Tell us a bit about yourself and how you landed the position of literary agent?
I graduated from St Andrews University in Scotland in 2004 and headed straight to Germany on a European Training Services scheme where I worked for a small independent publisher called Trojan Books. I spent most of my time researching the world of literary agents as I knew very little about them back then. I was fascinated by the business as it seemed to combine my two loves: reading and deal making. Having applied to a small …

For readers new to your work, what would you say defines your writing?
I have to confess that I don’t think there is a single strand or theme that defines my writing. Perhaps it is a combination of factors that conspire to create a unique voice. First and foremost, place. Each Inspector Singh novel is set in a different Asian country – Malaysia, Singapore and Bali so far. As each country is so unique, it’s like having an extra character thrown in for free.
Speaking of characters, Inspector Singh, who is a …

Please tell our readers a little bit about what you do, and what your background is?
As a literary agent I sell the right to publish books of the authors whom I represent. I manage an author’s career right from the time I receive a manuscript to the book being in a bookstore. This involves encouragement and support, sometimes nursing a writer’s block and advice and on the work front, which includes editorial advice (though not copy editing), assessing work by considering the overall structure, style, readability and marketability of the …

Answers by Lorella Belli from The Lorella Belli Literary Agency
1. Agents sell third parties (for example book publishers) the right to produce market and publish books, not the books themselves. To put it more simply, they sell various types of rights in the intellectual property created by writers, and manage their career.
2. Most agents tend to charge 15% (20% for foreign sales or film/TV rights) of the gross amounts received for any deal they negotiate on behalf of their authors.
3. Agents shouldn’t charge any reading fees. Agents should make …