Transatlantic Agenting with Katie Greenstreet and Catherine Cho

The Paper Literary team talk about signing authors in other countries, the differences in the UK/US markets, what happens when authors leave agents, and how it feels to set up a new literary agency!

Hi everyone,

Happy Friday! Today I have two superstar agents on my Substack, talking about the US and the UK markets. They have been so generous with their answers and I hope you enjoy reading. Together, they run Paper Literary and I can attest to the fact that they both have excellent taste! Below they talk about what it was like to set up a new agency, how the UK and US markets differ, what they are looking for in new submissions, and they also touch on what happens when authors make the decision to change literary agents (which does happen more than you think, although I know it feels like a scary topic).

Hi Catherine and Katie! Welcome to the Honest Editor. Please can you tell us about your roles?

CC: Thank you, Phoebe! I’m Catherine Cho, I’m the founder of Paper Literary and a literary agent with a list spanning YA fantasy and adult fiction. I started my publishing career in New York before moving to London, and Paper has the distinct aim of viewing both the US and UK as primary markets.

KG: And I’m Katie Greenstreet - I joined Catherine at Paper in January of 2022 and focus on adult upmarket fiction across genres, with a particular love of suspense, thrillers, and historical fiction. I started my publishing career in New York as well before moving to London and spending five very happy years at C&W.

We’re here to talk about transatlantic agenting! To start with: can an author sign with an agent in any part of the world? How does this process work?

CC: Yes, an author can sign with an agent in any part of the world. The most practical distinction is about commission. The industry standard is 15% commission for a domestic market and 20% elsewhere, we swap the domestic commission for our US-based authors.

KG: Our authors come from all over, truly - I work with folks with home bases as far-reaching as California to Abu Dhabi to Australia! Sometimes we have to get a little creative with the timing of calls and zooms, but I’m always happy to be flexible on that front if it means I get to champion global talent.

What are the key differences between being represented by a US and a UK agent?

KG: I think we’re in a unique position, as Americans in London, to hunt down projects that will resonate well with readers in both territories. That proximity to Europe also gives us a chance to see translation partners more frequently as well, which helps us to better understand the nuances of foreign markets. With each new project we take on, we’re always thinking about the potential for global impact and specifically seek out works that we hope will have that resonance across cultures.

CC: We are always thinking about which books cross over between markets and readerships - it’s always interesting to see which authors do cross over and which authors don’t seem to be as popular outside of the US or the UK. Agenting is also about relationships and knowing editor tastes. This is a generalization, but I would also say that US agencies tend to focus more on the US market, and it wasn’t until I moved to the UK that I saw the emphasis on international territories and the UK itself.

Could you explain co-agenting - how does this work in reality?

CC: Co-agenting tends to be pretty common in the industry and has been a traditional model where the primary agent will make the decision about partnering with an agent to be their co-agent. Usually US agents would use co-agents for the UK market to sell the rights on their behalf. On a practical level, co-agents will split the commission and negotiate the contract, but the primary agent will handle most of the communication with the client. There are some co-agent experiences that are more collaborative, as an example, as an author, my primary agent is Sophie Lambert, who is with C&W Agency in the UK. In the US, my projects are represented by Molly Atlas at CAA who co-agents the project. I feel very lucky that I get to have both their perspectives.

I do co-agent a select number of projects on behalf of US agents, I don’t tend to give editorial feedback for those clients (that tends to be the primary agent’s remit), and as a co-agent, the first person I communicate with is the primary agent.

KG: The first few projects I sold were the result of co-agenting for some brilliant US-based colleagues and that really helped sharpen my instincts as to what will or won’t work across markets. In my current role, I’m selective about what I take on as a co-agent because as Catherine notes, it’s a slightly less collaborative role in terms of the author care, and my favorite part of the job is getting to go deep with a client on strategy and edits which isn’t always possible as a coagent. That said, I do really value seeing first hand how folks across different agencies work and am really proud of the projects I’ve helped/am helping shepherd into being on this side of the pond!

What are the advantages of having an agent who lives in the same country as you - and the advantages of having someone based elsewhere?

CC: There are advantages to being in the same city / country as your agent, it gives the opportunity for in-person meetings and clears the obvious hurdle of timezones. However, I will say that I mostly interact with my clients on email anyway (even for those based in London), I don’t tend to do in-person meetings.

I also tend to think in Eastern time by default because our clients are based across so many time zones. Sometimes when we’re trying to schedule a call with 3 different time zones, it can be a juggle, but the publishing industry has spread out since the pandemic, and so it’s less New York / London-centric.

