andrew lownie literary agency

Articles

Andrew Lownie uses his expert knowledge in the publishing field to maximise the potential of his clients and build up their careers. Here Andrew Lownie, and some of his clients and guest columnists, share advice on a variety of topics to writers. Elsewhere on the site you can find a Frequently Asked Questions list on literary agents, as well as advice for submitting work to agents.

  • Even more Submissions

    22 Jun 2011

    Andrew Lownie continues his series of extracts from recent submissions. SOME SALUTATIONS Very dear Andrew, Dear Mr. Andrew, Greetings Mr. Lownie, Dear Anthony Lownie, Dear Gentle People To the Agency, Dear Editor, Dear Sir/Madam at the Andrew Lownie Literary Agency, Dear Mrs Lownie: Dear Lovely One, Hello Man, Greetings from a finally snow-free Minnesota! Dear ; Dear Art Director , Hi Good Day, Hello Andrew Lownie Agency Hello All, The Chief Executive Officer, Literary Agency, Andrew, hello Dear! Hi there. Hello Andy, ...Read more

  • How a blank book got to the top of the Amazon charts

    02 Apr 2011

    Shed Simove explains how he wrote and published a global bestseller in nine days. Bam! It was a simply unbelievable moment. Except that it actually, really happened. I stared at my computer screen. There, sitting in my inbox was an email that confirmed that the world around me had gone totally and utterly, bone-fide, stark-raving, strait-jacket wearing, barmy bonkers...mad. I read the first line. It said: ‘Shed!!! Your book is number 44 on Amazon... Congratulations!’ So, how on earth did a blank book become a worldwide bestseller? The background behind this remarkable occ...Read more

  • An Agency Week

    28 Mar 2011

    Andrew Lownie charts a recent week. MONDAY As always, numerous e mail submissions have come in overnight including: “a very exciting novel concerning the waste industry”; “ a series of 200 year historical wall calendars featuring various themes and running from the year of 1900 to 2100”; “a gag book about the United States Health Care Plain (sic)”; an oral history of East Harlem; “a compendium of more than 150 recipes (most other books stop at 100) for soups in a variety of cuisines and styles”; “an ethnobotanical investigation on the ancient shepherds use of entheogens. ...Read more

  • Agents are More Important than Ever in a Digital 'Change Environment'.

    28 Feb 2011

    Susan Farrell-Lewis, an MA student in Professional Writing at the University of Falmouth, gives details of her survey, to which Andrew Lownie contributed, into the role of agents in the new digital age. Did you see the Coen brother’s film Oh Brother Where Art Thou? The Soggy Bottom Boys (George Clooney and his mates on the run from a prison) sing into ‘this ‘ere old tin can ‘ere in this new-fangled radio station and git 10 dollar’s each.’ They laughed so much: money for singing the music they loved! Of course it all worked out in the end, the Coen bro...Read more

  • Self-publishing on Kindle

    28 Feb 2011

    Christine Nicholls explains how she self-published her book Red Strangers on Kindle. How easy was it? It took time and effort. The major problem was that I did not have an electronic proofed version. I had sent the version electronically to the publisher, but proofs had been on paper, and I had no copy of the changes and corrections I had made. I had to ask someone to read the electronic version against the published book and make them identical. She did it free, but it would be a cost for many people. The self-publishing hints on the Kindle website appeared to be helpful, but were...Read more

  • Further Submission Tips

    25 Feb 2011

    Drawing on recent submissions and with the exact spelling and punctuation, Andrew Lownie continues his series on dos and don'ts when approaching an agent. ADDRESS THE AGENT PROPERLY Good day, Dear Beloved One Dear Andy Hello Lownie Gentle Andrew Lownie Literary Agency Dearest One, My Greetings with due Respect Dear Andrew Lownie agency reader Honorable sir or ms Dear Mighty One Dear Andrew Lownie Staff Member Dear Lownie Dear The Andrew Lownie Literary Agency Team Dear Andrew Lownie Lit Complement of the day to yo...Read more