Literary Agency Assistant

A great opportunity for a Literary Agency Assistant to join and play an integral part in our successful boutique agency in Notting Hill, London, to assist Lorella Belli and the LBLA Ltd team, and work with our authors and clients worldwide.

The Role: Literary Agency Assistant

This crucial role would suit a proactive highly organized and enthusiastic individual who has some relevant publishing experience and is keen to develop their career. The chance to be a key player at the agency for an outgoing, self-motivated and driven person with a genuine interest in agenting. Initially a support role, the position offers an exciting opportunity for the role to grow and expand to Junior Agent level with the right candidate.

The Company: the Lorella Belli Literary Agency Ltd is a dynamic and thriving agency with 20 years’ experience of representing bestselling, award-winning and debut authors of fiction and general non-fiction, and as well as publishing clients worldwide. See also: https://www.facebook.com/LorellaBelliLiteraryAgency and @lbla on Twitter.

The Ideal Candidate:

• keen on a career in agenting and client management
• a hardworking individual capable of moving up at the agency from their initial role and take on more responsibility fairly rapidly
• a voracious reader who enjoys both fiction and non-fiction, with an emphasis on commercial mainstream projects
• experience of working towards deadlines with the ability to prioritize and manage workload
• good at multi-tasking and using own initiative (we value an entrepreneurial spirit!)
• excellent communication skills, both in writing and verbally; meticulous attention to detail 
• flexible and practical; able to work autonomously and in a small team environment
• knowledge of contemporary publishing and media trends
• able to handle social media
• a trustworthy individual, appreciative of the confidential nature of an agency work on behalf of our clients.

Responsibilities:

• Overall administrative tasks: diary management; updating rights management database; ad hoc research projects; creating and updating presentation materials; dealing with day-to-day queries; liaising with clients and publishers; handling approvals, booking trips and events, help preparing schedules and materials for book fairs, and attending book fairs and other publishing events as needed. Help with the smooth running of the agency.
• Editorial: reading and evaluating manuscripts, and developing pitches and submission strategies/packages.
• Contracts & Accounts: raising, tracking and processing agreements and tax forms; monitoring publication schedules; dealing with rights renewal/reversion; checking/processing royalty statements; invoicing and tracking payments.

• Agency social media/marketing for the agency.
• Client care and promotion: authors and clients management is at the heart of what we do. You will help to provide excellent client care, dealing with all matters in a confidential, fast, reliable and efficient way.

Experience/skills required:

• At least 6 months of relevant experience working in book publishing (at a literary agency, in scouting, a trade publisher or other creative industries).
• Fluency in English, with excellent written and communication skills; also confident with numbers.
• Proficiency in Microsoft Office and rights management database software (training can be provided if needed)

Salary: £24,000 per annum, depending on skills and experience; it may be subject to review within six months based on performance for the right candidate.

Closing date: 13th November 2021 (we reserve the right to close the process earlier if the right candidate is found)

To apply:

1. Please email CV and cover letter to Lorella Belli (lorella@lorellabelliagency.com), stating current salary/salary expectations and notice period if applicable.

2) Also please mention 3 recently published books you enjoyed and would have loved to work on, and please explain why. 

We look forward to receiving your applications!