Human relationships
A literary agent can be so much more than just a business operator, says Piers Blofeld
From the
OTHER SIDE OF THE DESK
When I started out as an agent I adopted a policy of accepting any and every invitation to be on a panel or do agent one-to-ones or pitching sessions.
This was back in the first flush of the KDP self-publishing boom and not only were there loads of writers’ conferences and the like, but I thought that one of the chief criticisms levelled at this industry, that it was remote, mysterious and elitist, was a very valid one. I’m pretty passionate about the fact that none of us should take ourselves too seriously. Or rather that the only people to take seriously are the amazing writers who make the whole thing happen. It is their shoulders people like me stand on and not the other way round.