Veitch bags agent after ad-van approach

Self-published author Richard Veitch has been signed by Joanna Swainson at Hardman and Swainson following his trip to literary agencies around London with a mobile billboard advertising van promoting his books earlier this month.

Veitch, who writes under the pen name R R Haywood, was promoting his zombie horror series The Undead, which he self-published on Amazon, gaining 30,000 downloads. His initial trip earned him meetings with three literary agents, an experience he said was “eye-opening and a very steep learning curve”.
 
Swainson said she had received a submission from Veitch and replied to him on the same day he was in London by coincidence. With regards to his unorthodox approach to getting an agent, Swainson said: “For all his showmanship and good humour, the only reason I signed up Rich is because he knows his genre and writes it brilliantly.”
 
She said of The Undead: “There is unusual clarity and panache in the way he portrays the violence and gore and progresses the constantly evolving story, and there is also dark humour and depth to his characters. From discussing future work with Rich, there are some startling developments still to come in this series and I have to admire the energy with which he’s launched The Undead and approached finding an agent.”
 
She added: “I'm absolutely thrilled to have signed him. He’s already achieved enviable sales and reviews and I’m greatly looking forward to helping him extend his already sizeable readership.”
 
Veitch said that all three of the literary agents he met were “very helpful and insightful”, but that Swainson stood out. He said: “She had great energy and an obvious sense of humour but was very realistic”, adding that she “won’t hesitate to put me in my place!”