Aravind Adiga left William Morris for David Godwin. We speak to literary agents on what they want and how much they want

In far simpler times, “literary” was followed by “criticism” rather than “agent”. And then a young woman called Arundhati Roy won the Booker Prize — and we got familiar with the legend of Rahel, Estha and David Godwin. It was a Cinderella story — of how Godwin, awed by Roy’s manuscript, booked a flight to India, signed her up and got her a million-dollar advance. The literary agent as godfather dawned on the scene and everyone with ink stain on their forefinger wanted one. Godwin was recently in the news after he snapped up this year’s Man Booker Prize winner Aravind Adiga as a client, even as the media reported a fracas between Adiga and his former literary agent. Adiga said he was unhappy with the way he was represented by Jay Mandel of William Morris, the world’s biggest literary talent agency.

A literary agent is slowly becoming a norm in Delhi, and writers are increasingly looking for one who would change their fate of Rs 25,000 advance. The Capital’s busy ones are Red Ink by Anuj Bahri that has been in the business since October 2006, and Osian’s — The Literary Agency that is 17 months old. Both of them get 15-20 per cent of the book deal between the author and the publisher.

Foreign agents are also in the game. A first-time author, who does not wish to be named, got so disillusioned with the quality of paperbacks and the quantity of advances coming out of Indian publishers that he promptly e-mailed his manuscript to an agency in New York. He says the agent takes 10 per cent of the profits, and adds that one has to pay more greenbacks to get the book edited. An initial critique of the manuscript alone costs about $100.

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