Literary Agent Interview: Abi Fellows

Interview between Jenna Adams (she/her) and Abi Fellows 

It’s Pride Month! We at The Book Network are celebrating by championing some awesome LGBT+ agents, authors, and books. We were lucky enough to chat all things books and Pride related with Abi Fellows, a literary agent at The Good Literary Agency.

TGLA is a Bristol-based social enterprise founded explicitly to represent British authors from backgrounds under-represented in UK publishing including writers of colour, working class, disability, LGBTQ and anyone else who feels they or their stories are under-represented. The agency’s writers have won major awards, had their books sold at auction for six-figure deals, and been published in multiple languages.

1.     Can you tell us a bit about how you became an agent?

I started my career as a bookseller and then worked on the sales team for Faber and Faber. After doing my Masters I was trying to get into editorial and kept being told I would need to do months of unpaid work experience and be in the right place at the right time. It wasn’t really an option for me (rent and student loans to pay!) but luckily one of the agents that I had approached with my CV met and liked me and offered me an assistant job when a vacancy came up. I actually left agenting for a few years whilst my kids were small but I really missed working with writers so I returned to it in 2019.

2.     What’s your favourite thing about being a literary agent?

Finished copies of my authors’ books! My authors work so hard and we go through such a lot together on their journey to publication. Holding that finished copy and seeing all their hard work pay off is such a joy. Even more so when lovely comments from readers start coming in – that’s what it is all about.

3.     What do you look for in a manuscript?

Potential. I really love supporting authors to hone their craft and fine tune their story or idea. It’s a combination of heart and head – often there is a gut feeling, other times it is discovering a story or conversation that I haven’t seen before in print but that I know will resonate with readers, particularly those who haven’t seen themselves in books before.

4.     You work at The Good Literary Agency, which is a social enterprise focusing on underrepresented writers. Can you tell us a bit about why that’s so important to you?

I spent many years working as a school governor for a group of schools in SE London, where the population is really diverse. It struck me how much these schools did to be inclusive to children from lots of different backgrounds as well as kids who are disabled or neuro-diverse. This really hammered home a) how the books on the shelves of shops and libraries don’t adequately represent this diversity and b) how much work there is to be done in the publishing industry to make it more inclusive and more a reflection of our society. I wanted to use the experience and skills that I had built up over the years to be a part of that.

5.     We’re celebrating Pride Month here at The Book Network! Do you feel like it’s important to support LGBT+ authors? If so, why?

Absolutely. Happy Pride! I’m bi myself and there was such a lack of books by LGBTQ writers when I was growing up – that really impacted on my sense of self and community and perhaps as a result it’s only now, in my forties, that I am feeling empowered to be more open about my sexuality. Growing up I couldn’t really find the stories to help me make sense of who I am. The stories exist – as does the audience - so it’s about giving these writers the opportunities to share them with readers.

6.     You represent some awesome LGBT+ writers. Can you tell us a bit about what they’ve got coming up?

With pleasure, but where to start?! My author Jon Ransom’s literary fiction debut THE WHALE TATTOO will be published by Muswell Press early next year and I am so excited for that. Jon is a breathtaking writer, exploring the intersections of class and sexuality in an incredibly raw and visceral way. Sharan Dhaliwal is working on an important memoir about her experiences as a queer South Asian woman, which Hardie Grant will publish next year, it’s called BURNING MY ROTI. I also have a really exciting non fiction proposal with editors at the moment too, but I can’t say more just yet.

7.     What effect do you think LGBT+ representation in fiction has on the world we live in?

For me books are one of the greatest tools for encouraging empathy. We can inhabit the lives and loves of people whose backgrounds, lived experience and aspirations are very different from our own, and this can foster tolerance and understanding. Books also help people to feel seen and to have their experiences and perhaps their dreams validated, and this can impact on mental health in a really positive way.

8.     Do you have any thoughts on the current climate of queer publishing in the UK?

Things are slowly improving and there are some terrific books being published, but I do still find that publishers can be a bit nervous about finding LGBTQ audiences and I get fed up of hearing the word ‘niche’ when I know there is a genuine appetite for what these writers are working on. I loved and admired Laura Kay’s THE SPLIT and hope that paves the way for more queer rom coms – it was such good fun and I would love to read more books like it (I have something in the pipelines, in fact, watch this space!).

9.     Do you have any favourite LGBT+ writers or novels (other than your own clients!)?

Old faves are Sylvia Brownrigg’s books Pages for Her and Pages for You. More recently I’ve read Plain Bad Heroines by Emily M. Danforth which was fabulous and at 900+ pages was still over too soon. And I think that All the Things She Said by Daisy Jones (out this month) is a really important book about lesbian and bi culture.

10.  What advice would you give to an aspiring author?

My clients always put it better than I do! One of my authors, Saima Mir, talks brilliantly about re-framing rejection and learning to see it as something that brought her closer to her goal. It’s really tough, and you need a thick skin, but if you can seek out constructive criticism and be willing to go back and act on it, ultimately you will fine tune your craft and improve your chances of being published.

11.  What are you reading at the moment?

I am very late to this because I never have enough time for non TGLA reading, but am currently savouring The Mermaid of Black Conch by Monique Roffey which is absolutely stunning.

12.  What are you working on next?

I am currently working on a really exciting YA novel which tackles sexuality in a really nuanced and refreshing way, particularly as it intersects with race and class identities. I hope editors fall in love with it like I have.

Thanks for chatting to us Abi!

If you want to hear more from Abi, you can follow her on Twitter. Wishing you all a safe and happy Pride!