Deborah Crewe - How We Work Together
12 Jun 2014
Deborah Crewe’s recent ghosted memoirs range from senior political figures to a West Country vet and Essex Bad Girl. Here she explains what having an agent means to her.
What is it like having an agent?
Well, first of all it’s extremely glamorous. It’s worth having an agent just to be able to casually drop him into conversation. For example:
‘How do you find work?’
‘Well, sometimes my agent finds work for me.’
‘Wow, you have an agent!’
Second, it allows me to quote endlessly (to myself, under my breath) the funniest film ever, Tootsie.
George Fields: Where do you come off sending me your roommate’s play for you to star in? I’m your agent, not your mother! I’m not supposed to find plays for you to star in - I’m supposed to field offers! And that’s what I do!
Michael Dorsey: ‘Field offers?’ Who told you that, the Agent Fairy? That was a significant piece of work - I could’ve been terrific in that part.
George Fields: Michael, nobody’s gonna do that play.
Michael Dorsey: Why?
George Fields: Because it’s a downer, that’s why. Because nobody wants to produce a play about a couple that moved back to Love Canal.
Michael Dorsey: But that actually happened!
George Fields: WHO GIVES A SHIT? Nobody wants to pay twenty dollars to watch people living next to chemical waste! They can see that in New Jersey!
I’ve never yet known Andrew to shout ‘WHO GIVES A SHIT’. But he will tell me straight up when I bring him an idea that is like watching people living next to chemical waste. I hugely value this honesty. Like pulling off a plaster fast, it hurts a little, but it saves a lot of time.
Third, having an agent opens doors. Andrew is a brand. And his brand values, I think, are hard work, strong relationships, and quality writing. That means he makes me revise and re-revise my proposal until it is as good as it can be. It means he knows which editors are going to love my proposal. It means those editors tend to take the time to read it, because it comes from Andrew. Yes, Andrew handles the negotiations and the contract and the money, and that is fantastic because it would be fiddly and a bit awkward to do it myself. But that, for me, is the least of it.
What is it like having an agent? It is like having my own personal coach, clairvoyant, fixer, gamer, cheerleader. It’s like having a trusty guide through a strange and daunting landscape.
