For my final entry on ‘What does a literary agent do?’ I will address deal making.
Every single day I am negotiating top deals in the UK, US and foreign markets, including film and TV rights. This aspect of the being an agent gives my writers a platform to be successful. A writer’s career will grow if they have an agent who is constantly trying to sell rights to their books, for instance selling translation rights to different countries. I continue to sell rights to my authors’ backlist all the time. I attend all the major international book fairs each year, including the Bologna Book Fair, the London Book Fair and the Frankfurt Book Fair. I also make regular trips to the US to liaise with publishers. At the book fairs I will pitch my authors work to hundreds of different editors from publishing companies all over the world. I have 30 minutes with each one, starting from 9am through to 6pm with no breaks. The adrenalin keeps me going.
A lot of work is done between the book fairs . Sometimes, I like to have sold the UK & Commonwealth rights to a book and then get everyone else interested at the fair; other times I introduce books at the fair; or I will have done a US deal beforehand. There are lots of tactics involved in creating excitement, and this is how the big advances come into play. Every deal is important to me, every translation deal, because they can make my authors international bestsellers.
Deal making is very exhilarating but negotiating also takes tons of energy. Sometimes negotiations go on for weeks. Auctions are very exciting but it is always important, no matter what the advance, that the agent chooses the most passionate editor for the book and indeed the author’s career as a whole. It is this passion and commitment from both the editor and the agent that gives the author the best chance of being successful.
The Madeleine Milburn Agency has a long-term vision and an international plan for each author, negotiating significant deals in the UK, the US and foreign markets, liaising with publishers around the world. The Agency works in partnership with film agents, and directly, to option Film & TV rights to leading production companies and film studios in the UK and US.
