A day in the life

of a literary agent who's really, still, just starting out!

It is a truth universally acknowledged that no-one likes to talk about the boring or hard stuff in publishing. Like money (or lack thereof). Or the linked problem of how most books don’t really sell that much. Or how sometimes you just absolutely cannot read another page of another bloody manuscript, so you binge-watch 90-Day Fiance instead and shirk your editorial work (or maybe that’s just me…). I think that’s largely because - for most of us - we’re here because we love it; it’s a passion, not just a job. But guess what? The daily grind is 99% of life. So, I thought I’d talk a little bit about mine.

7-9am - Straight out of bed and onto my laptop with my coffee and cereal. I have a lot of publishing contacts in the UK, 8 hours ahead of me in California, and frequently schedule my UK meetings at around 8am (4pm UK time). Today, I have a meeting with an editor - we’re discussing what they’re looking for and catching up on each other’s news. It’s a quick meeting - maybe half an hour. Before and after, it’s emails, sending the latest things out on submission, and maybe dipping into queries, if I have time. First thing in the morning is generally my most productive time - I like to devote it to agenting if I can!

10am-2pm - Now it’s time for my bookselling shift. Today, it’s a half-day (though I frequently do six- and eight-hour shifts too). I serve customers, shelve books, answer the phone, process online orders, complete various admin tasks, ponder what I’ll put on my staff bookshelf, and keep tabs on what’s popular. My favorite thing is browsing the publisher catalogues on Edelweiss during quiet periods - you can even request proof copies, which is bad because my bedside TBR pile is teetering already, but also a lot of fun!

2.15pm-3pm - I head home and back to my bedroom desk, where I do my daily social media work for Writing Day Workshops. I post on every platform and maybe record (and re-record… and re-record…) videos of myself giving publishing advice for Instagram. I still find it cringey, even though our platforms are all growing. At least my Canva skills are improving!

3pm-5pm - A period sometimes (well, often) spent at my local coffee shop for that extra little boost. Now’s when I finally open whatever editorial project I have on my plate, normally via Reedsy. Generally I take on one big project - like a full editorial report - alongside maybe a couple of smaller ones, like query package reviews for Jericho Writers. I’ve always enjoyed editing and, by the hour, it’s the most valuable work I currently do. However, it can be very tough, concentrated work - and the hardest thing about it is that it takes away time I might otherwise spend reading clients’ full manuscripts or prospective clients’ fulls. By the time I’ve completed an hour or two of this close work, I find my attention span exhausted!

5pm-8pm - I spend this time buying food for, prepping and eating dinner, or doing other chores and general ‘life stuff’. I might even get to the gym, on occasion. (Note to self: I should do that more.)

8pm-11.30pm - Now, this isn’t every day - or even every week. I spend my fair share of evenings vegetating in front of the TV (especially after a full bookstore shift, or a heavy editing day). But sometimes, I’ll get back to work after dinner. I have a confession to make: I’m very bad with deadlines and quite frequently find myself working right up to the wire - that’s when the night working kicks in. Normally, I’m trying to finish reading a manuscript - either an editorial project or a client’s manuscript. Which means when I finally fall into bed around 11.30 or midnight or sometimes 1am, I rarely pick up a book from the teetering pile on my bedroom floor!

And here’s the elephant in the room: Since starting agenting (and moving to the US) I’ve experienced two very different models of agenting. My first agenting job was salaried. I was paid every two weeks, around the average US salary, and worked full-time. In my fourteen months of agenting under this system I signed 17 clients and closed five contracts, four of them with major publishers and one of them a six-figure deal. I read over four thousand queries. I edited every single one of my clients’ books, to a greater or lesser extent, before sending them out on submission.

Now, I’m with a fantastic new agency but - like the majority of agents in the US - I’m on a commission-only structure. All of my prior contracts remain with my previous agency, meaning I don’t earn anything from those ongoing deals (this is pretty normal for salaried positions). Hence… all of the jobs. Except for the significant and excellent fact that I brought most of my clients with me, I’m starting all over again!

My point is: as you can imagine, those days of reading 1000s of queries and being that super-responsive on-it agent for my clients are sadly over. I have managed to send 4 projects on submission since re-starting agenting in October… however, all but one of them were ones I had previously read and edited. So, I’m still figuring out how to do this thing. It’s hard, but I know it’ll be worth it if I can.

In other news, this month I attended the San Francisco Writers Conference and the Writing Day Workshops Las Vegas Conference - and after so many wonderful conversations with writers, fellow agents and other publishing folks, how could I not feel inspired to continue down this crazy, brilliant path?

If you’d like to catch me in-person at another conference this year, check out Writing Day Workshops! I’m appearing in Oklahoma City in March, Sacramento/San Francisco in April and Cincinnati in May.

Until next time!

Kesia