What is an agent and how do I get one? – with Aoife Lennon-Ritchie

06/21/24 • 34 min

Good agents are the fairy grandparents of page and screen. They get writers; and they get writers paid.

Most jobs in publishing are done by humans flying solo – writers and freelancers working from home, running their own show. That can be lonely work. Especially as a writer, it's just not possible, on your own, to know everything and everyone you need to know to turn your talent into a viable business. For that, most writers need an agent. What does an agent do? And how do you get one?

Aoife Lennon-Ritchie is the founder of the Lennon-Ritchie Agency, which works in commercial book publishing, and the managing director of Torchwood, which represents writers in film and TV. She joins Arthur to talk about being and getting an agent, negotiating contracts, and writing for TV and film.

Links from the show:

The Lennon-Ritchie Agency
Torchwood Literary & Scouting Agency
Screen Daily article about the launch of Torchwood.
Publisher’s Weekly article on the 2022 Sharjah Book Fair, quoting Aoife.
Sharjah International Book Fair
‘Behind the Scenes: African Filmmakers and Writers on Interplay and Adaptation’ – a panel discussion including Aoife.

Good agents are the fairy grandparents of page and screen. They get writers; and they get writers paid.

Links from the show:

The Lennon-Ritchie Agency
Torchwood Literary & Scouting Agency
Screen Daily article about the launch of Torchwood.
Publisher’s Weekly article on the 2022 Sharjah Book Fair, quoting Aoife.
Sharjah International Book Fair
‘Behind the Scenes: African Filmmakers and Writers on Interplay and Adaptation’ – a panel discussion including Aoife.

Previous Episode

Innovation and impact in open-access publishing – with Frances Pinter

Open-access publishing models are so ubiquitous today that we forget they had to be invented first – by bold, generous publishers.

In this episode, Arthur talks to one of those inventors: Frances Pinter has been pioneering for decades, running her own academic publishing company for over twenty years, and then leading publishing programmes in Eastern Europe for the Open Society Institute. She’s been the founding publisher at Bloomsbury Academic, the CEO of Manchester University Press, a fellow at the LSE and the University of London, and founded the groundbreaking organisation Knowledge Unlatched. Today, she’s the Executive Chair of the Central European University Press.

Frances and Arthur talk about Knowledge Unlatched, her work in Eastern Europe, maintaining quality in publishing, the impact of open-access publishing on COVID research, and what it takes to start a new publishing business today.

Links from the show:

Next Episode

'Books beg to be discussed' – with Anderson P. Smith

Why are book clubs so transformative, and can they change the world?

When we read a book we love, no matter how outlandish or challenging it is, we recognise in it the way we believe the world works. And that is profoundly affirming. It reassures you that your life has a place, no matter what mangled shape it’s in. And if you can share that with others, and talk about what that book means for each of you, you step back into the real world a little renewed, a little stronger, and a little more equipped to change it.

Arthur’s guest in this episode has seen this often, first-hand, as bibliotherapy: Dr Anderson P. Smith works with book clubs and writers who are in or have been in prison, and has studied the profound effect that reading circles can have on people who are rebuilding their lives. And his insights on reading, reflection, and action extend to anyone in the business of making books or changing minds.

How Books Are Made - What is an agent and how do I get one? – with Aoife Lennon-Ritchie

Transcript

Arthur Attwell00:00:03.520

Hello, and welcome to How Books Are Made, a podcast about the art and science of making books. I'm Arthur Attwell.

Arthur Attwell00:00:22.010

Most jobs in publishing are done by humans flying solo. Writers and freelancers working from home and running their own show. And the hardest part of doing that, the part that leaves you feeling tired and desperate and so lonely, the hardest part is just getting paid.