MARCIA WILLETT
NOVELIST
MARCIA’S AGENT
by Marcia’s husband, Rodney Willett
by Marcia’s husband, Rodney Willett
We are often asked why an author needs an agent. It is a bit difficult to know where to start because a good agent offers a great deal more than appears on the surface.
Obviously the prime job of an agent is to find a publisher for the author’s book(s). As it happened I acted as Marcia’s agent for her first two books. Even though I knew what I was doing (I was a published author and had been a regular contributor to a number of publications and had a good working knowledge of the business) it required a good deal of research to home in on the right publishers to approach and to work out how that approach should be made. There is always a good deal of luck when it comes to getting the first novel published (after that it is more down to talent and the ability to wok hard) and we had luck on our side. I was able to find a publisher and to understand the contract that they offered - which brings me on to the second reason for having an agent.
Negotiating the right deal with a publisher is never easy and may require a good deal of really tough talking. Now an author wants to have a good, easy and friendly relationship with his or her editor so having an agent means that the hard business aspect of being an author can be carried out by the agent leaving the author to deal only with the literary side of the equation.
Then there is the small matter of foreign sales. I do not believe that we could have handled these and you can see by the list of Marcia’s foreign publishers just how successful Marcia’s agent has been.
Finally, writing is never easy. There are times when someone totally on your side is essential and a good agent becomes more than a business associate, he or she becomes a close friend.
All that is true of Dinah Wiener who has been Marcia’s agent for many years now. The picture at the top of this page shows them at the Oxford Literary Festival in 2008 (yes, it is held in April and yes, it had been snowing quite heavily that night).
However, Dinah is more than a first class literary agent, she is one of the founding trustees of a fantastic charity which is involved with orphaned and disabled children living on the Bangladeshi island of Bhola.
If you would like to know more about this charity, please visit their web site:-
Obviously the prime job of an agent is to find a publisher for the author’s book(s). As it happened I acted as Marcia’s agent for her first two books. Even though I knew what I was doing (I was a published author and had been a regular contributor to a number of publications and had a good working knowledge of the business) it required a good deal of research to home in on the right publishers to approach and to work out how that approach should be made. There is always a good deal of luck when it comes to getting the first novel published (after that it is more down to talent and the ability to wok hard) and we had luck on our side. I was able to find a publisher and to understand the contract that they offered -
Negotiating the right deal with a publisher is never easy and may require a good deal of really tough talking. Now an author wants to have a good, easy and friendly relationship with his or her editor so having an agent means that the hard business aspect of being an author can be carried out by the agent leaving the author to deal only with the literary side of the equation.
Then there is the small matter of foreign sales. I do not believe that we could have handled these and you can see by the list of Marcia’s foreign publishers just how successful Marcia’s agent has been.
Finally, writing is never easy. There are times when someone totally on your side is essential and a good agent becomes more than a business associate, he or she becomes a close friend.
All that is true of Dinah Wiener who has been Marcia’s agent for many years now. The picture at the top of this page shows them at the Oxford Literary Festival in 2008 (yes, it is held in April and yes, it had been snowing quite heavily that night).
However, Dinah is more than a first class literary agent, she is one of the founding trustees of a fantastic charity which is involved with orphaned and disabled children living on the Bangladeshi island of Bhola.
If you would like to know more about this charity, please visit their web site:-
Thank you.