Literary Agent

Having been with us since our launch, one of our agents recently left to join another agency and we are now looking for a new literary agent to join us to work with existing clients as well as build a list of new clients.

You will work alongside another agent and be supported by our assistant in working with the authors we represent and exploiting the rights to their work. In addition we have a part-time development editor who works with us on submission development and are currently recruiting for a part-time submissions coordinator.

TGLA is a social enterprise founded in 2018 by Nikesh Shukla and Julia Kingsford to explicitly represent British writers from backgrounds under-represented in UK publishing. In the two years since we started we have worked with over 70 writers at various stages in their writing from early mentoring to receiving life-changing advances and winning major prizes. We have Arts Council England funding as well as generating our own income from the deals we make on behalf of our clients.

Nikesh and Julia share management and strategic responsibilities and, for the right candidate, there is the opportunity, as the agency develops, to take on greater responsibilities in management, strategy and advocacy.

We are headquartered in Bristol but have an office in London.

You may have been working in a literary agency before or more broadly in the book trade, or perhaps even in a complementary industry and are looking to use your skills in a different way. Either way you must be able to demonstrate that you’ve got great taste and an understanding of what makes books work as well as plenty of hustle and a belief that books and reading are important and that representation in them matters. Crucially we are looking for someone who really shares our values and beliefs of changing opportunities for under-represented writers in UK publishing.

You don’t have to have your own client list (and we’re afraid that as we only represent writers from under-represented groups it may be difficult to bring any writers with you if who aren’t from those groups) but you do have to have sufficient knowledge of the industry, a good understanding of the role of the literary agent and the broader industry landscape.

RESPONSIBILITIES

Selling books to publishers

• Pitch & submit books to UK publishers, managing the full process including negotiations and auctions

Broader rights opportunities

• Manage relationships with sub-agents and resulting opportunities to exploit rights as broadly as possible, both international and film/tv
• Manage relationships with scouts

Author relationships & submissions

• Work with the rest of the team to scout for talent & choose which authors we represent and develop
• Work up exceptional pitches & submissions to sell in to publishers
• Steadily build your own list of clients

SKILLS & QUALITIES

• An understanding of the issues within publishing and society more generally that have lead to structural inequality and writers who are BAME, working class, disabled and LGBTQ+ being under-represented and a real desire to work within an organisation that is actively seeking to make lasting change happen
• Commercial aptitude with a real drive to secure the best possible deal for our clients
• Plenty of hustle and an entrepreneurial spirit
• A critical understanding of books and an awareness of what makes one ‘good’
• Great communications skills, both verbal and written
• A self-starter who is comfortable working on their own and managing their own workload and deadlines, as well as being happy to work as part of a team
• A real belief that books and reading are important and that increasing representation in culture is too
• Social media skills learned either through your own social media accounts or through working on an organisation’s accounts
• A willingness to learn and develop with the company
•  

PRACTICALITIES

Though for now we are all working remotely, in the long term this role will be based in Bristol or London with regular trips between the two and regular days working from home. We are happy to consider flexible working arrangements.

Salary: We expect the successful candidate for this role will be paid in the region of £34,000-£39,000 dependent on experience and location (if you are based in London your salary will be weighted). However we are happy to discuss a higher salary for an exceptional, experienced candidate so please simply let us know your salary expectations when applying. 

There will also be a bonus system once the agency becomes profitable.

We are committed to equal opportunities and are particularly interested in receiving applications from anyone who identifies in any of the under-represented groups we represent.

HOW TO APPLY

To apply please email jobs@thegoodliteraryagency.org with 'Agent' as the subject line and include your CV and a covering letter explaining why you want the job and how your skills and experience are well matched to it.

Please also fill in this monitoring form.

Application deadline: 9am Wednesday 29 July