Literary agents

NEW YORK -- More than 150 literary agents, whose clients include Danielle Jackson, V.E. Schwab and L.A. Chandlar, have signed an open letter to HarperCollins vowing to "omit" the publisher from upcoming book submissions until it reaches an agreement with striking employees.  Read more

The long, frustrating process of querying seems so one-sided. Most queries receive form rejections with cryptic phrases like "I didn't connect" or "just not for me," or fall into the deep valley of No response means no.

Amid a flurry of editors switching to becoming agents, those who have made the move suggest the pandemic and publishing's long hours have prompted the switch, as well as the two skill-sets becoming increasingly similar.

We aren't sending anyone to Frankfurt this year, but we're hopeful for the spring fairs," said Heather Baror-Shapiro, an agent who also oversees foreign rights for Baror International, when asked about plans for the upcoming Frankfurt Book FairWorld's largest trade fair for books; held annually mid-October at Frankfurt Trade Fair, Germany; First three days exclusively for trade visitors; general public can attend last two.. "Then again, we were hopeful about Frankfurt 2021 last year, too."

Christopher Little, who as a struggling literary agent took a chance on a scrappy submission about tween-age wizards - even though he once disdained children's fiction as a money-loser - and built it into the most successful literary empire in history on the strength of its lead character, Harry Potter, died on Jan. 7 at his home in London. He was 79.