Literary agents play a critical role in the traditional publishing business model, but where do they fit in a Digital Book World?
Three breakout sessions at the 2010 Digital Book World Conference addressed that question from several different angles, and offered here is the audio from each session as well as links to Jane Friedman’s excellent recaps.
Back-Loaded Book Deals: No (and Low) Advance Contracts, Profit-Sharing and Other Innovative Business Models
Speakers: Roger Cooper, Perseus Vanguard; Robert Miller, HarperStudio; Ira Silverberg, Sterling Lord; Mary Ann Naples, The Creative Culture
Moderator: Lorraine Shanley, Market Partners International
Back-Loaded Book Deals: The Biggest Bright Spot in Publishing’s Future?
By Jane Friedman, Publisher & Editorial Director, Writer’s DigestIndustry optimism may have been witnessed at its most profound during the “Back-Loaded Book Deals” panel at the 2010 Digital Book World Conference, featuring two publishers and two agents—a combination that could’ve resulted in tremendous verbal duels, but rather conveyed a spirit of collaboration, innovative thinking, and true partnership between authors, agents, and publishers. The idealistic tone reached such heights that moderator Lorraine Shanley of Publishing Trends sardonically remarked that she might cry.
But it was indeed a moment of remarkable insight into what the engine of publishing is, and what valuable purpose publishers serve.
Tomorrow’s Book Contract: New Language and Provisions to Reflect New Conditions
Speakers: Miriam Kriss, Irene Goodman Agency; Simon Lipskar, Writer’s House; John Schline, Penguin Group USA; Devereux Chatillon, Sonnenschein Nath & Rosenthal LLP
Moderator: Richard Curtis, Richard Curtis Associates, Inc.
Tomorrow’s Book Contract
By Jane Friedman, Publisher & Editorial Director, Writer’s DigestAgents were breaking out their calculators at the 2010 Digital Book World Conference, discussing the nitty-gritty of future book deals during the very nuts-and-bolts panel, “Tomorrow’s Book Contracts,” moderated by agent Richard Curtis.
Curtis organized the panel by asking each agent to propose a provision or revision to future book contracts. Here’s what the agents presented…
The Changing Agent-Author Relationship: How it Will Affect the Business Model
Speakers: Gail Hochman, Brandt & Hochman Literary Agents, Inc.; Scott Waxman, Waxman Literary Agency; Brian DeFiore, DeFiore and Company; Wendy Keller, Keller Media, Inc.
Moderator: Sara Nelson, Oprah’s Book Club
The Changing Agent-Author Relationship
By Jane Friedman, Publisher & Editorial Director, Writer’s DigestIf contracts between publishers and authors are changing—and if there are far fewer traditional deals to go around—then what does the future look like for agents? What kind of business models can they adopt while still acting ethically?
Former Publishers Weekly editor Sara Nelson moderated this conversation among four agents at the 2010 Digital Book World Conference, some of whom run their business the same way they did 20 or 30 years ago, while others have adopted new methods of partnering with authors.
The panel addressed the most sensitive and timely issues that are constantly debated across writers’ communities.
