Working with authors
‘It depends on the state that the manuscript comes in. There are some that need minor tweaks, and others that need to be structurally overhauled. I enjoy editing with authors - a book feels like puzzle pieces to me, and we need to get it in the correct order to understand what that book is before sending it out. It's also fascinating to see what an editor does to make a book even better...
A lot of our authors aren't full time authors - they still have their day jobs, or they're still students. We make sure that we set expectations, but if an author needs to take a few months to make sure that their living situation or their job is okay, that's fine. An author needs to be in a place where they can write a book so that we can represent them. There's a lot of communication involved, and that changes per author, depending on what they need. You have to be a chameleon and change to make sure each author gets the best care.'
Liza DeBlock at London literary agency Mushens Entertainment in BookBrunch