Agent Interview: Peter Buckman

Distinctive story-telling

Henry Fielding, Laurence Sterne, Anthony Trollope, and anyone who can make the familiar seem fresh.

We are prompt and we are candid.

Read the submission guidelines, be honest, and be brief.

One paragraph describing the book and one describing the author, written with heart and wit but not trying too hard.

It starts by intriguing and goes on to be involving.

They send stuff we don't handle, like poetry, scripts, and stories for young children. They fail to include and email or a stamped addressed envelope that works in the UK. They address us as Sir/Madam or To Whom It May Concern. And for printed submissions, they're often hard to read because of single line spacing, a small font, and being printed on both sides of the paper. Not to mention being wrapped in parcel tape that means opening the package involves serious wrestling.

Enough to pique my interest. The most important things are their writing experience and their ideas for future books.

We get around 100 submissions a week, every week, and we know within a sentence or two if the writing engages and enthuses us.

We sign a Letter of Agreement laying out what we expect of them and what they can expect of us (the agreement can be terminated by either party at any time). We help them, using our long editorial experience, to get their story (whether fiction or non-fiction) finely tuned, and make their voice as clear and distinctive as possible. Then we enthuse about their book to publishers, and go on trying, however many rejections we may receive, until we run out of road. We make deals that are fair to both parties, and we fight our authors' corner, so that they know we are there for them.

I would say 10% of our time is spent in reading, 10% editing, 10% negotiating, and 70% nagging.