Anish Chandy, a seasoned professional in the publishing industry, initially served as a senior commissioning editor at Penguin Random House. In 2014, Anish Chandy founded the Labyrinth Literary Agency, a venture that reflects his passion for literature and the written word.
Ashutosh Kumar Thakur spoke to Anish Chandy about the role of literary agents for the writers to get their books published and the present market scenario in both India and South Asia, providing insights into the challenges and opportunities in the dynamic literary landscape.
Can you share insights into the current trends in the market for poetry and fiction/non-fiction books in India and South Asia, including countries like Nepal, Pakistan, Sri Lanka and Bangladesh?
A variety of books go to these countries as exports from India, but their market sizes are not large enough yet. There’s a wide variety of impressive literature that comes out of these countries, especially fiction. Non-fiction is on an upward trend. Fiction is on a slight downward trend and the poetry market will always be niche.
As a literary agent, what criteria do you consider when deciding to represent a first-time writer? How crucial is an author’s platform and social media presence in the decision-making process?
Primarily there are two criteria that we consider: One is the quality of the writing and second is the product market fit that we can find. Can we find enough of a readership for that specific type of writing. Now in terms of the author’s social media presence, it is not mandatory in all the genres. For example, in fiction, it’s probably not that important. But in some non-fiction genres like self-help or business, it is very important to have a large social media following. But increasingly having a social media following is going to be an important metric in the future.
Small-town writers often face challenges in finding the right publishing houses. What advice would you give to aspiring writers from smaller towns to navigate the publishing industry and connect with literary agents?
So now, because everybody is available online, information is available. The number one thing someone should not say is that, you know, my life is difficult because I am from a small town. What they need to do is, first of all is write a great manuscript. Then put in some work in doing homework on literary agents and publishing houses to figure out how they want to be pitched and then patiently follow the pitching instructions that various literary agents and publishers put out into the market. All the information is available out there, but this homework must be done by the aspiring small-town writer.
How has the role of a literary agent evolved over the years, especially in terms of supporting and guiding first-time writers through the complexities of the publishing process?
Historically literary agents used to spend a lot of time purely on the editorial or creative aspects of the book. But over the years it has evolved into more of a market-facing role and advising the author on various marketing distribution activities as well. Also taking the book and having it adapted into other formats like film, audio and other formats that might come up in the future.
What specific challenges do first-time writers encounter in the publishing industry, and how can a literary agent assist in overcoming these challenges?
Well, there are several challenges. Sometimes the quality of writing is not very good. Sometimes the writing is good, but they are writing in a genre that is not selling. Sometimes they will write a good manuscript, but it is not packaged well. So, I think it is very important that the right author is paired with the right literary agent because it’s a relationship that is based on trust. The literary agent should guide the author across every aspect of the publishing process. It is also very important that the author takes that advice and implements it.
Can you shed light on the growing importance of translated books in the literary landscape? How does a literary agent contribute to bringing translated works to a wider audience?
Translated works have had a mixed sort of history here. They are important, but at the same time, their sales potential is quite limited unless they are conferred with an important international prize. So, literary agents can contribute in two or three different ways. One is finding the right translator for the right regional work and finding the right publisher who is willing to champion a work that may not have a lot of commercial potential.
In your experience, how do cultural nuances impact the success of a translated book in different regions within South Asia? What considerations should literary agents take into account when dealing with translated works?
So, I don’t think the literary agents need to look at completely different criteria compared to normal books or translated books. They need to find markets as large as possible and marketing strategies as accurate as possible for the translated work to hit the bullseye in the market and also very important to find the right publisher for that specific work of translation and find the right editor who is truly passionate about that work.
Can you share a success story or case study where your role as a literary agent played a pivotal role in the success of a first-time writer or a translated book?
For a first-time writer, I can take the example of a book called ‘Bombay Balchao’ written by Jane Borges. It was a debut novel which we first placed with a leading publisher and after the book succeeded there with that specific publisher, it was then acquired by an international production house who are now making a movie or a web series out of it. So, that book had that entire journey and then and now it is currently being translated into French. So, this was a debutante whose work spanned all formats.
What advice would you give to writers looking to submit their work to literary agents for representation? Are there common mistakes or misconceptions that writers should be aware of?
The biggest misconception is many writers try to send a mass mail to all the agents at the same time. Most of these writers don’t get a response. What they need to do is customize their emails to the literary agent then say I am pitching this to you for this specific reason. That will almost guarantee them a response. But a lot of first-time authors are simply unwilling to do this work so they need to be a little smarter with the way they pitch.
Considering your background as a commissioning editor with Penguin and Juggernaut, how has your experience on the editorial side informed and influenced your approach as a literary agent?
It has influenced my ability to evaluate the quality of a manuscript and get a sense of what is going to work in the market and also what is the journey of this book. For example, what kind of cover would be appropriate for it, what kind of title should it have or what kind of marketing campaign should be applied to this? These are things that I’ve learned while working in publishing before I started on my entrepreneurial journey.
Thank you for taking the time to share your insights and experiences with our readers!
