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The Inspira Group - Darin Jewell Interview

Darin Jewell is the Managing Director of The Inspira Group, a professional UK literary agency based in north London.  Born in the USA, Darin studied for his Ph.D. at Cambridge before teaching Philosophy and Religion at Harvard.  He recently published his own book entitled Thinking about Thinking.

Darin founded The Inspira Group Literary Agency in 2001.  The Group handles children's fiction, humour, lifestyle, sci-fi and fantasy books.  Clients include Dominique Wyse, Jasmine Birtles, Stephanie Baudet and Colin Reed.

[Sharp's Book Co.] How long has The Inspira Group been in business?

[Darin Jewell] We started out as Inspired Ideas about 8 years ago primarily helping internet companies get funding. Then, about 4 years ago, we branched out and began representing authors, and helping to promote their books and build websites for them. Now we represent nearly two dozen authors.

[SB] Who are some of the authors that you represent, and what books have they published?

[DJ]Dominic Wyse, who teaches Early Childhood Education at Cambridge, is one of our authors. He has a book coming with Pearson Education entitled HELP YOU CHILDREN TO READ AND WRITE which we think will do really well.

We represent Stephen Arnott and Mike Haskins who wrote the humour book MAN WALKS INTO A BAR which is selling well with Random House.

C. W. Reed is one of our most prolific authors, as is Stephanie Baudet, who is a well-established children's book writer.

There is a list of some of the authors we represent on our website www.theinspiragroup.com, along with links to the various books that we've helped place for them.

[SB] Do you take on first-time authors?

[DJ]Yes, in fact we're known for bringing in new talent and helping them to get published. Because most agents receive so many submissions, they usually take on previously published authors. I have two people who read for me full-time. I forward the submissions that I like the most to them blind, ie. I don't tell them anything about the author. That way, they judge each manuscript on it's own merits, irrespective of whether you've published before or not. Last year we took on 13 new authors, and placed 9 of their books, and we're still working on placing the other 4 authors' books.

[SB] How many submissions do you receive on average each month?

[DJ]We receive about a dozen submissions each day (nearly 400 a month!), some by and others by e-mail. Some months we'll take on one or possibly two new authors, and some months we don't take on any new authors because we need to focus on the authors we currently represent and help to get their books published.

[SB] What format do you prefer submission to be sent in?

[DJ]We actually prefer them by e-mail. We ask that authors send the full manuscript, a short synopsis of the book, and a brief bio or CV including their full postal and landline telephone number and any relevant writing or media-related experience.

[SB] How long does it take you to read the submission and get back to authors who write to you?

[DJ] If we've not taking on any new authors that month, then we'll let them know straight away. If we are considering new authors, then we'll usually get back to the author with a decision within 2 - 3 weeks, once we've read the book submission in full.

[SB] What genre of books do you specialise in?

[DJ] It varies each month, depending on the meetings that I've had with editors and publishers the previous month and what they've told me that they're looking for.

[SB] How do you actually place the books with publishers?

[DJ] We meet up for lunch with editors regularly to find out what sort of books they're looking for. The helps us to identify the right sort of books for them from the submissions that come in.

[SB] What is a typical advance and royalties for a first-time author for his or her first book?

[DJ] This can vary considerably depending on who is publishing the book. But typically, we'd ask for a £3000 - £5000 advance with royalties of 5% - 7%

[SB] If there was one word of advice that you'd give to an author to help him or her secure representation with a professional literary agent, what would it be?

[DJ] There are certain things which will help, and certain things which will hinder your chances of getting a literary agent to represent you. Firstly, don't oversell your book, saying "it'll sell millions of copies" or "it's better than Harry Potter." The more you boast about it, the less likely an agent is going to believe and want to represent you.

Secondly, make sure that there are as few grammatical mistakes as possible in your submission, both in the cover letter and in the novel itself.

Thirdly, don't say "you're the only agent that we've sent it to" or "I'm sending it to one agent at a time, and I've started with you". You should send your submission to at least a half dozen literary agents to increase your chances of receiving an offer.

Conversely, don't say "out of courtesy, I should tell you that we've sent it to various agents" or "other agents have expressed an interest". This will put agents off. It's like calling a plumber for a quote and telling him that you'll be calling a number of other plumbers for quotes and they'll be expected to wait until you've heard back from the other before making a decision. As most agents will have dozens of authors to choose from each month, it's unlikely that they'll then bother to consider your submission properly. You may be speaking with other agents, but you shouldn't tell any agents this to try to impress them, as it'll have the opposite effect.

Fourthly, the more time you spend in putting your proposal together in a professional way, the more likely you are to get an agent to represent you. If I receive an e-mail that says "I've attached a book, and look forward to you representing me" then I won't even take the time to look at the attachment. You should always try to address your submission to someone at the agency, and it generally helps if you ring ahead first and ask who you should write to.

Fifthly, do your research. Websites such as Firstwriter.com and Writewords.org.uk are excellent resources for finding suitable agents.

Sixthly, always enclose return postage in any written submissions, and always give them a landline telephone number or e-mail address to contact you on if they're interested. Don't ask agents to ring you on your mobile.

These are just some of the ways in which you can increase your chances of getting a literary agency like The Inspira Group to represent you.

[SB] What are your contact details if authors would like to write to you directly?

Darin Jewell

Managing Director

The Inspira Group

Literary Agency

5 Bradley Road

Enfield, Middx. EN3 6ES

tel. 0208 292 5163

fax 0870 139 3057

by..Sharp's Book Co