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What does a literary agent do?
A literary agent will endeavour to sell a writer's work to a publisher in exchange for a commission - a percentage of the writer's advance once the deal has been done.
I always welcome approaches from potential clients and will try to read and respond to work as quickly as possibly. I consider all submissions myself.
What agency services do we offer?
I sell personally into the UK market. For the foreign language market, I work in association with the Capel & Land agency in London www.capelland.com . I either sell directly into the US myself, or if necessary use a specialist agency in New York. Film and TV rights are handled by me, in association with Capel & Land.
What kind of books is the agency looking for?
We are looking primarily for high quality fiction, commercial and literary - of all kinds, for all ages. We are particularly interested at the moment in Crime, Historical, and literary fiction with a strong storyline and a commercial flavour. We are also considering high quality non fiction projects - history, biography, current affairs.
If you send your work to us, you can generally expect a response within six to eight weeks though this may vary depending on the number of submissions we are currently dealing with. You will find more information about submitting work on our frequently asked questions page. Do read it, but if you find it doesn't answer your particular question, contact us at info@mckernanagency.co.uk.
Rejection letters can seem very cursory. It is not possible to go into any detail about the merits or demerits of a book - time and commercial considerations just don't allow it. If you want more substantial advice about your sumbission or a detailed response to it you might want to read the information about our literary consultancy, a new kind of editorial service unique to the McKernan Agency.
We charge a standard commission rate for home and overseas of 15%. We don't charge a reading fee.
If you would like to look at a standard agency agreement, of the kind you would be asked to sign if you joined this agency, click here.
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