Authors are leaving and threatening to leave HarperCollins, and one of the country's most powerful literary agents, Michael Sissons, said that he would think twice about offering the publisher his clients' books.
Owen Laster, one of the most powerful literary agents of his generation, who ran William Morris's worldwide literary operations and had a long list of best-selling writers that included James A. Michener and Gore Vidal, died on Wednesday at his home in Manhattan.
Last year I wrote a 360-page book that attracted the attention of one of the world's most celebrated literary agents.
Because poetry sales are tiny in booktrade terms (0.06% of UK sales), and the field is so small - with just 10 imprints publishing most of the significant poets - literary agents don't usually handle poetry.
In book publishing, literary agents for the most part aren't changing the way they define their work as much as they are being pummeled by technology and events into doing more of what they have been doing all along, only in a wider universe.
Another route is to find a literary agent; literary agents will do most of the behind-the-scenes work for you once you've completed your story.
Pitch sessions are a staple at most writers conferences, offering authors the opportunity to sit down face-to-face with literary agents to talk about their projects.
They are publishing's underpaid handmaidens, assistants to editors and literary agents, lured by their love of books into some of the city's most thankless jobs.
India Ink asked writers, publishers, literary agents and fans of the five-day Jaipur Literature Festival what events they are most looking forward to this year.
Solution: Most writers, regardless of talent level, face 1 out of 100 odds when it comes to submitting to literary agents and editors.
