‘The Bookseller’ magazine reported on 20 September 2022 that Editor Imogen Gordon Clark, at HarperCollins, had “acquired world rights in all languages” to the imminent first biography of new prime minister Liz Truss, directly from the authors-The Sun’s political editor Harry Cole and The Spectator’s diary editor James Heale. The original title of ‘Out of the Blue: The Inside Story of Liz Truss and Her Explosive Rise to Power’, due to be published on 8 December, had to be amended in the light of Truss’s rapid political demise on 20 October. The word ‘explosive’ was replaced by ‘astonishing’, amendments will follow, and another chapter is to be added. It also seems appropriate that the word ‘rise’ be qualified by the phrase ‘rise and fall’ instead. Earlier in the month, a second Truss biography in the making, by veteran Conservative biographer Lord Ashcroft, was also announced-the purpose being to analyse her “first year” as prime minister, which should not take much further effort. The speed of the publication process of the first biography, bypassing literary agents, demonstrated that the alacrity with which publishers take on books to publish may have something to do with the celebrity status of either the subject, in this case Britain’s third female prime minister and 56th post holder, as well as of the authors, in this instance high-profile journalists with leading periodicals. It must, however, also be reiterated that publishers don’t always get it right, occasionally squandering substantial amounts in advances on books that are either never completed or fail to deliver after their eventual publication. After all, public tastes can be fickle and, at times, difficult to predict, especially when relevant events progress at such lightning speed.
Most of the time, overwhelmed mainstream publishers, spoiled for choice, discourage direct overtures from prospective writers, forcing them to turn to gatekeepers, in the form of literary agents, to control the inflow of potentially publishable material. The Big Five publishers (Hachette, HarperCollins, Macmillan, Penguin Random House, and Simon & Schuster) are particularly fussy and thus closed to direct submissions from members of the public, relying on the instincts of their own editors and the judgements and recommendations of literary agents instead. In addition, they benefit from in-house acquisitions meetings, during which strategies for publicity, sales projections, and the possibility of international and subsidiary rights can be explored before definitely committing to projects.
Literary agents are particularly busy people, as they will frequently remind you on their websites, and usually specialise in certain genres, either fiction or non-fiction and sometimes even both, or may cater only for certain age groups of readers. Their business model revolves around a near-infinite supply of authors and a much more restricted demand, in the form of publishers willing to invest in both established as well as novice authors. The process is initiated with a “query letter”, many examples of good practice being available from agents’ websites. The steady supply of material in response to their welcoming invitations means that they soon build up “slush piles”, which grow larger and faster the busier they already are. The process may turn into a problem of waste management, requiring liberal use of the delete button or a period when the agent is closed to further submissions while a systematic trawl through the stagnating pile can take place.
Rejections, which are by far the commonest response from literary agents, may be received as a standardised rejection template, a more personalised rejection, or, most often, generate no reply at all. Feedback is usually not provided to would-be authors, who have to cast their nets wider in the hope that there may find an agent who sees some merit in their work as much as they themselves do. Luckier submitters may either be accepted outright, which is unusual, or may be advised to revise and resubmit their offerings before they are deemed suitable. On rare, and fabled occasions, a submission from an unknown, and frequently struggling, author happens to be casually picked up by an agent, who senses the making of a great publication from the very opening lines and has an ecstatic experience while delving through the submission, only to pick up the phone in haste and offer a contract on the spot, and another blockbuster is destined to be born. Once an author is signed on, it is essentially a business relationship, albeit with a developmental component, in which the agent does the round of publishers, hoping to secure the best contractual terms for their client, which are designed to maximise the financial rewards from the publication-to-be.
It would be wrong to assume that the main raison d’être for literary agents is to identify new talent, without considering marketability. The primary motivation for most agents, except for those with secure personal finances, has to be the 15 per cent commission they receive on all domestic sales of the books they promote, and the 20 per cent on overseas sales as well as any subsidiary film or TV rights that may follow in due course. It must not be forgotten that they have to generate an income to make a living. This means that they have prioritise existing clients and books already in production, and that everything else can be a distraction during busier times.
Without exception, literary agents claim to admire “good writing”, being unforgiving of misspelt words, misplaced punctuation marks, grammatical errors, and dull, clichéd and pedantic writing. They often prefer submissions from those with a demonstrable track record of writing or of participation in prestigious creative writing courses. Agents actively seek out, and often make unsolicited approaches to, clients with celebrity status, including those with a large social media following, an established digital media platform, or other professional web presence, to ensure the financial viability and success of projects in which they invest their time and effort. After all, agents do not seek money upfront and thus cannot afford to waste precious time on potentially unmarketable commodities.
It is quite likely that Truss’s forthcoming biography will arouse readers’ interest, as they try to make some sense of the background to her recent erratic and self-destructive performance as prime minister. No matter what you think of it, the unique circumstances of her abrupt resignation make her story eminently marketable. Besides, celebrity status, whether as a politician, artiste, sportsperson, or even a reality TV star, does undeniably help sell books. Literary agents and publishers are likely to find you interesting enough to write about and if they don’t, then you have carte blanche to put your thoughts to paper, with the help of a ghost-writer if necessary, to address an assured audience of your fellowers and supporters. But all hope must not be lost, as, there is always likely to be a literary agent out there who may be prepared to invest the time to find, take on, and propel to celebrity status, a novice writer waiting, undiscovered, in the ranks.
Ashis Banerjee