Comments on: Meet Agent Laurie McLean

By: Jordan Summers

Jordan Summers — Fri, 27 Aug 2010 14:20:50 +0000

Thanks for clarifying, Laurie.

By: Laurie McLean

Laurie McLean — Wed, 25 Aug 2010 22:27:53 +0000

Thanks, Ann and Deb. I just went to a symposium today called “The Disintermediation of Publishing”, and rather than walking away wondering if I’d have a job in five years, I left even more convinced that authors need business savvy, forward-thinking agents in their corner as we all move forward in these choppy publishing waters.

By: Ann Lethbridge

Ann Lethbridge — Wed, 25 Aug 2010 21:20:03 +0000

Thank you for your positive outlook and the advice on what to look for when choosing an agent.

By: Deb Marlowe

Deb Marlowe — Wed, 25 Aug 2010 14:48:13 +0000

Thanks for being here, Laurie! I love your idea of agent as an author advocate. I know I wouldn’t want to negotiate all the current and coming changes without my agent by my side!

By: Laurie McLean

Laurie McLean — Wed, 25 Aug 2010 14:34:16 +0000

Anna and Nancy, thanks for the comments. Sure it’s a scary time. But the flip side of crisis is opportunity and I see a ton of them out there for fearless writers!

Jordan, any kind of eBook or eStory or eRant is a digital release. Don’t worry about qualifying it. Instead expand your definition of it. Now is not the time to limit. It’s the time to experiment and build your author brand in any and all ways.

By: Nancy Herkness

Nancy Herkness — Wed, 25 Aug 2010 14:20:45 +0000

I agree with Anna. It’s nice to hear a positive outlook on the publishing biz in these changing times. The electronic revolution is exciting but also a bit scary since no one knows how it’s going to shake out. Right now, I think your offer of career-coaching is going to be very important to your clients. Thank you for the encouraging post!

By: Jordan Summers

Jordan Summers — Wed, 25 Aug 2010 14:17:02 +0000

Hi Laurie,

Thanks for your insights.

You mentioned above that agents of the future need to be able to sell and resell, along with determining whether a project is better suited for digital release. I’m curious what you mean by a digital release. Do you mean having the author release the book on their own via Kindle/iBookstore? Or are you referring to one of the publishers that don’t offer an advance?

Thanks!

By: Anna Jacobs

Anna Jacobs — Wed, 25 Aug 2010 13:06:21 +0000

Great post, Laurie. I like your upbeat attitude about the future. Publishing feels to be such a big melting pot at the moment.

If I might inject a personal note, your colleague Michael Larson took the trouble to scrawl a few lines to me 20 years ago before I was published, saying he didn’t represent my sort of book, ‘but you can certainly write’. That one comment helped keep me going for a couple more years till I did get published, so please thank him for me. I’ve now got 50 novels published.