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.

  • The Importance of International Publicity

    10 Dec 2008

    Talking to Andrew Lownie , publicist Sandy Goroff reveals why international publicity is so important and how best it can be arranged. AL: What sort of books can be publicized and how does it vary depending upon the type of book and its international appeal? SG: Authors seek publicity for a number of reasons. For some, it is a matter of selling more books and for others (many) it is building a brand, increasing their name recognition and visbility or establishing themselves as an expert in a particular field. For many, the book is a platform with which to launch other projects, advance...Read more

  • Publicity Tips

    01 Dec 2008

    Journalist and novelist Liane Carter draws on her own experience to give tips on publicity. Her website is www.lianecarter.com. You throw your heart and soul into writing the book and suffer the painful growth of editing. But how much are you prepared to do when it comes to publicity? It can be uncomfortable approaching people and selling yourself. You may not have the funds - or want to part with them - to enhance your promotion. The trouble is if you´re not willing to invest in yourself, why should anyone else? First things first – you need a forum to sell your book. If...Read more

  • Writers Don't Have To Write Books

    25 Nov 2008

    Speechwriter, and former journalist, Brian Jenner, explains how it can take a long time for a writer to find a niche. Until well into my thirties I was troubled by the question, how am I ever going to earn a living? I sold stories to gossip columns, wrote a novel, worked in newspaper offices, had a job in internal communications, set up a local news website and did interviews for a Christmas-stocking book. I found what was fun, didn’t work out or didn’t pay. What I did enjoy was being part of a public speaking in a club in London. So one day I posted a website offering my ser...Read more

  • How to Snag an Agent in These Economic Times

    25 Nov 2008

    Jeff Rivera, the author of Forever My Lady (Grand Central) and the founder of GumboWriters.com, gives his tips on how best to sell yourself to an agent. I do extensive work with seasoned and aspiring writers to attract the right agent for them. I deal with literary agents every day on some level, either in matching them with the right authors or helping their clients to promote their current books, or even more important and lasting helping to build their authors' platforms. So, I'm in a very unique position to listen carefully to what agents are looking for and what they say they want r...Read more

  • No, I Didn’t Bring Down Wall Street Just to Sell My Book

    13 Oct 2008

    Selwyn Parker, whose The Great Crash, has just been published looks at the parallels between the current economic crisis and The Thirties. A week can be a long time in publishing. When veteran editor Alan Brooke, then with Piatkus shortly before it was sold to Little Brown, signed me to write a new history of the Wall Street Crash of ’29 and the horrors of the subsequent Great Depression, we both agreed over a glass of wine that the latest global boom was about to run its course and would end in tears fairly soon. So the timing looked serendipitous. Then, a few months before the cre...Read more

  • What on Earth Happened to Big History?

    12 Oct 2008

    Chris Lloyd, whose What on Earth Happened? has just been published, remembers how he had the idea for a book which tells the physical and human story of our planet and why history should be about ‘The Big Picture’. HOW OLD is the universe? When did life on Earth begin? Is Homo Sapiens the only species of humans ever to have existed? These three questions come from a five-minute, 15-question multiple-choice quiz that I posted on the web in late July. I wanted to sample what basic information we do and do not know about history. Within four weeks, several hundred people had ta...Read more