All in all, I really enjoyed the Clelia Gore interview. I wish we were still in class to be able to interact more, but it is what is and we're making do! I'm grateful that Professor Stockman recorded it, and we are able to access it virtually.
Right off the bat, I feel like the term "literary managers" is a lot easier to interpret than "agent." Whenever someone says they're an agent, even though we have been learning about them, I'm still not entirely sure what the whole picture of their job entails. Hearing from Clelia how she manages writers gave me a better understanding. When she said something along the lines of, "The #1 responsibility of my job is to read bad writing," I thought it was really refreshing to hear. I feel like that would become tiring quickly, and I wonder (and admire) how she doesn't get discouraged! I wanted to know more about how she goes about finding her "diamonds in the rough" from a personal criteria standpoint, not just the publishing criteria of 1) Is it any good? and 2) Will it sell?
Another analogy she used which I liked was the idea of being a matchmaker for editors. It's a cool way to think about it and for me, it felt like it kind of humanized her job more. It makes me wonder though what happens if there is no possible match for editors. Does that mean a book just doesn't get published at that point, or is it put on hold until a perfect match eventually shows up? The super specific requests were entertaining as well from the Easter bunny books to the graphic novel about the history of underwear – I wonder why editors would want that story, but I'm sure it serves a greater purpose. From an interview standpoint, Clelia seemed like she was really fun to talk to and clearly passionate about her work.
I grew especially interested when the conversation steered towards subsidiary rights with the sheer number of films and tv shows popular right now that were based off books. To hear that one of her books was optioned by Disney and Apple + is impressive, and I wonder if that's impressive from her perspective as well. (Or maybe it's just impressive from mine because that seems like it would be a really big deal from a college student standpoint.) How common are deals like this? Is it an everyday occurrence, or do those deals pop up once in a blue moon? Also around this point in the interview is when I realized I didn't know how many different book rights existed (foreign rights, audio rights, ebook rights).
Her interview also made me feel more optimistic about the publishing world when she started talking about all the different submissions she receives, whether unsolicited or through referrals. To hear a publishing professional say, "My rule is to always say yes" warms my heart a bit. For me, it reestablished the importance of networking and connections because sometimes it really is a game of who you know. The concrete example of Wonder by A.J. Palacio, which is wildly successful today, helps add to the bigger picture, too.
Sometimes the publishing world can seem big and scary (especially now when who knows what will happen), so it was a nice and engaging interview to watch.
P.S. I'm trying to start Educated by Tara Westover. I will keep you guys updated.
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