Inside the Secret World of Literary Scouts
On the rare occasion I ever got this far in an explanation of my former job, the next question would be, well, how do you find out about new books? Aha, now we’re getting somewhere. That is exactly the crux of it. Good scouting is being perpetually open to the idea that the next big book could come from anywhere at any moment. There are some predictable patterns—the fall blockbuster season, the build-up of interesting projects before book fairs—but most books are scouted through a half-methodical, half-haphazard trolling of each scout’s network, week-in and week-out. This network ideally consists of a number of well placed editors who receive the best submissions in each genre, as well as cordial relations with the agents, who may go so far as to give a friendly scout a heads up if they’re sending out a manuscript they’re excited about.