New Year, New Agent Goals

My hopes and dreams for 2024

Hi everyone,

HAPPY NEW YEAR - and thanks for joining me again! Here’s to 2024!

I’ve been look forward to writing this newsletter; it’s been a great excuse to take stock and figure out what’s working and where I’d like to go next. So, here goes nothing - my agent goals for 2024!

1. Sign 10-12 authors

Although I work fully remotely, I’m fortunate to have the support of a wonderful agency and we had great conversations at the end of last year about our goals. I crunched numbers and after a lot of pondering I decided I’d ideally double my current roster of 10 authors by the end of 2024.

Why? Part of it is financial! I have a self-imposed target of advance values I’d like to meet. I’ve calculated 10-12 as the number of author’s I’d have to add to my list in 2024 to have a realistic chance of hitting that target, assuming a few of them won’t have projects to pitch until 2025.

The other reason I decided on 10-12 new clients is balancing my genuine excitement/desire to bring as many wonderful books into the world as possible with a recognition of my workload. For a (currently exclusively) fiction agent like me - who happens to be pretty editorial - 10-12 new signs represents what I hope is a realistic output in terms of managing my workload. (Non-fiction focussed agents may be able to represent more clients because generally the agent will be helping their client prepare a proposal, not a full manuscript - although admittedly, these can be intense too!) I’m keen to continue to find quality time for my existing authors - whether in working on their books or finding half an hour to catch up on Zoom about new projects. I know my growing list will require careful balancing for this reason.

2. Sell books

It is a truth universally acknowledged that book news is the vaguest of news. Even so, I hope it’s OK for me to divulge that having started going on submission in September I do now have a couple of contracted authors on my list… I’m so excited about these (AND about announcing my first deals this year!). More of this, please. I am feeling super motivated to sell and do my very best for the authors I’ve signed, every single one of whom I believe deserves a publishing contract. Hoping 2024 will be my vaguest year EVER.

3. Branch out… AND specialize!

I am, by nature, a generalist and I hope to continue to represent writers across all genres for adults, MG and YA fiction. In particular, I’d love to find a literary fiction project that really pushes me out of my comfort zone - and I’m on the hunt for a great rom com. I’m also hoping to sign a non-fiction project this year - I’m curious about what this side of agenting involves and have loads to learn from my largely non-fiction oriented team. All that remains is to find a project that really grabs me…

At the same time, I want to play to my strengths as an agent - and that includes building a reputation for representing particular genres and age groups. I believe this will be really important for my future in the industry, hopefully enabling me to build strong and trusting relationships with editors and lists across multiple projects. My editorial and writing experience is pushing me towards a specialisation in fantasy (for all age-groups) and YA (for all genres) in particular. Because of my existing market knowledge, I’m well-placed to spot a stand-out concept or writer. I’d like to grow this part of my list in particular in 2024.

4. Attend in-person events

One thing that was challenging for me in 2023 was transitioning from a hybrid work model - I was in the office 2 days a week during my last year at Chicken House - to fully remote. (It’s felt a bit like going back to Covid, when I was remote for nearly 2 years - no thank you!) In addition, I didn’t yet have the contacts I’d had in the UK who invited me to a steady stream of book launches, writing conferences and other events. The last of those was in November 2022 when I attended the SCWBI conference in Manchester - I had a brilliant time and really cherished the feeling of being part of a writing community.

I’ve already made some headway with this one! I’m preparing to attend the San Francisco Writers Conference in February and in May I’ll be zooming off to Portland and Seattle for Writing Day Workshop conferences. For all three, I’ll be meeting authors and listening to their pitches. I can’t wait!

5. Well… this!

My last resolution is represented by this newsletter. One of the things I’ve discovered about myself over the last few years - perhaps since I started my first newsletter in 2020 (RIP Tinyletter) - is that I actually really love writing and chatting about publishing. It’s my favorite subject. And I love connecting with publishing people - published or unpublished writers, aspiring publishing staff, editors, fellow agents… the list goes on! I like being an active part of this world of ours, flawed as it is, and I’m hoping that by continuing to talk to people in this way I can be a force for good in creating a more accessible, transparent and representative publishing environment.

So, I’ll be posting here roughly once a month. I’ll keep asking you all what you’d like to hear about - but please feel free to reach out if there’s anything specific you’re interested in me writing about.

Thank you again for following - until next time!

Kesia