She is responsible for 100 titles a year: literary agent Karin Graf talks about novel trends, negotiating skills – and the secret ingredient that aspiring writers need.
Literary agents are considered the secret rulers of the literary world – what exactly do they do?
My colleagues and I approach authors, or vice versa, and then we support them in developing their material, especially non-fiction, but also fiction, novels. Then we negotiate the publishing contract: royalties, revenue sharing, ancillary rights. Finally, we come into play again when it comes to marketing and discuss things like press work, events, author photos, cover design with the author and publisher. That’s all part of it. We’ve been sparring partners for many years.
It is said that if you send a manuscript directly to a publisher as a beginner, without an agent, you hardly have a chance?
Source: Stern
