Hi Hazel, I work in another part of the publishing world - scientific, peer reviewed journals publishing - and love my work, but I have always dreamed of moving sideways into fiction publishing. Can you talk a bit about that side of the business? And also, how does one become an agent? Did you start your career working for a large fiction publisher, for example?
Hi Anne Marie - no, I’ve had a very varied career and didn’t get into publishing until I completed my MA in Creative Writing when I was forty. I was living in West Wales and was a single mother to seven-year-old triplets. Desktop publishing software had recently been invented and this, and the internet, made it viable to set up my own publishing company Accent Press. It started off tiny but grew to be quite sizeable and we won quite a few publishing awards. We were Jodi’s first publishers and we had enormous fun developing her career and readership. Eventually I realised she needed a larger publisher and she moved to Headline who are part of the Hachette group. They also bought Accent Press and I became Jodi’s agent.
I think that, if you are looking into becoming an agent, then some kind of qualification in Creative Writing would help. Doing my MA in Creative Writing was the most fun I’ve had with my clothes on - I’d urge you to give it a go!
Thanks for the advice, I just start writing my first novel but this will help me down the line. Thanks again
Hi Hazel, I work in another part of the publishing world - scientific, peer reviewed journals publishing - and love my work, but I have always dreamed of moving sideways into fiction publishing. Can you talk a bit about that side of the business? And also, how does one become an agent? Did you start your career working for a large fiction publisher, for example?
Hi Anne Marie - no, I’ve had a very varied career and didn’t get into publishing until I completed my MA in Creative Writing when I was forty. I was living in West Wales and was a single mother to seven-year-old triplets. Desktop publishing software had recently been invented and this, and the internet, made it viable to set up my own publishing company Accent Press. It started off tiny but grew to be quite sizeable and we won quite a few publishing awards. We were Jodi’s first publishers and we had enormous fun developing her career and readership. Eventually I realised she needed a larger publisher and she moved to Headline who are part of the Hachette group. They also bought Accent Press and I became Jodi’s agent.
I think that, if you are looking into becoming an agent, then some kind of qualification in Creative Writing would help. Doing my MA in Creative Writing was the most fun I’ve had with my clothes on - I’d urge you to give it a go!
What a fantastic adventure you’ve had getting to where you are now! Thank you so much for the insight and advice. :)