[FULL INTERVIEW] Advice From a Top Literary Agent

This is the full interview with top literary agent Mark Gottlieb. He works at Trident Media Group, which has ranked #1 for sales according to Publisher's Marketplace over the last decade.
Here are the major sections:
00:45 Why choose traditional publishing?
2:49 How much marketing and publicity support will you get from a publisher?
7:05 How Dan Brown's DA VINCI CODE became an unexpected success
12:46 Why book publishers take 1-1.5 yrs to publish your book
16:08 Author Platform: How to build it
23:24 Endorsements: How to get them and why they're surprisingly important to publishers
26:04 What makes a good query letter?
29:42 Role of an agent and their compensation
33:56 Querying before you've finished writing your book
35:23 Book proposals (and when you can get away with a mini-proposal)
36:23 How to find successful literary agents
39:24 Advice for authors with a work-in-progress
40:24 Trident Media Group & Mark Gottlieb's track record
Also, don't miss the blog article:
bit.ly/2RhWGlV
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[@arjuntyler1317]

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[@doreekaplan2589]

My teacher, the late Wayne Dyer wrote his first book in two weeks in a Florida motel room. He submitted it to 100 publishers. 99 turned it down. That book was on the New York Times best seller list for years, was translated into many languages and has been in print since 1971. He bought out the first three printings, loaded his car trunk and drove to many radio stations where he walked in uninvited to request an interview of himself and his new book. The rest is history

[@gary8628]

I am frustrated by every single agent/publisher interview I have ever seen, because the interviewer never asks the right questions. This is the first time I have had any of my questions answered. An excellent interview. I'm not sure why all the other interviewers think the questions they ask are the questions in the heads of authors.

[@NYBookEditors]

This is the greatest compliment! Thank you for taking the time to let me know.

[@ryanserudition7988]

She really did ask the right questions. I felt as though she asked all the questions that real authors would want to know. Good job!

[@emprisdurden5285]

As a young author, this was very informative.

[@kponly]

It is a great interview. The volume seems too low. Maybe I'm just losing my hearing

[@BulgarianOrphanHelp]

Great job to the interviewer - you have asked great questions in the interview.

[@NYBookEditors]

I tried to think of what would be helpful to writers. Reassuring to hear some of it was on point!

[@h.a.s.7336]

Great interview. Thank you so much for your hard work. One suggestion - look at the placement of the floor lamp in the wide shot. I kept wanting to move it away from his head. ; )

[@NYBookEditors]

Same here! Alas, we noticed too late.

[@h.a.s.7336]

@@NYBookEditors Ah yes, I know the feeling... Cheers

[@thekentuckyvolva]

Since visuals are not a factor for me, the audio for the interviewer was lacking a bit. The volume was too low, and I had to strain to hear her questions. Otherwise, it was a great video.

[@janjohnson9267]

This was so informative….step by step actions

[@ashleycamilledean]

Thank you so much for this interview - Your follow-up questions were on point!

[@NYBookEditors]

So happy to hear that. Thanks, Ashley!

[@samp4050]

Wonderful to know that there are debut authors who can make it big, but there are. Mr. Gottlieb is an honest literary agent who gives good insight into how publishing works.

[@786DaveD]

Very informative. Thank you for sharing.

[@LoganWolf]

why hasn't this been viewed by more people?!!?!?

[@t0dd000]

Informative. Comps. Oi. I would have no idea how to frame comps for my WIP.

[@robertmilstidbooks]

Good stuff.

[@ericstollery1]

What's the full name of the author Mark they're referring to around the 26 minute point, and what book of his are they discussing?

[@BatistaInvests]

How do you determine if you're fiction or nonfiction if you write about making fiction nonfiction? It's spoken from historical proven theory.

[@meganjohnstone3458]

This video seems very insightful, but the audio is reserves...the woman speaking on the right comes through only my left headphone and the man speaking on the left only comes through the right headphone.

[@pagejustin5572]

7:02 ah yes... That 2 year span between 1991-2009 when John Grisham got dethroned

[@AliHussain-fz7pd]

This comment fits into the elite category.

