The opportunity to have two 10-minute interviews with literary agents about our current W.I.P (work-in-progress) was undoubtably one of the most exciting parts of the London Festival of Writing which Jack and I attended at the end of June.
Choosing the right literary agents
There were ten literary agents attending the festival and 320 writers, all seeking 10-minute slots with them. Appointments filled up fast.
My natural inclination was to choose agents who had a particular interest in historical fiction, and I managed to secure an interview with one of them. It was the last slot, right at the end of the Sunday and I knew the agent would probably be exhausted by then but figured it was still an opportunity not to be missed.
That left me with an issue for the second of my interviews. I could see the words ‘fully booked’ popping up on the screen even as I scrolled through the names and interests of the attending agents. In the long run, I made my choice using a process of elimination. I ignored literary agents specialising in YA (young adult), romance, crime and fantasy, and finally plumped for someone specialising in literary fiction.
I have never considered my W.I.P to be literary fiction and the profile picture for the agent showed someone rather austere who I feared may tear my work apart, but I braced myself and hoped for the best.
The interviews
My first interview was on the Saturday morning and it was with the agent who specialised in literary novels – effectively my second choice.
As I held my breath, he began by telling me he thought my cover letter was excellent and my synopsis was compelling. He then went on to suggest I change the order of the opening chapter or lose it altogether as the second chapter drew the reader in much more effectively and immediately had him invested in the lives of the two main characters.
He advised me not to emphasise that I considered this to be the first part of a trilogy, but instead to ensure what I was submitting worked well as a stand-alone volume and then to suggest at the end of my covering letter that there is scope for a sequel. He then asked me what sort of agents I was targeting and he suggested I widen my focus to include agents specialising in literary fiction. Finally, he gave me some useful tips for how to move forward.
I came out of that 10-minute interview a foot taller than I went in. That agent had boosted my morale as a writer; confirmed that I was on the right course for submitting to agents and actually helped me widen my focus; and had given me invaluable advice on how best to move forward. I was just half a day into the festival and I already felt like I’d had value for money.
The second of my interviews with literary agents was late afternoon on the Sunday as the last of the workshops was being held and there was only the closing plenary session to go.
This was my first-choice agent, someone whose interest lay in historical fiction and in women’s voices. I had high hopes, despite the lateness of the interview.
Unfortunately, as I sat down in front of her it quickly became apparent she was exhausted. I fully understood that. She had been giving one-to-one interviews and hosting discussions all weekend and she must have felt brain dead. For the first couple of minutes, it was obvious she was trying to recall my submission and was simply reading her own feedback to try to prompt her memory.
It felt like some of her feedback points were quite negative and I found myself getting nervous and defensive. She seemed surprised to learn the events described were true, despite me having put it in the cover letter, and was focussing more on the relationships than the story. I came away feeling a bit disappointed, both with her reaction to the novel and with the interview itself, and I almost wished I hadn’t met with my ‘preferred’ agent.
But when I got home, I re-read her feedback sheet, and it made a lot more sense than it had during the interview as she had written it directly after reading my submission, not at the end of an exhausting conference. The feedback had a very different focus, and it reflected this agent’s interest in women’s voices which would move me away from the historical ‘facts’ of the story and more into the fictional relationships. It has certainly given me a great deal to think about.
What have I gained from my interviews with literary agents
One of the most important things my interviews with literary agents has taught me is that finding the right agent for your work is imperative. My first agent would undoubtably be a lot more receptive to a formal submission from me than my second one would.
We spent some time with a writer who had his first interview with an agent who basically told him his work would be difficult to market and that he needed to do a major rethink, and then his second agent immediately asked for a full manuscript and told him they loved the concept, and it was ‘right up their street’. That writer could have gone away from London with a manuscript that would never see the light of day. Instead, he feels like he’s found a kindred spirit in his second agent and there’s a strong possibility he may be on his way to his first published novel.
Despite the difference in feedback from my two chosen agents, they have both given me some firm pointers about how to better position my W.I.P; about ensuring it stands alone as a novel; and in focussing on the relationships that form the central core of the book. Beyond that, I need to decide what’s important for me in this novel, and to concentrate on that. I can then submit to agents who I think will be most interested in whatever angle it is I decide to present.
Although I much preferred one interview to the other, I feel that I needed both to ensure my work is the best it can be.
Onwards and upwards.
