In September of 2021, around a year after Hemali Sodhi had launched A Suitable Agency, I had had the privilege of connecting with her to get insight into the life of a literary agent and also on the publishing industry. In the time since, the literary agency has proved to be a pathbreaking one in the field, with the incredibly diverse list of books they represent and celebrate. “It’s been a rewarding time for A Suitable Agency, with a number of books represented by us seeing publication and receiving tremendous attention beginning with the first two authors we’d signed; Remo Fernandes and Anindita Ghose, I call them our ‘founding authors’,” Hemali reveals.
In the last twelve months, some of their popular publications include Aayush Gupta’s My Name Is Not Devdas, Bikram Sharma’s The Colony of Shadows, Priyanka Khanna’s All the Right People, Vikas Khanna’s Imaginary Rain, and Amitava Kumar’s The Blue Book. In late 2021, they also launched what went on to become one of the most popular book event series in Delhi – Suitable Conversations at Sunder Nursery. “We’ve had some truly fantastic sessions at one of the most stunning outdoor venues in the country, featuring some of the most accomplished and exciting names today – including Ramachandra Guha, Abhijit Banerjee, Shrayana Bhattacharya, William Dalrymple, Barkha Dutt, Sarnath Banerjee, Amitava Kumar, Maya Jasanoff, Manu Pillai, Mira Nair, Janice Pariat, Aanchal Malhotra. The response to these conversations has been incredible and last year we extended these to a special edition in Goa.”
A Suitable Agency also has a communications and brand consulting arm led by experts in the field and they’ve had a very productive year working with some excellent people – including the New India Foundation, which has been promoting the cause of non-fiction writing in India for almost twenty years with the NIF Fellowships, the Kamaladevi Chattopadhyay book prize—the annual lecture and fellowships for translated works; the Centre for Policy Research – a leading think tank in the country; One Up Library which is reimagining the library and reading experience in the country; among others. “It’s wonderful to see it all take shape—we launched the agency just over two years ago and we now represent close to sixty writers. What we also love at the agency is the fabulous subjects and landscapes these narratives are traversing. When we started the agency, we’d said we’d let the books guide us and what we have today is a wonderful catalogue of which we’re immensely proud,” she affirms triumphantly.
A Suitable Agency recently published Fire on the Ganges by Radhika Iyenger, The Indian Cat by B.N. Goswamy, K.R. Meera's Assasin, Devika Rege's Quarter Life and many more! We revisit our conversation with her on the nuances of a literary agency’s modus operandi, the current state of the publishing industry, the hope that is reading, bookstores and more.
When we spoke previously, you had said that a good book is all about good storytelling. Could you elaborate for us what good storytelling constitutes for you?
I think it’s really about how you draw your reader in, how engaging your narrative is and how invested the reader is in turning the page. Having said that, I think there are other things to consider as well; so, for instance, if it is a work of non-fiction, how sound is your research, how credible are your sources and how objective are you? In a novel, are you invested in the characters and plot enough to keep going? Is there a good narrative arc? For children’s books, I’d say, for me the main criterion really is if the book draws the child in. Often, we tell children stories we think they should hear and not what they want to. I think the beauty of books is that each book is different and works in a very individual way. The world of publishing has been a dynamic and evolving entity. For instance, it’s extremely easy to self-publish today, why do you think an author should still hire an agent? I think the larger question is really making a choice between self-publishing and going to a traditional publisher. Once you’ve written a book, an agent will provide you feedback and representation and your work would be submitted to publishers based on a thorough knowledge of what they are looking for. Publishers regularly receive submissions from agents and evaluate these based on whether they’re a fit for their list. I think the beauty of books is that each book is different and works in a very individual way.
The world of publishing has been a dynamic and evolving entity. For instance, it’s extremely easy to self-publish today, why do you think an author should still hire an agent?
I think the larger question is really making a choice between self-publishing and going to a traditional publisher. Once you’ve written a book, an agent will provide you feedback and representation and your work would be submitted to publishers based on a thorough knowledge of what they are looking for. Publishers regularly receive submissions from agents and evaluate these based on whether they’re a fit for their list. Moreover, the agent will also guide you through the full journey of the book, from negotiating contracts to having conversations around marketing, visibility, multiple formats and territories, so on. The industry is actually evolving towards a model where it’s hugely useful – for both writers and publishers—to have literary agents.
Then what, according to you, sets A Suitable Agency apart from the other literary agencies in our country?
At A Suitable Agency, we are driven by our passion for the books we represent and the agenting team comes with a lot of experience, combined with a very strong background in publishing. At the very outset, our editors provide detailed feedback on the manuscripts and also give considerable thought to the submission pitch, as well as which editors at publishing houses a particular book should be pitched to. Our knowledge of the publishing industry helps hugely in what the author should expect from their publishers, across all aspects of publishing. Besides, our marketing and brand consulting team are also invested in the marketing around the books we represent and are part of these conversations with the publishers and authors.
We believe our work doesn’t really end with placing a book with a publisher – it’s only the beginning of the journey. There’s a whole universe around what can and should happen for a book – marketing, sales and distribution of course, but also exploring formats, language editions and territories, other rights and how they can be, being utilised. We’re involved in all parts of these various trajectories.
This is an exclusive excerpt from our October EZ. Coming out soon!
Words Nidhi Verma
Date May, 2023