Director and Literary Agent Isabel Atherton’s boutique agency is set up to help her authors succeed. In this interview, she explains what not to do when contacting a literary agent, and how authors should look after their finances.
Hi Isabel. What is the title that you work under, and why did you start at this job?
My official title is Director and Literary Agent. I genuinely care about the authors I represent and want to help them realize their dream – seeing their words published.
Do you think that the expansion in digital publishing in a good thing for the writers that you represent?
I think it’s an exciting time and welcome new mediums and applications if it gets people to read more.
The digital exploitation of literary works is at an early stage but publishers are increasingly attuned to these issues and it is important that agents are also careful to protect the future earnings of their authors.
Aside form the growth in digital media, right now is a tough time in the publishing industry. What does your agency to do brace themselves? And what are you telling your writers to do?
We’re a boutique agency and luckily don’t have massive overheads such as expensive office premises and lots of staff. Authors need to always be aware of their finances. I recommend getting a good accountant for filing tax returns and to keep to a budget. Author advances and royalties can be sporadic, so I would recommend keeping a strict eye on out-goings and in-comings.
If a writer reads this interview and decides “She’s the agent for me!” how should they get in touch with you?
I always prefer an email approach telling me who the writer is, a synopsis and some sample chapters. Multiple submission emails are definitely a pet peeve, as well as emails with one line asking if I am taking on any clients. I would always recommend that writers do their research by looking at an agent’s website to see their submission guidelines. For instance we don’t represent poetry or screenplays. I’d also say another pet peeve is when a writer that has been politely declined starts hassling you to reconsider even though you have politely declined their material. I would recommend to bow out gracefully and thank the agent for their response.
What kinds of submissions are agents looking for? And what do you really like to get from new writers?
Things go in and out of fashion all the time. I specialize in really unusual things that don’t follow a pattern. I like to think outside of the box and come up with new concepts rather than just copy the latest bestseller.
One of my titles, which is being published Summer 2010, is a cookery book on jelly (or jello as they say in the US). I read about these wonderful chaps called Bompas and Parr in a national newspaper and thought, no one has done a book on jelly, for a very long time. This is a good example of the sort of thing I love to get involved in.
I like original and unusual ideas, but they have to be commercial. I’d love to do more historical non-fiction. I adore social history and would love to expand in that area. Good children’s fiction has been a bit thin on the ground, as has commercial women’s fiction. Original, unusual and commercial: those are my top three words.
Finally, how about telling us something “original and unusual” about yourself?
I collect items from the 1920s and 1930s – anything art deco!
Established in February 2008 by Isabel Atherton, Creative Authors Limited represents titles with strong commercial potential in literary fiction, general fiction, arts and crafts, biography, autobiography, health, cookery and children’s fiction. Other areas of interest include history, natural history, humour, popular culture, women’s fiction and crime.
Isabel Atherton has had wide exposure to the creative industries. In the past nine years she has headed up a marketing department for an international company and worked as a health journalist. Isabel has worked for four London agencies and she is now an independent agent. Isabel holds a BA (Hons) in English Literature and an MA in Contemporary Approaches to English Studies. Both were studied at Goldsmiths College, University of London.
All authors are individually handled by Isabel Atherton and Creative Authors Ltd prides itself on a personal and highly efficient service. Creative Authors Ltd aims to take first time writers and established authors to a new level of recognition. With all our authors we aim to establish a life-time relationship. However, we are highly selective and only take on new writers whose work we genuinely love.