Today I'll speak to longtime literary agent, John Willig, in the second part of a two-part interview. In this episode, he tells us all about how he finds the best publisher fit for his clients and how he's seen the agenting landscape change over his years in the industry.

1:00 - Let’s say we've decided we're going to move forward John Willig is our agent and you are now pitching to the publishers So what happens well can you describe that process for us and how does that play out

• Well, it's kind of like the process of selling a home, the home being obviously physical property, and in a sense, we're selling intellectual property. So, you're putting that for sale sign out instead of sending it to a whole universe of potential buyers, typically agents will have an idea of what company and which editors they want to be pitching certain projects to.

• Once we have a package together, it’s a matter of submitting to those editors and hoping like as with selling a home, you are going to have multiple levels of interest in that home or book, and you might get a potential auction on the work.

• There’s a myriad of reasons why a publisher or editor might decline on a project, so I try to tell all of my clients to keep in mind a great old saying that someone once said to me, “that all rejection is God's protection.”
• ·Once the rejections come in, you become a real writer. It’s part of the process.

4:30 - I'm sure it varies tremendously from project to project but on average what's a typical timeline for hopefully getting a yes?

• You should get a good sense within a month or two from editors. These days it certainly can take a little bit longer. I'm advocating a lot to my clients to practice extreme patience.

• In any given year there's proximately 150,000 books published by traditional publishers in all categories so for every book that that's published I would venture to say that an editor is receiving 25-30 proposals. So, there is just a tremendous amount of volume in this whole world so again what is needed is that sort of patience.

• I mentioned to you earlier the one of my favorite movies Forrest Gump and in Forrest Gump we have that great scene with Lieutenant Dan on the top of the shrimp boats - and you have to have a little bit of that fire in the belly. You and your agent should have that about your work and your agent will find an editor that feels the same way.

8:15 – In a best-case scenario where we have a handful well maybe two or three editors who feel that way how do you help the author choose the right publisher for them?

• Part of it is information gathering for that author. You're looking at that editor that is engaged in the work and feels the book a great fit for their company, and we typically will set up conference calls to get a sense of the chemistry.

• This is a relationship that can last for years and hopefully beyond the individual book. All companies have their strengths and weaknesses but knowing what those are and having worked in the field, then you can bring that knowledge to your author and given their capabilities and what they're doing then you can conceivably work it out with a publisher.

9:50 - And for those authors who might be looking at the financial picture here, and are saying “why should I give this agent 15% of everything? I'll do it myself,” why should that author consider using an agent versus tackling it themselves?

• We discussed before about the hats that were wearing and the service that we're bringing and that goes beyond just the financials and the deals and the legal aspects of a contract.

• And that's also part of why a publisher would want to work with an agent or an agency is that they would they've worked with these folks there's a level of trust that's involved in that relationship so the editors will trust those agents and the agencies.

• The agent brings value and can help in terms of the collaboration that's going to be taking place whether it is about book covers or whether it is about scheduling—we're guiding the author through this process.

• I like to think of us in many ways is kind of like Sherpas where we're guides, helping you get to that next level with your book and with your aspiration's so that that's how we are in our 15%.

12:45 - And of course you mentioned COVID earlier, and obviously COVID has changed things for many people in many industries. How has it impacted the agenting landscape?

• Many authors are not doing as much speaking, or consulting, or conferences so it's probably the most challenging time for new authors to get published.

• That's not to say they can't, it’s just about coming into it knowing that this is a very challenging time because if I'm a publisher and I have hundreds and hundreds of current authors and many of them are proposing new books right now, it adds to the everyday traffic.
• Books that were scheduled to be published this spring have been pushed to the fall and winter, and that impacts marketing schedules and publicity schedules too.

14:45 - For those people who are listening, and they've fallen in love with John Willig and they want to work with you, are you currently accepting submissions and are you looking for anything in particular?

• I have a quote on my website, literaryservicesinc.com, from the late Sonny Mehta who was the editor in chief at Knopf and Random House, saying that on a good day he felt he had the best job in the world because he could open up his mail and someone will have sent him something that makes him say “Wow, I can’t believe this story hasn’t been told yet.”

• And that's the real kick in this business. Regardless of how much we have or we’re working with or whether it's someone who I've worked with for eight books and they're sending me their new one, or someone I don't know who has just sent me a query—if I get that kind of response, I'll follow up.

• I very much admire people whose work is research based. They’re weaving research in with their professional expertise, and knowledge, and anecdotes. I think those are the great books today—certainly in nonfiction—where the writers are in many ways like weavers, weaving this research with conversational and anecdotal stories that add to the book. That's sort of what I'm looking for and it can be in any category.

17:50 - So what other parting advice Would you like to offer the perspective authors listening to us today?

• I was reading about Ruth Bader Ginsburg recently and I was really struck by her approach, which was to accept the small victories, and she had an incremental approach to law and her career, and she was always building on those small victories and I think that there's a lot of wisdom in that.

• When it comes to the world of writing, I will say to folks who are aspiring to write books “have you written articles?” Because it’s all about building on those small victories.

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About John

After graduating from Brown University, John’s first job was as a sales representative in academic publishing. He soon began work as a marketing manager and then editor for HarperCollins. As his interests moved to trade publishing, he became an executive editor at Prentice Hall for business books. While at P-Hall, John enjoyed working with such authors as Henry Mintzberg, Philip Kotler and Jim Collins and acquired Mr.Collins' first book Beyond Entrepreneurship. In 1991 he decided to become a literary agent to work more closely with writers. Throughout his career as an editor and agent, John has successfully negotiated over 750 publishing agreements.