The oars were silver,
Which to the tune of flutes kept stroke, and made
The water which they beat to follow faster,
As amorous of their strokes.

Antony & Cleopatra, II, 2

 

It was St. Paddy’s Eve, after all, when London-based agent Bonnie Jonny Geller let out with his Agent’s Manifesto. This prominent man o’ the industry said that publishers need to stop dissing their own authors, baby. He said those authors know more about whether the cover’s right or the marketing plan is wrong than the smarties inside the publishing house do — because the book is the author’s creation.

And oh, there was joy in Mudville then.

• Finally, said we, someone with a prime perch in the big cage.
• Finally, said we,  somebody of real pith and purpose turns to look toward the authors and sees them where they stand faithfully waiting and waiting and waiting.
• Finally, said we, someone who can call to account the manicured publishers, line them up in one Saville row, and make them see at last, see at last, thank God almighty, they can see at last how short is the shrift they’ve given the very writers who polish their marble and burnish their brass.  [Read more…]