094: How to Get a Literary Agent (w/ Peter Cox)

Peter Cox is a best-selling author of more than 20 books and is the managing director of Redhammer Management, a London-based literary agency recognized by the Association of Authors’ Agents.   Redhammer specializes in managing a small number of exceptional authors, working closely with them at every stage of the journey from monitoring and supporting publisher’s performance to aggressively selling film, television, and all other rights.   In this episode, Peter and I talk about:  

• His work as a literary agent and how he got started
• The relationship between agent and author—and why his agency is different than most.
• Whether author should work with literary agents in different countries.
• How to query an agent (and what really captures their attention in a query letter and a proposal).
• How agents choose authors to represent
• What makes up an author platform and why it matters to agents
• The most important aspect of your book proposal
• How agents shop books
• The financial side of traditional publishing for authors and agents
• How to send him your query