KG: Putting the practical considerations that Catherine mentions aside, I think the advantage/disadvantage calculus is really personal to each author. For example - I have a debut publishing this year called IF BOOKS COULD KILL by Kate Eberle. Kate is based in the US, but much of the book takes places in London, and I’ve loved being on the ground in what would be considered her ‘secondary’ market, helping to champion her alongside her amazing pub team at Penguin Michael Joseph.

How do you think the US and UK markets broadly differ? Why are the jackets often different?

CC: We think about this a lot, because sometimes things seem to take off in the US that don’t take off here - in recent years, Liz Moore’s GOD OF THE WOODS was a huge hit in the US, but it was a bit of a slow burn in the UK, as was THE WEDDING PEOPLE. The UK doesn’t have an equivalent for the big book clubs that the US have.

The physical books themselves also feel different, and I heard recently that it’s because of the way the paper is brushed. UK books feel heavier and more of an object, whereas US books are floppier.

KG: The book club piece is huge, and in that vacuum puts the taste-making power in the UK in the hands of booksellers/high street chains. I suppose that means books can come out of nowhere to some degree if they get a Reese or Jenna pick, while in the UK, retailers might initially support more ‘obvious’ projects, but then react as word of mouth builds (see e.g. God of the Woods, The Wedding People, The Correspondent).

Re covers: anecdotally, when I first came the UK almost 10 years ago, I always found US jackets superior. Now, quite the opposite! Assuming I’m slowly becoming more British, I suppose that’s a sign that publishers really know their own audiences?

First format is also more important in the US, whether that’s a hardback of a PBO, so you tend to not get as many bites at the apple to make a book pop. I’ve always found the differences in jackets confounding.

Have you seen this change in recent years? If so, what do you think has brought on the change?

KG: I do think it means we’ve had more of a bleed from the US into the UK as to which books are popping, as the US is more celebrity/influencer led which means that marketing has a broader reach. UK readers might pay attention to what Reese is recommending, whereas the American public doesn’t know what Waterstones is pushing or Tesco is stocking! And I do think I’ve seen the style of covers merging more (more illustrated covers in the UK, primarily), though across my entire list, only one title has used the same cover in both the US and the UK! The cover was actually designed by the UK team, and most of the author’s foreign publishers will be using it as well. Sometimes a great cover is simply a great cover, no matter the market!

What advice would you give to authors looking for agents?

CC: Ultimately, what’s most important is to find an agent who feels like the right fit for you. Your agent is your champion and your advocate in what can be a difficult industry.

KG: So long as the agents you are in touch with all work for reputable agencies/have good mentors if they are just starting out, I think chemistry is the most important factor to consider, and I do think you can really glean a lot from that initial call. Looking beyond the razzle dazzle that might happen in a competitive situation, when there are multiple agents desperate to sign your project, consider the intangibles. Does the agent truly understand what you are trying to accomplish with the project you are currency querying? Are they on board with the bigger vision you have for your own career? Are you able to speak easily and freely with them, even when you disagree with a point they are making? Is there that unspoken creative spark between you as you’re digging into ideas? Do you love the same books/films/tv shows (as a matter of taste)? Are they challenging you in a way that feels exciting rather than condescending?

I’d also caution authors to be wary of folks who are promising them the world. I’ve never once in a pitch promised an author a specific outcome, because there are simply no guarantees in publishing, and I’m shooting for the moon with every single project I take on.

What I can promise is my very best efforts for both the book you’ve already written and the projects that are to come, even if the first - or the second, or even the third - doesn’t pan out in the way we might have hoped. This is a big reason why when I’m talking to authors about potentially working together, I’m really thinking about the whole person, the big picture, the long term.

Some things are starting to consolidate within the industry - for example, Waterstones, a UK retailer, and Barnes & Noble, a US retailer. Could you talk a little as to why you think that is, and how it impacts authors?

KG: It’s tricky because it feels like where we once had two bites at the apple to use that phrase again, there is now only one when considering the most influential brick and mortar retailers in the US and UK are now owned by the same company. On the flip side, if one retailer is really passionate, it’s incredible to see that synergy then flowing to the other side of the pond and we’ve definitely seen some titles break out in the UK that probably wouldn’t have without that push from B&N to Waterstones (We’re banging on about them but GOD OF THE WOODS and THE WEDDING PEOPLE are the prime examples). I was also excited to see THE ARTIST by Lucy Steeds featured so prominently by B&N after being such a Waterstones darling this year. To sum that up, it’s helpful for the building of big global brands, but it does mean overall shelf space and potential for discovery are shrinking - it is a double-edged sword.

