Last week I gave a workshop on writing popular fiction and I asked a highly respected literary agent for some information. What are you looking for at the moment? I asked her.

‘There’s no definitive answer,’ she said. ‘But I am looking for something that stands out from the crowd, and the writing must be exceptional.’ She explained that although her agency works with writers on their proposals/books, it is an expensive process if you can’t be sure of a good outcome. So good writing is more important than ever. ‘The writing has to be fresh, individual and clever,’ she added. ‘They must own their book and write with conviction.’ 

She does not follow trends as they change so quickly. She also said ‘What every writer must remember is that the agent has to sell it on to a editor, and the editor has to sell it on to sales and marketing. So if there isn’t a 1 or 2 sentence pitch, it probably isn’t going to work.’

Interesting, I thought. Very interesting.

I went away and thought long and hard about this. It’s a difficult thing to do. I tried describing some of my own books in 1 or 2 lines:

Ask Amy Green: …