Walking the talk

When I was 16, I was legally allowed to learn to drive a year younger than my peers due to my physical disability. My parents looked for a suitable driving instructor and chose one, a nice guy called Mick, down to him advertising his services with a disabled drivers’ organisation. Turns out, however, he’d never taught a disabled driver in his life, he was just up for the idea.

Thankfully Mick and I rubbed along well together, with us both learning as we went along, and I somehow managed to pass my test first time. I also gained another lesson: just because someone says they’d like to work with disabled people doesn’t mean they’ll necessarily have the initial requisite skills and knowledge for it.

I was reminded of Mick when a few disabled/chronically ill authors contacted me about difficulties they’d had with their agents, sadly culminating in them parting ways. The agents had stated on their websites that they welcomed submissions from disabled authors but, following the authors signing with them, they didn’t make any reasonable adjustments and the relationships broke down.

What went wrong? Various things, according to the authors – who have differing needs due to their conditions. "I was expected to just fly in to places like London for events and then go straight home, and it took a lot of explaining to get across that I didn’t have the energy for that," explained one, as well as pointing out they were talked into appearing at an event against their health needs and had to pull out at the last minute.

A writer who is autistic cited lack of communication such as not replying to emails, which triggered their anxiety. "Things directly linked to neurodivergence were picked on almost constantly, such as the way I asked a question etc, and it became obvious that (the agent) knew nothing about autism and hadn’t bothered to learn anything about autism upon taking me on."

The authors I spoke to felt that their agents advertising themselves as wanting to work with disabled, chronically ill, or neurodiverse authors was more of a marketing opportunity than a serious attempt to increase diversity in their client cohort. 

Agents should be prepared to walk the walk and not just talk the diversity talk […] and adapt their working practices where necessary

The author/agent relationship is critical for every writer. As one successful author told me, "Writing is such a personal thing, many of us cringe at the thought of bigging ourselves or our books up. But a good agent can do that for you, as well as fighting your corner if there are problems. If you can find one you trust and have a good relationship with, they’re worth their weight in gold."

Naturally, a relationship with an agent is like any other relationship, it needs to be nurtured and sometimes naturally reach the end of its road. It’s a two-way agreement, with authors also respecting their agents’ needs. Thankfully, disabled authors who have had demoralising experiences with agents are in the minority; I have spoken to many DCI authors who have a very positive working relationship with their agents. What made it go right for them?

The consensus from speaking to DCI authors is that clear communication, boundary setting and building trust right from the beginning are essential for both parties. Agents should be prepared to walk the walk and not just talk the diversity talk (their agencies can support them with disability awareness training) and adapt their working practices where necessary, nurturing an environment where clients feel they can be honest about their needs without disquiet. 

There’s industry advice available for both authors and agents. Claire Wilson, president of the Association of Authors’ Agents, pointed me to the industry’s code of professional behaviour, worked on extensively with a cross-industry group, and central to their principles of best practice, saying that a fuller policy with regards to disabled and chronically ill authors is in development.  

The Society of Authors has a guide to dealing with literary agents and Claire Wade, founder of the SoA’s ADCI network, has a guide on her website to working with disabled authors. She recommends agents give a questionnaire to all authors: "A section for additional needs allows authors to state their specific obstacles in a safe, open way, without fear of prejudice."

The network has a confidential online form for authors to share the access needs they’ve included in contracts; the information will be compiled to help disabled authors get better deals and achieve more success in publishing.

Talking about diversity isn’t the same as embracing it. Each author, and their agent, will have different needs and ways of working. One author told me: "There’s a lot of talk of diversity in the industry, but there was often just a complete lack of understanding when it really came down to it… I didn’t feel supported and felt like a burden."

No author should feel that way and no professional agent would want them to. With care, creativity and communication they need not in the future, and they can concentrate on the reason both agent and author are in the business – the books.