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Seventh In a Series
Four young literary agents meet for an evening of food, wine, and conversation about the writing they're looking for. how they're finding it, what they love, what they hate, and ten things writers should never ever do.
IT MUST be obvious to anyone who has been following this series that I have an unabashed affection for the old guard of book publishing-and an endless appetite for their insights, their war stories, and their wisdom. But after a year in which "change" of one kind or another was never far from anybody's thoughts, it occurred to me that the series could use a shake-up. Why not give the graybeards a breather and talk with some younger agents and editors? And while I was at it, wouldn't it be more valuable to writers if I could get a few drinks in them first?
With that idea in mind, I asked the editors of this magazine to select four up-and-coming literary agents to take part in a roundtable conversation on the fine points of contemporary writing and publishing. One night after work we rode the subway to Brooklyn and congregated in the offices of the literary magazine A Public Space-located in a renovated horse stable with huge wooden doors that swing in from the street, vast ceilings, and an abundance of modern furniture and art-which were loaned to us for the evening by its gracious founder and editor, Brigid Hughes.
Within moments of making the necessary introductions, it became clear that I would need to confiscate everyone's BlackBerry if we were going to get anything done (a problem that had not arisen in my previous interviews). Then the panelists sat down to a spirited conversation that was fueled by Mexican takeout, multiple bottles of wine, and several highly off-the-record digressions-some of which appear as anonymous exchanges at the end-that are probably inevitable at gatherings of this sort. Here are brief biographies of the participants:
JULIE BARER spent six years at Sanford J. Greenburger Associates before starting her own agency, Barer Literary, in 2004. Her clients include Zoë Ferraris, Joshua Ferris, Kathleen Kent, and Gina Ochsner.
JEFF KLEINMAN was an agent at the Graybill & English Literary Agency for seven years before cofounding Folio...