Hi guys -

I've not been around much for over a year. I have many good excuses for that which I will excuse myself with one day.

In the meantime, something unexpected has happened and I was hoping for some advice.

Primarily I am a first time novelist. My novel is in first draft stage; a few publishers and agents have seen extracts from it and expressed strong interest in reading it when it's complete. It's a comedy work of literary fiction. I will finish it this year.

So I've been bashing on with the day job, doing odds and sods of writing, and am planning to take some time out over summer to complete the novel with a view to getting agented and published.

Now, one of my small time writing jobs is a blog for a website. I write in the style of a comical character. From nowhere, one of the broadcasters has picked up on it and is expressing interest in turning her into an animated cartoon series... QUELLE EXCITEMENT!

I thought this was just talk, but it's getting quite serious, we're talking about contracts, and I feel like I need an agent type to help me get a decent deal.

All the agents I'm in touch with are the literary type and not the TV / script /animation type. I have no idea who to ask or where to look.

Anyone? Anyone?

Any suggestions would be HIGHLY appreciated. I promise not to disappear again. Thanks.

ShinyK

You could try PDF. They are supposed to be building representation in the media (TV, Movies, etc, as well as books).

- NaomiM

<Added>

Great news, btw. I'd love to read the blog.

Or even PFD?

William Morris do everything, as do Curtis Brown, I think.

You could try asking The Writers Guild - like the Society of Authors but more stage and screen.

Emma

PDF! Curtis Brown! How grown up!

Thanks guys, I'll keep you posted...

Katie

PFD, even!

Too much Adobe Acrobat, I tell you...

SK

Shinykate, meant to say a) how exciting - congratulations - and b) there's a thread in Private Members about 'What do you look for in an agent' and towards the end the question of finding an agency who can look after all the different sides of your writing. Not always the same person, but the same agency. If you're getting that much interest in your novel already, it might be worth thinking about trying to find somewhere who could cope with both aspects of you. I assume that United Agents, where most of the big PFD names decamped to, also represents scripts etc. as well as fiction, so they might be worth a look. In fact I'm fairly sure the WAAYB listings do say if they represent scripts and so on (I know yours isn't a script, but it would be a broadcasting-style contract) though if you want to develop your career in that direction you'd want to check out that they did it seriously, not just doing it as a favour to existing clients.

Emma

PDF have taken on a number of new Agents to 'fill the gaps', who have been building their client lists, so certainly a good time to contact the Agency.

Thanks again. I'll dig up that thread.

In real life I work in TV production - which is slightly how this started happening - so I'm not entirely unfamiliar with the way these things work, but I've just got no idea what I should be asking for or can expect... It's all outside my range of experience... hence thinking some agenty input would be worth its weight in gold.

That said, I've just had a very bad day with my script drafts, so maybe I spoke too soon!

SK