[@pagejustin5572]

@@AliHussain-fz7pd it's certainly worth noting 👍📚 and yes I'd agree dominating the bestseller list for two decades is elite..... Technically having 4 books hit the top 20 & 6 books that flop over that same period would put you in the top half a percent

[@blessedormessy6336]

A race to the bottom? Did you hear that author Frankie Johnnie??

[@ClassicCase]

All of this is moot if no agent wants you so, you have to self-publish especially if you're not of a buzzword-identity-group.

[@pagejustin5572]

They should have turned that light on for this interview.... It's easier to pay attention to someone who's illuminated

[@mattiOTX]

Yea, I was thinking it's a bit to much light saturation.

[@FriendofYahweh29]

You have got to work on your audio sis

[@mel3687]

Yes please! The sibilance is especially aggravating to those of us who suffer with misophonia. Couldn't even get past the 2:20 mark.

[@williamwells1862]

July 17, 1996 - A day that will live in Infamy

[@samp4050]

Oh well, guess I'm going to have to open a few social media accounts since I am a reclusive person and don't have any. Lol.

[@doreekaplan2589]

Surprising that this man says so many 'kind of' 'sort of' s.......

[@zaratheexplorer8290]

Because people like s....

[@mattiOTX]

Unless you actually practice speaking in front of others those are common placeholder words on the English language. I'm surprised how many people don't know something so basic as to experience it in their everyday life.

[@zaratheexplorer8290]

Very informative and great content... but soo boring to listen to...

[@doreekaplan2589]

As a writer, I have no interest in becoming expert in marketing or advertising. I am willing to pay the right publisher to do that. He says, being an expert, a lot of 'kind of ' , 'sort of' and 'like' .......cannot believe he is not better spoken than that. He says, as an expert , that 'publishers who spend six figures want to get their money back, if they can'.............amazing piece of information. How is the 'burden of marketing and publicity on authors'? If so , why is it that none of the classic works did that? Don't say times have changed. Im inclined to listen to a hardass longtime successful N.Y. agent who's been around a long time and has built a personal network within the publishing community. When something 'takes at least a year' to be done, that means they spend ninety per cent of that time NOT doing a thing...Cos no one spends a year or more actually doing something

[@Dorma_]

So you have to be 'better spoken' to be an expert? What are you taking about? Do you have to look a certain way too?

[@mattiOTX]

Your entire paragraph is you projecting your own expectations and dismissing the expert as not really an expert. On the marketing, it's on you as the author because it's your work. Yes, classical pieces did do their own marketing from Shakespeare who started writing for small theater troups to even Tolkien who's hobbit took decades before it ever saw the light of publication. Marketing has always been on the author because nobody will love your work as much as you do and so it's easier to leave it in the author's hands and help connect them with places to present themselves to than it is trying to market for them and possibly getting the marketing wrong. Also what the fuck are you talking about nothing takes a year? Never once actually worked in fabrication have you? That is just one part of a single industry that can take years to finish. Hell even writing there are stories that took decades to finish, wheel of time being a major one.

[@jamessuriano7144]

I still don’t understand what the benefit of Traditional publishing is. Sounds like no one knows what will hit and now that authors can move their books all over the world with the power of Amazon, what is the purpose of signing over rights. Every big creative will tell you the same thing, own your work.

[@gary8628]

But people can't find you on Amazon, unless you type the book into the search engine. And if you're a new author, they won't search your name or book, because they haven't heard of you.

[@cynthiaking5308]

See, it seems like the agents compete for the same type of authors. I’m retired. I don’t feel like i have 2-3 years to get noticed.

[@jamessuriano7144]

@@gary8628 true, but traditional publishers do almost nothing for marketing. I’ve spoken to authors whose books sold 30k copies, and when they wanted to go on a book tour the publisher send them two posters. If you can get a big advance go for it, otherwise you are better off owning your rights.

[@doreekaplan2589]

Says who?

[@zaratheexplorer8290]

I am a self publishing author and have spent over 4k in marketing on amazon. Its the only way...