Who is Andrew Lownie and what inspired
you to set up Andrew Lownie Literary Agency?
AL: This year is the 25th anniversary of
the agency which I set up having been a bookseller, journalist, editor at
Hodder and director of Curtis Brown-John Farquharson. I felt that a boutique
agency could offer a more personal and flexible service than a large agency and
I hope I’ve been proved right. The agency almost every week has several books
in the bestseller lists, sells rights extensively to other countries and to
newspaper and film and authors regularly are short-listed or win prizes.
Please tell us more about Andrew
Lownie Literary Agency?
AL: The agency has over 200 authors ,most
of them non-fiction, ranging from serious books of reference such as The
Penguin Guide to the European Union and Indian chef Gurpareet Bain’s
Indian Superfoods to
Nadene Ghouri’s ghosted memoir of the Afghanistan politician Fawzia Koffi The
Favored Daughter and
a range of gift/trivia books. Recent sales include the memoirs of the
reality stars from The Only Way is Essex Emma Faiers, Nanny Pat and Kirk
Norcross and Spencer Matthews from Made in Chelsea and the singer Kerry Katona,
intelligence officer Frank Ledwidge’s critique Losing
Small Wars: British Military Failure in Iraq and Afghanistan,
Katharine Quarmby’s book on disability hate crime Scapegoat and John Bradley’s After
the Arab Spring: How the Islamists Hijacked the Middle East Revolt. A particular strength is memoir,
especially celebrity and inspirational memoir, and history and biography.
DH: I’ve recently become the agency’s
fiction representative, having worked with the agency for eight years in a
variety of roles. I’m particularly interested in crime, thrillers, adventure
stories, historical and other commercial fiction.
Other than the writing, what other
qualities do you look for in a new author?
AL: They have to carry authority and
credibility and have what is termed ‘platform’. This means a good or at least
potentially strong media profile, an engagement with and following on social
media such as Twitter and Facebook, and a website. Authors have to have
knowledge of the market and be prepared to adapt to meet the needs of the
market and have a good overview of the publishing business and trends.
DH: From a fiction point of view, I’m
particularly interested in authors who are willing and able to take a story
apart and rebuild it, who have a good understanding of broad, structural
narrative issues, as well as the minutiae of writing prose. Only a small
percentage of writers can craft a really good scene, but those who can also
craft a gripping plot that holds the attention for 300 pages are even rarer.
How important is the cover letter, synopsis and the first
three chapters?
AL: For non-fiction I ask for the
following:
1
page mini-synopsis highlighting with bullet points what makes the book new and
special with proposed word count and delivery date
1
page on qualifications to write the book
1
page with a few lines on the five most recent competing and comparable books
giving author, title, publisher and date of publication together with a note on
how the books relate to the author’s own book
1
page on sources used
1
page on any specialist marketing outlets such as websites, organisations or
magazines
1/2
page synopsis per chapter
A
sample chapter and, if appropriate, some photographs
This
allows the editor and acquisitions meetings to quickly assess the book, what it
adds to the subject, its authority, its place within the market, the structure
of the book and tone of the writing.
DH: The submission requirements for
fiction are much the same, but the most important sections are the sample
chapters and the chapter summaries, as these show whether someone can write,
and whether they can craft a plot
Please share some of the main reasons for rejecting a
submission?
AL: The agency receives many thousands of
submissions each year – all carefully assessed – and takes on perhaps two dozen
so lots of perfectly good and/or publishable books are turned down. It may be
they just aren’t sufficiently commercial for the list, they are too similar to
other books on the list, they don’t interest us or we don’t feel qualified to
place the book, the author appears unprofessional or difficult etc.
What type of book/work are you looking
for?
AL: I personally like: books which are
commercial but are fresh and original; memoirs from ‘ordinary’ people who’ve
done extraordinary things whether it’s the memoirs of war heroes or foster
carers; books which make me laugh, think or challenge authority; books
which open up new worlds in an accessible way …
DH: I’m looking for gruesome thrillers,
surprising crime fiction, and genre fiction with suspense, surprises, and
ideally a real theme and resonance. I’d love to discover the next Denise Mina.
You’re a highly successful Literary
Agent with over 25 years experience in Publishing, how has the industry changed
and what do you foresee over the next 5 years?
AL: The industry is always changing
which is what makes it demanding but stimulating. The end of the Net Book
Agreement and rise of new retailers, such as supermarket, widened and
‘democratised’ the book-buying market and led to huge volume sales at the
expense of margin . The decline of libraries and demise of bookshops has hit
serious non-fiction with the result that non-fiction sales are polarised
between the brand authors with TV presence and others fighting for niche
markets. The biggest change, which is on-going, is the digital revolution which
has created many more opportunities for direct selling whether it’s authors
self-publishing or publishers selling off their own websites. The role of
agents and publishers will have to change but as ‘experts’ there will still be
a curatorial role in guiding authors through the maze of ‘digital noise’.
What advice would you give to new
authors looking for representation?
AL: Read this and other sections on the
agency website ‘Fifteen Tips on Approaching an Agent’
DH: Be professional, open-minded, and
ready to work on developing your project. Many of the strongest proposals still
need a lot of reworking and reshaping.
How important are initiatives such as
Brit Writers?
AL: Any organisation or initiative
which helps to raise the profile of authors, effect introductions, offer
guidance etc is a ‘good thing’ and Brit Writers is one of the best of such
organisations with a wide range of contacts and a strong niche position.
Would you personally read any
submissions sent through to you by Brit Writers?
AL: Of course as I would with any
submission. If it had potential, it would then be passed to a reader for a
second opinion.
Is there anything else you’d like to
say to anyone reading this right now?
AL: Study the market and if you want to be
published write for it rather than yourself but the book must come from the
heart because you have something to say rather than being a cynical exercise.
