Eoin Purcell's Blog

Agents get a bad reputation sometimes. Authors hate them because they dismiss their work, refuse to see their hidden genius, refuse to represent them or submit their work to certain publishers and because they fear them too. Publishers hate them because they drive up the cost of acquiring manuscripts, insert clauses that protect authors from undue exploitation and can generally make the life of a publisher more difficult.

What goes unsaid in the above paragraph is that in essence the agent is an enormously useful role for both sides of the publisher/writer chasm. Publishers essentially outsource the work of finding good manuscripts and writers to the Agent who does the dogs work as it were of shovelling reams of paper so that publishers do not have to. Writers shovel the work to Agents who like/dislike and make decisions regarding who best to market titles to and generally get the writer the deal they deserve. It’s a trade that takes a certain type and Miss Snark is the ultimate of that.

Her 3rd in the Semi-regular Carapometer series is currently running on her blog and really really should be read by all aspiring writers (and I think many editors) it offers vicious wit, stark reality and practical tips aplenty. Some very nice writing has shown up along the way with some appalling stuff appearing too. I leave you to judge the bad yourself.

Planning a busy week
Eoin