P.S. Literary Agency embraces diversity and equal opportunity. We are committed to building a team that represents a variety of backgrounds, perspectives, and skills. The more inclusive we are, the better our work will be.
Literary Assistant
Opportunity: Part-Time Literary Assistant to Senior Literary Agent Carly Watters
Hours: 80 hours per month
Rate: $23/hr.
Senior Literary Agent Carly Watters is immediately seeking a sharp, enthusiastic go-getter to assist her. The position will be mostly administrative, but the ideal candidate should be interested in a career as a literary agent and passionate about Carly’s client list and taste.
P.S. Literary Agency (PSLA) represents a diverse list of internationally published, award-winning, bestselling and debut creators. Guiding books to publication with our hands-on approach, our goal is to manage creators’ literary brands for their entire career. Our client list ranges from award-winning literary fiction, bestselling commercial fiction, creators from popular television as well as social media personalities.
The assistant will gain hands-on exposure to literary agenting, including manuscript development, publication and career management as well as contract and rights management.
Duties and responsibilities include:
• Administrative duties, including database organization, logging submission responses, and small research projects
• Professional interaction with clients, editors, writers and other publishing industry members
• Data entry for incoming and outgoing manuscripts in the slush pile, managing slush pile responses
• Reading and evaluating merit of manuscripts in the slush pile (unsolicited submissions) and alerting agent to projects with potential
• Writing reader’s reports and proofreading client manuscripts
• Collaborative style, including meeting with agent to discuss ways in which projects can be more marketable and successful, and providing general comments on viability for the marketplace
• Maintaining a database of, researching and assisting in, various subsidiary rights (film, audio, etc.)
• Working with agent and clients on branding, social media marketing, and online book promotion
• Light website maintenance
• Notetaking during key meetings (i.e. with film/TV agents and during marketing and publicity meetings)
Requirements:
• Highly motivated self-starter
• Proficient in MS Word, MS Excel, PowerPoint, Zoom, Airtable, Canva, Google Docs and Google Sheets, Squarespace, Instagram
• Top-notch organizational, verbal and written communication skills
• Excellent memory and time management skills with ability to multi-task
• Adaptive and flexible personality
• Entrepreneurial mindset
• Able to anticipate needs and deliver timely, relevant solutions and actions
• Extremely detail oriented
• Long-term interest in book publishing
• Interest in social media and digital marketing
In addition, an ideal candidate will have one or more of the following skills:
• Web design
• Graphic design
• Video editing
Location: Remote but ideal candidate will be in the North American Eastern Time Zone (ET)
Accessibility: Willing to make accommodations
Probation Period: 3 months from start date with review upon completion
Deadline to Apply: October 18th at noon ET
Tentative start date: November 4th
Interested candidates can contact careers@psliterary.com with their cover letter and resume (including the last four books read and your preferred genres or categories) with the subject heading: Literary Agent Assistant. Your application will be dealt with in strict confidence.
We appreciate the interest of all applicants; however only those candidates selected for an interview will be contacted.
We look forward to your application!
Literary Agent
P.S. Literary Agency (PSLA) seeks a Literary Agent with publishing experience to represent adult commercial fiction and a broad range of non-fiction within our collaborative environment.
Duties and Responsibilities:
• Reading queries and evaluating manuscripts
• Signing clients
• Corresponding with clients and editors via email, phone and Zoom
• Tracking submissions and managing extensive submission list
• Developing projects in-house
• Composing pitch letters for submission
• Maintaining relationships with editors
• Writing rejection letters
• Editing manuscripts
• Preparing proposals for submission
• Keeping foreign rights manager up to date on the status of projects
• Keeping TV/film co-agents up to date on the status of projects
• Cataloging client and editor correspondence
• Tracking and researching sales information
• Keeping detailed schedules
Qualifications:
• 1+ years of publishing experience (excluding internships)
• Astute business acumen
• Excellent people and communication skills
• Superior organizational skills
• Attention to detail is a must
• Extremely professional and articulate
• Interest in fiction and non-fiction
Other details:
Compensation: Commission-based; Agent-friendly commission split
Benefits: Flexible hours; Work remotely
Duration: Full Time
Location of position: U.S. and/or Canada
Interested candidates can contact careers@psliterary.com with their cover letter and resume with the subject heading: Literary Agent. Your application will be dealt with in strict confidence.
We appreciate the interest of all applicants; however only those candidates selected for an interview will be contacted.
We look forward to your application!