on her blog, that might be of interest to those embroiled in the whole business...

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Gah, I am a dimwit. Here is the link:

http://www.danutakean.com/blog/?p=179#more-179

Danuta Kean's usual good sense. She does say that specialist non-fiction (or even non-fiction in general) authors find it easiest to manage without an agent, but not quite so explicitly that it's pretty rare in fiction. I haven't checked recently but my impression is that publishers who will happily look at direct non-fiction submissions only accept agented fiction submissions.

Emma

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Have you noticed the quote at the top of her blog? WW rules!

I find DK's quote about an agent editing your work to make is as good as possible laughable, given my experience with one. You mean they actually edit your work!? I also find it very depressing to think that you cannot publish fiction without one.

Somtimes I just want to give up...

My agent edited my novel, in the sense of giving me some of the best feedback and advice I've had on it (and believe me, one way and another, I'd had plenty by then). Most agents are ex-editors, and dealing with authors and books is what they love: a few, deal-makers themselves, pay for editorial help for their authors. It sounds as if you were really unlucky.

The publicity about mega-deals, the Booker on the TV, universal secondary education, the word-processor, the entirely admirable loosening of preconceptions about class and education, the cheap laser printer... they've all contributed to an almost unmanageable flood of unsolicited submissions. It's hard for editors now employed by multi-nationals to justify logically the cost and inefficiency of slushpiles, so not accepting unagented submissions is one of the ways that they avoid having to. They're wrong, of course, and good publishing people know it: very little about the book trade is amenable to ordinary business logic.

I might point out that Headline, a publisher well-known for applying ruthless economic logic to its plans, is also one of the few that still accepts unagented submissions.

Mischa, I think wanting to give up comes with the territory. The difference is that the real writers, after they've sobered up/stood up/given up, wake up the next morning and, like you, don't.

Emma

With advances for many authors as low as £2,000

I used to think this was disgusting, that the work required to get a novel to this level deserves so much more, but right now £2k seems like a million! I guess your perspectives on money change as you get older.

I don't know if these links have been put up before but there is an interesting discussion here about advances and earnings for writing.

It also gives a link to this page which is a hilarious blog about writing.

Sorry if I'm repeating these - I just found them really interesting and informative !!

Of course, you don't need an agent to submit to Macmillan New Writing.

With advances for many authors as low as £2,000 I used to think this was disgusting, that the work required to get a novel to this level deserves so much more, but right now £2k seems like a million! I guess your perspectives on money change as you get older.

With print runs for new authors as low as 500-1500, I think £2000 is reasonable. If the book gets reprinted the royalties should start to roll in all that more quickly.

- Naomi