Literary Agents 101

Otherppl with Brad Listi

Brad Listi

Books, Society & Culture, Arts

4.8 • 554 Ratings

🗓️ 2 April 2023

⏱️ 101 minutes

🔗️ Recording | iTunes | RSS

🧾️ Download transcript

Summary

In the latest "Craftwork" episode, a deep-dive conversation about literary agents with Carly Watters, herself a longtime literary agent and the co-host of the popular writing podcast The Shit No One Tells You About Writing. Carly is "very online"—follow her on Instagram and Twitter—with a keen understanding of the digital landscape and the challenges faced by contemporary authors. In this episode, we discuss what you need to know about pitching a literary agent, what agents are looking for in writers—and more. Carly Watters is a SVP and Senior Literary Agent at P.S. Literary. She began her publishing career in London as an assistant at the Darley Anderson Literary, TV and Film Agency. Carly joined Toronto-based P.S. Literary Agency in 2010 and has sold over 100 books during her career. She represents award-winning and bestselling authors in the adult fiction and non-fiction categories, and select children’s books. She is known for her long-term vision for her authors and being an excellent collaborator with a nose for commercial success. She has close ties to publishers in the major markets, is a member of the AALA, and works directly with film agents to option film and TV rights to leading networks and production companies. Her clients’ books have been translated into 40 languages, optioned for TV and film, adapted into podcasts, and have been on every bestseller list from coast to coast, including the New York Times, USA Today, the LA Times, the Washington Post, the Toronto Star, and theGlobe and Mail. Carly is also an annual judge for the Women’s Fiction Writing Association Rising Star Award. *** Otherppl with Brad Listi is a weekly literary podcast featuring in-depth interviews with today's leading writers. Launched in 2011. Books. Literature. Writing. Publishing. Authors. Screenwriters. Etc. Available where podcasts are available: Apple Podcasts, Google Podcasts, Spotify, Stitcher, iHeart Radio, etc. Subscribe to Brad Listi’s email newsletter. Support the show on Patreon Merch @otherppl Instagram YouTube TikTok Email the show: letters [at] otherppl [dot] com The podcast is a proud affiliate partner of Bookshop, working to support local, independent bookstores. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Transcript

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0:00.0	All right, folks, welcome to the podcast.
0:04.0	This is The Other People Show.
0:06.4	I am Brad Listy.
0:07.5	I am your host.
0:09.4	I have a great episode for you today.
0:11.4	Let's do some craft work.
0:14.3	Today I'm going to be talking with Carly Waters.
0:18.4	Carly is a literary agent.
0:24.1	She is a senior vice president and senior literary agent at PS literary in Toronto. And we are going to be talking about all things
0:34.6	literary agent. What is a literary agent?
0:38.1	How do you pitch a literary agent?
0:40.9	Why do you need a literary agent?
0:43.9	What does a good literary agent do?
0:48.2	I imagine this will be a useful conversation for a great many of you.
0:52.9	I am very excited about it and I'm very pleased to have
0:56.0	Carly Waters on this show. That conversation is coming up in just a bit. Today's episode is brought to you
1:04.0	by Melville House, publisher of a blazingly original new novel by debut author Genu Chong. It's called Flux. It is a mind-bending
1:15.1	and stylish neo-noir about a young man whose reality unravels when he begins to suspect that the
1:23.7	tech startup he works for has inadvertently discovered time travel and is using it to cover
1:31.9	up a string of violent crimes. Flux is a haunting and sometimes shocking exploration of the cyclical
1:42.0	nature of grief, of moving through trauma, and of the pervasive
1:48.6	nature of whiteness within the development of Asian identity in America. Best-selling author
	...

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