He's been an agent at Sheil Land for 6 years and before that was in publishing. The main point I took away from the workshop was that agents are looking for authors who want careers. You are defined by your first book, so you should choose your genre carefully, rather than trying to switch from Romance to Crime, for example, and alienating your readership forever.
Should any of us wannabes ever get into that enviable position of being published, he warned that it's a relentless pace, as publishers want a book a year, maybe even two. (That's all right, I told myself, I have quite the bottom drawer.)
He also stressed how important it is to be liked by your publisher. Success doesn't come overnight, if at all, and you need a publisher who will stick with you. It costs about £45,000 to publish a book, so they are making a big investment. This led to some navel gazing, as I wondered whether I was sufficiently likable and in what way I would need to change.
He also reminded us that 90% of books don't work. Even the wonderful Ian Rankin only got popular ten books in. It's important to have an agent- I guess he would say that. However, his reasoning was persuasive: it's okay for everyone to hate the agent. Don't buy a dog and then bark yourself.
When submitting to an agent, the dreaded synopsis is important, as your ability to condense the plot shows it's clear in your head. Letters to agents should be simple and direct. They're the first thing the agent will read, so if it offends in any way (threats, typos, boasting etc), your material won't even get read!
Oh, and cosy whodunnits and fireside tales are out:
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