Wednesday, April 02, 2008

Lazy agents - do they really exist?

Hallo there,
I am still working very hard for "my" authors, and I am still travelling to book fairs and film festivals in order to sell rights. But the competition is so HUGE! Even if I think my writers are the best in the world, it really takes time to convince the translators, other agents, the publishers and, the film producers about this. A lot of time time  also passes by declining offers from new writers world wide, most of them have written "the most unique book, not like anything else in the world", and I have to understand that I would be very stupid to let them down. I have to let them down a lot. Sorry about that --- There should be more agents in the world.
I sometimes feel like a spider makings its net in a very bustling area where it always gets interrupted from outside, it always needs mending, extension, rebuilding, strategy etc. etc.. I must confess, I am much more cynical now than I was when I started three years ago. A Chinese agent wrote these words to me: I can tell you, I have become cruel over the last 25 years. I am not quite there yet, since I started my business only three years ago. I still try to be nice. But this is a tough business, and not the least easy. But it is fun though!
For me personally this is the most interesting and challenging job I have had in my whole life. In a few days I will attend the London Book Fair and meet a lot of people, who have the same problems, the same goals as myself.
I have heard some people during these years talking about lazy agents. I do not believe they exist. If they are there, they must belong to those who have given up. Talk to you later.
Please give me comments if you have any.
Mrt:-)