Hello all
Not much time for preamble this week (I find myself a full-time housewife all of a sudden wtf), but just to say I’m pleased to share my first interview with a literary agent. By their nature, agents tend to keep in the background in order to let their clients shine, and as a result, the way they work and make money is even more obscure. I know there is a big range of how things work for agents across the business, so if you are an agent with a different experience and would like to share with the group, do get in touch.
Also, if you had five minutes to spare, please take a look at this survey – it’s about this newsletter and what I should do with it going forward, all thoughts welcome.
INTERVIEW
How long have you worked in publishing and how much do you get paid?
I’ve worked in literary agencies for about 7 and a half years and my starting salary for my first year was about £12k. After 5 years I’d managed to double that and get to £24k – still a starting salary in a lot of jobs! Then I got headhunted and managed to negotiate a big jump to £40k – I finally feel that I’m on a salary that’s comparable to my friends outside of publishing and I’m not constantly worried about money. I also know how lucky I am and that a lot of my peers aren’t earning close to that amount – there seems to be a lot less consistency in agency pay grades. Some agents obviously work purely on commission, others get salary and then commission related bonuses, and others, like me, are just salary – I don’t get any bonuses no matter how much commission I make, which has its pros and cons.
Tell us a bit about what your job entails.
I scout out talent, help edit and refine authors’ work, send out to publishers and negotiate deals. I then look out for the author’s interests throughout the publishing process – when it comes to editorial notes, covers, royalty payments and publicity plans, and many other small issues. It’s a hugely varied job – some days spent in meetings, some days editing and reading submissions, some just firefighting in emails – I think that’s similar to a lot of jobs in publishing.
How do you feel about the amount of money you earn?
I think agents have a unique relationship with their earnings because we can see how much commission we’re making and so there’s a much more direct relationship to the value we offer our agencies. At the moment I can see my commission is roughly in-line with my salary, and I know if I want a pay rise I’ll be better able to justify that if I make more deals, which is very motivating.
It does make it very tricky when you first start out as an agent though. Advances are paid in thirds, so even if you’re making deals, it can take years for that money to come in. And authors incomes are declining at the moment, so agents are finding themselves having to do more work to earn the same amount in commission. It feels like a crowded market for new agents at the moment and it’s very tricky to break through.
This ties into the issue of salaries – it’s very hard to negotiate your salary up as an agent at the start of your career if you don’t have the commission to back it up, and unlike junior editors who (in my experience) seem to move jobs to increase their salary, it’s very tricky to move jobs as an agent. Most agencies don’t want to hire agents at the start of their career! So salaries for most young agents are very low, and often you’re kept at an assistant title until you’ve “proven yourself”, which makes it even harder to sign new clients and advance. A lot of people see going freelance as an agent as a solution to this – at least then you can take 100% of your commission if you like. But that’s only a solution for the more privileged who have the security of other income, and I think as a result we’re seeing a lot of people drop out of agenting and only the well-off managing to make it work long-term.
Do you own property?
Yes, my partner and I own a flat – admittedly, with a lot of help from my parents, as I would never have been able to save a deposit on my salary.
Do you have a pension?
I have a workplace pension but to be honest I haven’t paid it much attention!
Have you made financial sacrifices for working in books? Do you think it’s been worth it?
When I first started working in publishing, my salary was so low I had to sacrifice a lot. Some weeks I would just buy one loaf of bread and use the free fruit the office provided to make banana sandwiches for breakfast and lunch, because the cost of rent and my commute ate up all my income. At one point I was told by HR I needed to dress more smartly for my job, as my clothes had holes in – I had no money to replace them. I wouldn’t go out unless the company was paying for drinks.
I do feel it’s worth it because I absolutely love my job. I think agenting is one of the most rewarding parts of publishing – that direct relationship with the author is without doubt my favourite part of what I do. I can’t imagine doing anything else. But I also have a lot of sympathy for people who don’t think it’s worth it – and often when I meet new people who want to break into the industry, I feel like I am quite blunt about that.
What would you change about the industry, to make it fairer, if you had the power to do so?
I think there is incentive for agencies to pay their junior agents better. If we continue to see lots of new small agencies forming, it weakens agents’ negotiation power across the business – publishers can bulldoze some agencies into agreeing to less favourable terms and eventually they become the norm. It makes sense to retain and train agents well, and a lot of agents would prefer the security and camaraderie of working in a team – as long as they’re fairly compensated!
However, agencies are limited in what they can do while author earnings decrease – publishers cut advances, sell more books at higher discounts and grab more rights. I’m sure a lot of people see the large advances some authors are paid and balk, but agents are only earning 15% of these advances and the less they get paid, the more they have to sell. Investing in authors is what keeps the publishing eco-system alive – when we see publishers’ profits increasing as author income goes down, particularly during the pandemic, you can’t help but think we’re saving money that will cost us all more in the long run.
Any other comments?
If I could, I would absolutely move out of London – I would save so much money and I have never felt like a city dweller! But publishing has always felt so tied to London that hasn’t been an option. Hopefully the pandemic has changed attitudes about that – but it has always seemed ludicrous to me that an industry with such poor salaries forces employees to live in the most expensive city in the country!
Big thanks as ever to our interviewee this week.
Links
I’ve been offline a lot so all I have is another reminder re the survey and a link to support In the Read, if you can and would like to.
Also, I do freelancing editorial work with writers at all stages of their process. I am taking on about two clients per month at the moment. If you are interested, I can send you my rates and more info. You can read more about how I approach editing here.