![]() From the first page you need to capture that agent’s/editor’s attention and never let it go. Which is why you have to present a book that feels like a big swing. Editors are desperate to publish one of the 2% (don’t quote me on that statistic–it’s probably 1% or less) of books that actually breaks through and finds an audience.īut with that in mind, always remember that pragmatism couched within ruthless optimism is the best way to approach this industry. The idea of building an author book by book is not something publishers even pretend to address or aspire to any more. The move from the publishing houses is always going to be toward fewer, bigger swings. Are there some recent trends that have surprised you and that aspiring writers should keep in mind? Over the fifteen-plus years you’ve been in the industry, publishing has gone through many different stages. And that I could avoid working at one of those huge corporate publishing houses that felt way too close to living the monotonous life of Bartleby the Scrivener. But as I listened to them describe what they did for a living, and realized that I could be in it together with the writers I worked with in a way that was so intrinsic to the work itself, so all-in. I just knew I wanted to work in book publishing, I had no idea in what capacity. An occupation I had never heard of until I walked into the room. Which, when you are growing up on a farm in Virginia, is a hell of a thought to have.įlash to six years later and I’m sitting in a lecture hall at Radcliffe listening to a panel of literary agents. And that one day maybe I could actually be one of those people. Which means that there were people handling these pages at where Viking (King’s publisher) was in New York City. But it also suddenly humanized publishing. ![]() I remember reading a Stephen King novel when I was probably in 7 th grade and running into a bunch of typos. It seems like you were certain about pursuing a career as a literary agent. ![]() You graduated from UVA then the Radcliffe Publishing Program before landing your first job at Carlisle & Company. His commercial instincts are second to none, and his eternal optimism and joy for books make the business of publishing worth all the trouble and effort.” - Nils Parker , Multiple NYT & WSJ bestselling author, ghostwriter, editor. But even more than that, he manages to balance competing interests, to service multiple relationships, and to know both what editors are looking for and what readers are looking for. There are very few like him and what is rarer still is that you could actually encounter one like him on the wild, ever-changing terrain where he lives and plies his trade. Praise For Byrd: “ Byrd is like a juggling snow leopard. Where To Find Byrd: His Website, Twitter, LinkedIn Parker Jr., and Rob Elliott – whose LOL series has sold more than 2.5 million copies. Some of his other clients include Chip and Joanna Gaines, Tiffany Haddish, Don Lemon, Josh Clark and Chuck Bryant (hosts of the Stuff You Should Know podcast), Adam Savage, Neil Strauss, Rich Roll & Julie Piatt, Cenk Uygur, Eoin Dempsey, James Rebanks, Drew Magary, Scott Sigler, Brian Kilmeade, Kristin Hensley and Jen Smedley’s #IMOMSOHARD, Justin Halpern, Adam Skolnick, The Anonymous author of Diary of an Oxygen Thief, Mat Best, Babe Walker, George Karl, Jay Chandrasekhar, Steve Spurrier, “Weird Al” Yankovic, Pete Sampras, Mark Frauenfelder, John. ![]() He’s helped create dozens of New York Times bestsellers for writers of narrative non-fiction, sports, humor, and commercial fiction. Claim To Fame: Byrd Leavell has been an agent for over fifteen years and has represented authors like Aubrey Marcus, Cat Marnell ( How To Murder Your Life: A Memoir ), and most recently, Guy Raz ( How I Built This - releasing Sep 15, 2020).
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