying to do is entice the person you’re talking to into reading your book. The majority of your time should be spent on the book itself, not the submission package.

And since it’s so easy to self-publish, why should an author still work with a literary agent?

Indie publishing is a huge part of the wider industry now, especially in the digital space. I think most of the snobbery has gone, and for me it was never there in the first place. It’s just a different route to market, and an equally valid one.

I work with a number of indie authors in a hybrid capacity (that is, they self-publish one series, I sell another to a publisher) and I’m always open to more. But there are places you need an agent, and a publisher, to reach. Bookshops in particular, and access to the kind of mainstream sales, marketing and publicity channels. Similarly with translation rights, film/TV – it’s harder (although not impossible) to make headway if you’re an indie author, whereas this is part and parcel of what an agent does for you.

Any top tips for writers seeking literary representation?

One useful exercise is to go to a big bookshop near you – it could be an independent, or Waterstones, or Blackwells, or wherever – and ask yourself: “ Where does my book go? Which section of the shop would someone find it in?”

Just remember that the industry is run by categories. I sell a book to a specific editor, who works for an imprint that specialises in a particular genre as part of a bigger publisher. T hat publisher sells it to the trade, and then into bookshops, who have different buyers for different categories/genres. Those buyers will then have to decide what shelf it’ll go on. It’s that specific. Amazon creates sub categories, and sub-sub categories, and sub-sub-sub categories. Don’t be fooled. Bricks and mortar bookselling is what makes a bestseller. Go to a bookshop and work out where your book will go, and see what books are there already. Read the blurbs. Check the acknowledgements and see who the agents/editors are. That’s how you start out.

Another top tip is to make sure that your material is genuinely ready to go. Don’t send out an e-mail and then send me another a couple of days later, with attachments that you’ve forgotten or a manuscript that’s had further edits. There’s a useful flowchart on my profile page on our website that helps writers to work out if they’re really, really, really, really ready to submit.

I suppose my final tip is perseverance! Don’t sent it to a couple of agents and then give up after one rejection. You’ve got to keep going…

And finally, are you open for submissions right now? And if so, what sort of books or authors are you looking for?

Always!

As ever, I’m looking for something fresh and new. At the moment, I’ve got a lot of exceptional fantasy, so maybe I need less of that. I’d love to see some Sci-Fi, I think space opera is going to make a comeback. I’ve been flirting with horror a bit lately, so I’m looking out for that, too.

I don’t represent a huge amount of literary fiction, but it’s something that I’ve always loved. I’m always up for authors who are doing something genuinely new and exciting with language.

To be honest, what I’d really love is a crime series that surprises me. I’ve got some brilliant crime writers, but I haven’t recently been sent a new crime series that is high concept and totally mind-blowing. And maybe a bit weird. So yes, basically I’d love to see an original, weird crime series. Like The X-Files in novel format, with good pace and tight writing and a great understanding of police procedurals. Structure and content aligned in perfect harmony.

I did an interview like this years ago and said ‘Send me Pirate books’ – and then about a thousand authors sent me Pirate books. Please stop sending me Pirate books. Well, unless they’re really good.

Thank you, Ed!

If you’d like to find out more about the sort of thing Ed looks for in submissions, visit his profile page on the Johnson & Alcock site. Alternatively, follow him on Twitter!