When actually writing their books, do authors need to be considering multiple markets? What about markets outside the US and UK?

CC: I think it’s difficult to think about the market at all when you’re writing, and my personal advice is that it’s better to write in a vacuum without any thought of the outside market.

The market is constantly changing, if you’re writing with the market in mind, in traditional publishing, the timelines are so long, and so often by the time a book is complete, the trend has finished.

I think when you’re querying and starting to think about positioning a book, then you can think about what will resonate with readers, but so much of it is outside a writer’s control, and also, sometimes the more specific a book is, the more universal. I would think about whether a story is compelling, and if it is, that makes it more undeniable.

KG: Specific trends within/across various markets ebb and flow, and they follow and feed into each other. For example, when I first started agenting, extremely dark thrillers could get you crazy advances in Germany, but now, the Germans are all asking for happy endings and big love stories! So, as Catherine notes, I wouldn’t write specifically to those sorts of broad strokes trends if that means deviating from the type of stories you want to write! A lover of rom coms isn’t suddenly going to be great at domestic suspense, just because it’s trendy again and as an agent, it’s incredibly obvious when someone submits something to me that they’ve written cynically. Instead, its important to think about what you want to be doing on the page and consider how to shape that into something that might tap into the current zeitgeist.

How do authors change agents? I think many authors worry about this - if they are unhappy with an agent, they feel they cannot leave - can you speak a little to that please?

CC: It’s difficult because the agent/author relationship is a very personal one, it’s not just a business relationship in many ways. But like all relationships, it’s one that’s centered on communication and trust. As an author, if you feel you can’t communicate with your agent or you aren’t receiving responses, or that you’re not sure you can trust your agent, then it means that the relationship has broken down. It is far better not to be agented than to have a half-hearted agent, and I know that’s a difficult thing to believe, but it’s true.

I think the best thing when leaving your agent is to communicate clearly and to leave your agent before querying other agents.

KG: As with any relationship, professional or personal (and agent/author really is both), things can break down. Often, I think this is down to folks evolving in the way that they work and discovering their own best practices as they get further into their careers, both from an author and the agent’s side. I know the power dynamic seems very one-sided, but I do encourage authors to speak up when they aren’t happy. Sometimes an agent might not realize the ways in which they’re letting an author down, and that gives them the chance to course correct, or for both parties to have an honest conversation which could lead to a fresh, exciting start for that author with different representation.

I am sure readers would love to hear more about setting up an agency too, and how it feels to be in a smaller, boutique agency versus a large corporate one. Could you tell us a little about your experience?

CC: Between Katie, Melissa Pimentel, and I, we’ve worked for some of the biggest agencies in the world. I loved my time at Curtis Brown - it felt very glossy and I met such amazing people there. However, I love what we’re building at Paper, because it’s small, we can start from first principle - we put our focus on the things we value, the things that we feel matter the most when representing our authors. It also means that each author we take on gets the full perspective and a bespoke experience - our business is built on books, and I am fully confident in the level of service we offer to our clients.

In many ways, it is more challenging, because there isn’t the corporate machine behind us or a backlist, but this makes us hungrier and more ambitious to find the next generation of great storytellers.

KG: Yes, the lack of the corporate machine is both a boon and a burden! I love that my time is more truly my own and I can structure my working day in a way that best serves both me and my authors, and that on any given day, my own list is the priority. We also have far fewer meetings than at a large agency, and that frees up more brain space for creative thinking and deep work. Same goes with office politics, inherent in any larger company! But, I do miss the access I had to the incredible brains I worked alongside in previous roles. That said, I’ve always been a very independent worker and thrive on an ‘eat what you kill’ model (lingo leftover from my days as a corporate lawyer); having so much autonomy is really motivating, as is the desire to compete with the ‘big dogs’ in the industry. As Catherine says, we’re an ambitious team in a constant growth mindset.

Are there things that are a total no for US agents versus UK? Have you ever come across this?

KG: One thing that comes up on the US side as an off-limits topic is mass or school shootings. Of course, there are obvious exceptions to that rule, but I think when tackling some of the extremely hot button topics in current American political culture, a writer needs to be very intentional about the ‘why’ of leaning on that topic. I think the books that tackle these issues and are successful do so in a really deep or nuanced way, and aren’t just relying on something incendiary to service plot. A former (American) boss of mine also had an adage that novels with ‘children in peril’ are tough sells on the US side, and having read more suspense with kids in danger since moving to the UK, I tend to agree - I think UK readers are willing to go to a darker place when it comes to kids than American readers!

Thank you both so much for your insights!

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Phoebe x