If you’re looking to enter into the publishing field, chances are you will spend “some” time assisting someone else – as an agent’s assistant, an editor’s assistant, an executive assistant, or some combination of all three and perhaps, even, to more than one person – plus more.
The early aughts of the publishing career feels, in some ways, similar to the early years of college – you’re introduced into a generalist-esque education, dipping your hands across multiple tasks and responsibilities, some of which will be in line with your interests and others that you might be scratching your head at – maybe it has nothing at all to do with what you’re interested in!
But even so, don’t write off the stretch of focus. I noted “plus more” because it’s during this time that you might find yourself performing adjacent tasks such as navigating contracts or monitoring a live submission – maybe even partaking in the behind-the-scenes of an auction! But you might also find yourself with tasks that don’t seem so pertinent to your growth – maybe you’re stuck reading manuscripts for a genre you have no interest in, or you might be running socials for your agency, or you may be responsible for international rights even if you have no interest in translations or the larger, global market – the stretch of tasks you can receive are and can be wide ranging (for myself, it was in fact the three I mentioned above). This said, for the most part, these tasks aren’t necessarily a waste of your time.
In my one year as a formal assistant to two agents and in my one year as an associate agent, I found that my primary tasks were wide-ranging, yet incredibly informative. I was able to lean into the areas I really wanted to learn and grow in: contracts, networking, international rights. And though I might not have liked it at the time, being forced to cover socials and reading in genres outside of my interest introduced me to two important aspects to the job – one’s own business marketing plan (and agenting is a business) and one’s understanding of the larger market.
When I started, as a mid-career transfer leaving academia, I was certain I would represent nothing but the most critical of literary works. But you follow enough deals, and you start to realize how much literary fiction sells for versus how much, say, romantasy sells for. You also learn things like the amount of effort it takes to make a fiction manuscript viable versus preparing a perfected, tight-knit proposal. You catch on to what works so well in commercial writing that keeps readers coming back, and what about literary fiction remains stunning and beautiful, but ultimately not the narrative for the larger market.
As an associate agent (or even an assistant, if that’s where you are), my advice is to pay attention to everything. You should strengthen yourself in your interests so you can perform them well once you’re on your own, but you should also keep your mind open to what other lessons are being taught all around you. Different agents work in different ways. They also specialize in different ways. And, perhaps most important, they all build a living in different ways. Stretch yourself as an associate, try to work with as many people as you can, learn the countless different ways this job is done, and figure out what will be shape of your own future practice.
