More Agent Moves

What's happening at Adam Chromy's agency?

If you read back in this blog, you'll find a comment from Michelle Wolfson, who moved over from the Vicinanza Agency and joined forces with the team at Artists and Artisans. It had all the earmarks of an expansion on Mr. Chromy's part, a change from his previous one-man-band operation.

For a while, Lauren Barnhart hung her hat in the office, and they were joined by Robert Astle. A check of the agency website reveals that these two agents are gone - and I didn't even get a chance to query them.

It makes me wonder if there are possibly too many agents around for the amount of fiction that gets sold to the publishing houses. Did the agents leave Artists and Artisans because they could not make a living? Without sales, there are no commissions, and without a stable of published, active writers, there's no royalties and foreign rights to bring in the rent money.

Then again, there seems to be a revolving door in the publishing business, with editors coming and going, switching offices, and moving around from place to place. By taking a position as an editor at a publishing company, at least Lauren and Robert could count on a regular paycheck, which is nice.

Where does an ex-agent go when they leave the business? I do so hope that they were not forced to move back in with their parents, to return to their childhood bedroom and collect their unemployment checks. If they became agents because they love books, do they hate the written word now? Such a dreadful outcome, years of college and thousands of dollars in tuition payments, and all for nothing.

Let us hope that they have found other useful employment, or perhaps they have gone off to continue their education and prepare for some other industry. Can't go wrong with an MBA.