A Day in the Life of a Literary Agent
I get asked at conferences all the time what a day in the life of a literary agent is like. Well, there's no such thing as a typical day, and to prove it, here's my approximate schedule from about mid-day yesterday through just-now today, which should give you a pretty good sense of some of the usual.
Thursday:
1:45 post office run (returning contracts, mailing production copies for translation purposes, etc.)
2:11 on the phone with a client brainstorming her next book
3:00 call from an editor with an offer
3:15 on the phone with my author relaying the offer and talking about cover art on another series
3:45 call to the editor to respond on the offer
4:00 on the phone with the editor on the other series about cover art
4:15 return the calls that came in while I was on the phone
5:00 check and respond to e-mail
5:05 on the phone with one of my other authors doing some career planning
5:16 getting out a new submission (pitch already prepared)
5:35 on the phone with a different author discussing notes on current book and submission plans for future
5:55 new find: a blog via @dianapfrancis ‘s tweet to check in on: http://pimpmynovel.blogspot.com/
6:00 dinner with my family, followed by a couple of games
7:30 finish reading the manuscript I’m in the midst of
9:00 time out for So You Think You Can Dance
10:00-10:30 reading new client proposal
10:35 bed
Friday:
6:30 Wake up, eat breakfast, have coffee (usually I’d be writing at this time too, but I need to plot the ending, and I can’t plot without copious amounts of caffeine…and sometimes wine)
7:15 Take the dog for a walk
7:30 Finish reading a short client proposal I started the night before
7:50 Get notes to the author
8:00 Check e-mail. Answer one of our foreign subagents and pull together requested material that wasn’t just at my fingertips.
8:10 Read another client proposal
9:00 get mid-way through before I leave for my work out (only one day a week and only when my workout partner and I don’t cancel on each other for one reason or another)
9:54 back at my desk
9:55-11:07: answer e-mails, report some subrights sales to Publishers Marketplace, work on language for other sales to report, blogged on great write up for Rob Thurman, tweeted it and new Knight Agency website main page images, sent even more requested material to subagent, answered more e-mails, nagged a few people (about submissions, payments, etc.)
11:08-11:30: read an interview for one of my authors and send her comments
11:30-12:26: work on edit notes for one of my authors on manuscript finished last night (before starting the proposals)
12:30: take sick child to the doctor, followed by the pharmacy and, finally, home.
3:00 even though it’s summer hours and everyone’s out, back at my desk for a little more work before I sign off for the day…and go finish my second client proposal of the day. A third on the docket for tonight!
Now, there are a ton of other things I might do in any one day, from letting my authors and their editors know about great write-ups, reviewing contracts and royalty statements, requesting rights reversion, updating client files, getting out foreign mailings or running off to NYC or to conferences to see editors and clients, but here's just a snippet of insight.
Thursday:
1:45 post office run (returning contracts, mailing production copies for translation purposes, etc.)
2:11 on the phone with a client brainstorming her next book
3:00 call from an editor with an offer
3:15 on the phone with my author relaying the offer and talking about cover art on another series
3:45 call to the editor to respond on the offer
4:00 on the phone with the editor on the other series about cover art
4:15 return the calls that came in while I was on the phone
5:00 check and respond to e-mail
5:05 on the phone with one of my other authors doing some career planning
5:16 getting out a new submission (pitch already prepared)
5:35 on the phone with a different author discussing notes on current book and submission plans for future
5:55 new find: a blog via @dianapfrancis ‘s tweet to check in on: http://pimpmynovel.blogspot.com/
6:00 dinner with my family, followed by a couple of games
7:30 finish reading the manuscript I’m in the midst of
9:00 time out for So You Think You Can Dance
10:00-10:30 reading new client proposal
10:35 bed
Friday:
6:30 Wake up, eat breakfast, have coffee (usually I’d be writing at this time too, but I need to plot the ending, and I can’t plot without copious amounts of caffeine…and sometimes wine)
7:15 Take the dog for a walk
7:30 Finish reading a short client proposal I started the night before
7:50 Get notes to the author
8:00 Check e-mail. Answer one of our foreign subagents and pull together requested material that wasn’t just at my fingertips.
8:10 Read another client proposal
9:00 get mid-way through before I leave for my work out (only one day a week and only when my workout partner and I don’t cancel on each other for one reason or another)
9:54 back at my desk
9:55-11:07: answer e-mails, report some subrights sales to Publishers Marketplace, work on language for other sales to report, blogged on great write up for Rob Thurman, tweeted it and new Knight Agency website main page images, sent even more requested material to subagent, answered more e-mails, nagged a few people (about submissions, payments, etc.)
11:08-11:30: read an interview for one of my authors and send her comments
11:30-12:26: work on edit notes for one of my authors on manuscript finished last night (before starting the proposals)
12:30: take sick child to the doctor, followed by the pharmacy and, finally, home.
3:00 even though it’s summer hours and everyone’s out, back at my desk for a little more work before I sign off for the day…and go finish my second client proposal of the day. A third on the docket for tonight!
Now, there are a ton of other things I might do in any one day, from letting my authors and their editors know about great write-ups, reviewing contracts and royalty statements, requesting rights reversion, updating client files, getting out foreign mailings or running off to NYC or to conferences to see editors and clients, but here's just a snippet of insight.