What it takes to be a literary agent

Skill Issue

My assumption is that most people reading this Substack are writers. But sometimes people ask what it takes to be a literary agent, so I figured I’d write a short post on that. There are many ways of being a literary agent; many different personality types thrive in this job. My way of being is not the only way of being although obviously I think it is the best (lol).

How to become a literary agent is kind of another question: it’s an apprenticeship job and the barriers to entry can be very easy at some agencies and really rigorous at others. But this post is: what are the conditions that allow an agent to stay, and thrive, in this industry?¹

*I’m prepping a Q&A post! Email or message me your querying/publishing/agenting Q’s that you’d like answered in an upcoming post!*