THIS WEEK
Opinion Why ‘fitting in’ is overrated
that the majorit of us share so much more than that, in our common experiences of culture; of education; family; geography; religion; and ideas of moralit. The books business is a village: everyone knows
Lizzy Kremer
How can the book trade, and especially agents, be more welcoming of different personality types— many of whom could shake up their business?
More city, less village L
literary agent—membership of the AAA is the only simple way for an agent to convey their seriousness and reliabilit as a professional. All our agencies commit to abide by our Code of Practice and its associated guidelines, you see. Beyond that joint commitment, and our fiduciary dut
to put our clients’ interests first, the AAA is a prety broad church in many enjoyable ways. But although many AAA members are actively engaged in the project of making our profession more inclusive, we are still an undeniably white, middle-class group, for the most part. One of my final projects was to edit association guidelines on how to be beter recruiters and retainers of diverse talent. In fact, my “goodbye” speech proposed that the only thing we publishing professionals should have in common is our love of books. Of course it is a source of embarrassment and disadvantage to all of us in publishing
ast month at the Association of Authors’ Agents (AAA) a.g.m., I stepped down from AAA Commitee aſter six years, the last two in the role of president. I am proud to have worked for a trade association whose value for its members is unquestionable. I am not referring to our informative or social events, or our advocacy for agents and authors to publishers and in the public sphere, though they are great. Rather, to the fact that —because any cowboy can call themselves a
Our industry of readers is paradoxically disadvantaging introverts, with our open- plan offices, emphasis on comunication skills, and romance with social media
everyone. We speak the same language. We have our jargon, our pet hates and habits, and common enemies; our spring fairs and our Christmas festivals. It’s a fantastic communit which at its best is unrivalled for its cheerlead- ing of its own successes and its mentorship of new talent. But at its worst, our communit is like any village: atached to what it knows, looking for what it expects, wary of the new. Gossipy. At the seminar on unconscious bias the AAA ran early last year, we were advised to “beware looking for ‘a good fit’”. That struck a chord with me. So oſten I hear us look- ing for authors and employees who “get it”—how to talk and act like a person who works in the books business. Who knows when and how to push for what they need and want, and when not to. When to put an “X” aſter their name on an email, and when not to. Some agents complain on Twiter when they get leters from authors who clearly didn’t get the memo about what tone to use in their submissions; people who couldn’t afford the Guardian workshop on “how to get published” maybe. Some of our insider language makes the unpublished and the unhired feel like exiled outsiders.
Strange times “She’s a bit weird,” I hear agents and editors say of some of their number sometimes. Well, thank God some of us are a bit weird. Fiting in might be overrated. Would I have had the courage to stand for president of the AAA, and to advo- cate to publishers, MPs and fellow trade organisations, if I had “fited in”? Would I have co-writen the industry’s Commitment to Professional Behaviour?
Lizzy Kremer is head of books at David Higham Associates. She blogs at publishing-
forhumans.com.
12 21st February 2020
Who is “our kind of person”? What if our kind of person was the non-fiting-in tpe of person? I like brilliant and difficult people. It’s not just ethnic diversit and gender diversit and sexual diversit we need (although we do) but personalit diversit: alphas and betas, people who don’t work well in teams, morning people and aſternoon people. I have been worrying for a while that our industry of readers is paradoxically disadvantaging introverts, with our open-plan offices, emphasis on high communication skills, and romance with social media. To facilitate a more diverse workforce, we should try to be less of a village and more of a cit. We need to be less reassured by the idea that we are all “friends” and more focused on being superlative professionals, which means being as welcoming as a great and bustling cit to every- one we don’t recognise; those who challenge us to see the world differently. What we have in common is that we all love books. And maybe one day, too, that we aren’t afraid of difference and true innovation; of working outside our comfort zones; of change; of the radical; and of the things and people we don’t yet know. The AAA can epitomise diversit and courage of thought when it is at its best. As I told its membership last week, it has been an honour to be their Head Weirdo. I know they will remain weird, brave, questing and strong for many years to come, and I will be proud to be among them.
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