Literary Agent

We are looking for a literary agent to join our growing team. You will have broad interests but we’re particularly interested in someone with a specialisation in YA and children’s OR genre and commercial fiction.

The agency is headed by Nikesh Shukla and Julia Kingsford who share a role with strategic and managerial responsibilities. You would work alongside our other agent and be supported by our assistant. In addition we have a part-time development editor and access to a further freelance network of editors for working with authors on their work.

You may have been working in a literary agency before or more broadly in the book trade and looking to move into agenting. 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.

To find out more about the agency and the role visit www.thegoodliteraryagency.org

RESPONSIBILITIES

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 who you manage

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

We are excited about adapting the role to the right candidate so depending on your experience there may be opportunities for further responsibilities including management.

SKILLS & QUALITIES

• Specific experience working on either Children's and Young Adult books or on Commercial / Genre Fiction
• 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
• A willingness to learn and develop with the company
• You must have a minimum of three years experience. However as we are keen to adapt this role to suit the successful applicant we would welcome applications from those with a lot more experience who could take on some managerial and strategic responsibilities as well.

PRACTICALITIES

This is a full time role based in Bristol or London with regular trips between the two. We are happy to consider flexible working arrangements.

Salary: this will be dependent on experience and location.

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 include details of your salary expectations and a monitoring form which can be found at www.thegoodliteraryagency.org/jobs

Application deadline: 9am Wednesday 2 January