Interesting blog in th Guardian by Mark Liam Piggott, recently interviewed on WriteWords:

http://blogs.guardian.co.uk/books/2008/08/whats_the_point_of_literary_ag.html

here's the link to his WW interview as well:

http://www.writewords.org.uk/interviews/mark_liampiggott.asp

Thanks, Anna. The blog entries which followed were interesting - if somewhat depressing - too.
Susiex

Thanks Anna - I think that is really interesting and good luck to Mark

Sarah

Good luck to him, although I do think he's kind of answered his own question. He's published, yes, so to an extent he's achieved his goal, but as he himself points out, he wants more time and money to write. Surely a key part of a good agent's job is to negotiate as high an advance for their authors as possible.

Also, he might have managed to get his manuscript on to the desk at Legend, but he wouldn't get anywhere near, say, Hodder - and the big publishing houses are where most of the money is. Agents open doors for you in that way, too. I suppose it comes down to what his priorities are - seeing his work in print, being paid to do it full-time, gaining a small loyal readership, breaking through to the mass-market, etc etc.