Books have held an unassailable seat as one of our most beloved forms of media for centuries. No matter the disruptions in technology, since the invention of the printing press, books remain one of our most cherished ways to tell stories, capture character and pass down history. But before a book lands on our bookshelf, the wheels of an entire industry have been turning, often for years, to bring that book to market. Like with anything that we consume, tastes govern book trends. This is where the literary agent comes in. For many of us the agent is the person who buys and sells books. But one of the most overlooked aspects of a literary agent’s work, is as a tastemaker.
For Carly Watters, the ability to shape a career around books is a dream. Carly is a Senior Literary Agent and Director of Literary Branding at P.S. Literary and she has a talent for finding commercial fiction. Carly has built a reputation as a bellwether for book club fiction and discovering new and emerging authors that sell.
After completing a bachelor’s degree at Queens University and getting an M.A. in Publishing Studies from City University, London, England, Carly began to work in Canada’s publishing industry, slowly building her client list and reputation. I ask her how she developed a nose for a good book.
“Some of it is strategic and some of it is gut. You can learn and develop the strategic side over time. I’m constantly studying the market and paying attention to books that start a conversation. But a large part of it is going where my gut leads me. I’ve done some blog to book deals and Twitter account to book deals. That’s the part where something about someone’s writing just strikes a chord with you.”
Not unlike a sommelier that sips hundreds of wines before selecting the perfect pairing, Carly reads hundreds of manuscripts a year (out of the thousands she is pitched) before selecting a few to pick up and try to sell to publishers. Being in the business of books, Carly treats agenting much like a business or entrepreneurial venture. We talk about how an agent can build their brand and reputation in the literary world.
“It takes a long time to build a commissionable life. Most people don’t realize that a typical book’s production cycle is two years, which means from the moment you sell it to the publisher, to the moment it hits the shelves, you’re working on it.”
“It takes a long time to build a commissionable life. Most people don’t realize that a typical book’s production cycle is two years, which means from the moment you sell it to a publisher, to the moment it hits the shelves, you’re working on it. Commissions are typically paid out in parts and so between working on the book deals in production and constantly mining the slush pile for emerging voices, you need to build a healthy client roster to be making a good living from agenting. I’m always looking for emerging voices but following through on every promise and making a good pitch is a big part of how you build your brand. I want editors getting an email from me to be confident that they are going to see great stuff.”
If you’re a booklover, being in the business of discovery in the literary world is exciting. Not only do you get to see what people are writing about and get exposed to hundreds of new voices, but you also get to set trends. I ask Carly about emerging trends in the literary world and what genres excite her.
“I want to hear from what we in the industry call #ownvoices authors, that are writing about what they want to write about. I’m interested in commercial, diverse characters from a BIPOC point-of-view.”
“Right now, I’m excited about BIPOC (Black, Indigenous and People of Color) authors in the commercial space. I think traditionally BIPOC authors have been relegated to writing about struggle and trauma. Many Black authors’ works have centered around racial trauma, or Asian authors’ works have been about the immigrant experience. Just because that’s what the market has dictated, doesn’t mean that’s the only space BIPOC writers can live in. I want to hear from what we in the industry call #ownvoices authors, that are writing about what they want. I’m interested in commercial, diverse characters from a BIPOC point-of-view,” she tells me.
This is the perfect example of the agent helping to guide the industry’s hand when it comes to building taste. Carly as an advocate for BIPOC writers and clients, is making an impact on the industry to sit up and pay attention to an entire cohort of writers whose voices have been siloed into the genres of trauma and strife.
“I am also interested in diverse writers within the cookbook space, which is currently saturated with writers from the mommy blogosphere. There is a market for #ownvoices food writers, and I think as an industry, we need to make space for more diverse stories and writing.”
It’s an interesting point that Carly brings up and one I haven’t considered before. As a woman of color of South Asian descent, I grew up on a steady diet of books like The God of Small Things, by Arundhati Roy, anything and everything by Khaled Hosseini and Interpreter of Maladies by Jhumpa Lahiri — all beautiful, evocative and passionate works that moved me, but all works whose nexus was either trauma or the immigrant experience. As a voracious reader, I too would love to see funny, joyful works by authors of color.
But publishing, like all industries has its own challenges and barriers, especially for women and people of color. I ask Carly about some of the challenges female writers face when trying to break into the publishing industry.
“I think women writers are often pigeon-holed into ‘women’s fiction’ or ‘beach reads,’ especially if they are talking about domestic topics. When male authors write about the same topics, they are considered ‘literary.’”
“I think women writers are often pigeon-holed into ‘women’s fiction’ or ‘beach reads,’ especially if they are talking about domestic topics. When male authors write about the same topics, they are considered ‘literary.’ In fact, there’s no such thing as a ‘men’s fiction,’ genre. That’s starting to change, and I would like to see the publishing industry push the boundaries in a more positive direction. An example of a boundary pusher is Department of Speculation by Jenny Offil. The book is a serious meditation on motherhood and marriage and ambivalent motherhood. That’s an important conversation and by no means a ‘low-brow,’ topic.”
Beyond being a tastemaker, Carly is also an advocate for her clients. She is keenly aware of the important conversations around racism, social injustice, and the rampant abuse BIPOC people continue to face in Canada and the United States, and she wants the publishing industry to sit up and take notice.
“I am curious to see what we learned this year. Shortly after the Black Lives Matter protests, we saw books that tackle racism and social injustice skyrocket to the New York Times’ bestseller lists. I’ve already started to see a change in acquisition terminology that editors use when passing on a book. A lot of it used to be ‘I don’t connect with this character or author,’ but if that’s a common response to Black authors or authors of color (and it historically has been), it speaks to the biases we hold as an industry.”
For me books have always felt like an adventure, where I am the explorer delving into the words and worlds from someone else’s imagination. I love the feeling of wistfulness I get when finishing a great book that kept me reading into the middle of the night, wishing for just a few more pages. Carly Watters is one of many brilliant minds that enter this adventure every single day and walk the path of discovery to bring so many of our most beloved stories to life. Her work as agent, dealmaker, advocate and above all talent scout is in so many ways an art form that can’t be taught. It’s developed over a lifetime of reading and finding a home in the world of books, and then bringing a piece of that home to the reader.
The journey from an idea in an author’s notebook to published novel on your bookshelf is long and serpentine. We may have romantic notions of uniquely brilliant talents toiling in relative isolation but the reality is that long before you can buy it, that book was helped along by many pairs of hands; editors, publishers, promoters, distributors. Perhaps the most important of which, aside from the author themselves, is the agent. For many authors, especially first timers, this is the first person (not counting supportive mothers, friends, and partners) that believes in their work. They walk the long journey with the author, from an idea or unfinished manuscript to that beautifully bound book we can’t wait to add to our shelf.
