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Literary agents in the US report having to do “invisible” labour while facing inequities, a survey by the Association of American Literary Agents (AALA) has found. The bi-annual membership study, drawing a total of 221 respondents, also demonstrated that AALA members are concerned about consolidations and layoffs at major publishers.
More than 72% of respondents were worried about the consolidation of publishers, according to the survey, which was conducted at a time of layoffs from Penguin Random House and HarperCollins in the US. The “controversy and turmoil” of the Simon & Schuster US sale to private equity firm KKR amplified the sense of unease that agents had been experiencing, the study found.
Burnout was also a concern for three out of four respondents, a number that rose to more than eight out of 10 in the 30-40 age group. Nearly 10% reported working 60 hours per week, while over 37% said they work 40-60 hours, with 15% at the higher end of that scale. The question of burnout also came up in regards to client responsibilities, with almost 39% of respondents saying they represent 30 or more authors.
Some agents cited a shirking market and the challenge to please clients as factors contributing to their burnout, while younger respondents said unpaid work is a key concern. More than half of respondents reported that their job required a lot of effort for little pay. Burnout was more severe for the survey’s BIPOC (Black, Indigenous, and people of colour) respondents, 21% of whom reported worrying that they will not be able to remain in publishing due to their current level of burnout, compared to only 9% of white respondents.
Moreover, the survey showed that diversity amongst its members had not significantly increased since 2021. “In 2023, as in 2021, the vast majority of respondents identify as white, female, straight, and without disabilities or chronic conditions,” the report said. More than 80% of respondents were white, which had improved from almost 90% in 2021.
The AALA’s members are predominantly female, according to the survey, with 82.1% identifying as women, while the percentage of gender-fluid or non-binary respondents had more than doubled since 2021, to 7% for those under 40. Disabled members were better represented this year, with 20.8% of respondents identifying as having disabilities of chronic conditions; this number had more than doubled since 2021, when it was at 8.2%.