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Literary consultancy fees defended

16.08.07 Joel Rickett

Literary consultancy the Writer's Workshop has defended the practice of charging "finder's fees" to agents for placing new authors. The move comes after Clare Alexander, chair of the Association of Authors' Agents, criticised the fees in her Bookseller opinion column (10th August).

She also feared wannabe writers were being "fleeced" by some consultancies with high charges for editorial advice. But in a blog at www.theBookseller.com/blogs, Writers' Workshop founder Harry Bingham argued that finder's fees should become established practice: "Many of the country's best-known agents have either agreed such arrangements with us, or are in discussion about doing so. We always inform our clients whenever we expect to collect a finder's fee."

Alexander this week said that transparency was key: "I don't think it is wrong if the person paying for the advice knows about [the fees]. It is obviously up to individual agencies whether they want to enter into such an arrangement . . . but at [Aitken Alexander Associates] we would never do so." She emphasised that her original article had not been referring to any specific consultancy.

Bingham backed the call for a code of practice for literary consultancies, to ensure that they don't mislead authors and have solid industry track records. "Punters could [then] buy with confidence--and literary agents could start letting writers know of the resources that have sprung up to help them."

But Helen Corner, founder of the well-established Cornerstone's, said the handful of "proven" consultancies operated on different models, so it was best to stick with a "word-of-mouth referral, self-regulating system". She added: "Fundamentally it's all about protecting the authors' rights and being transparent with our working practices."

Joel Rickett Clare Alexander AAA Writer's Workshop Harry Bingham

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