This is a Newsletter About Agents and Books

I'm Kate McKean, and I started writing Agents & Books in 2019 with a desire to get as much publishing and writing information as I could, all in one place. I'm also a literary agent, and have been since 2006. Since the newsletter started, we've talked about everything from How to Get an Agent to What the Heck are Word Counts to How Writing is Like Running and How to Deal With Rejection, every Tuesday and Thursday. And of course much, much more. My goal here is to share what I know about writing as a now-published author and what I know about publishing from my 20+ years experience as a literary agent.

What's in it for You?

On Tuesdays, I aim to talk about the issues that will benefit the most writers—nuts & bolts posts about publishing, how to slog through a manuscript, what's going on in the publishing world today. I want a lot practical information available to everyone, not just paid subscribers. On Thursdays, paid subscribers get access to the inner workings of my brain, usually through paid-subscriber submitted questions, and sometimes through high-level rants about whatever I'm chewing on about writing and publishing that week.

Do You Belong Here?

If you read and/or write, then yes. If you want to be a traditionally published author one day, then yes. If you're an indie author and what to know what the heck is going on in trad publishing, then yes. If you're a seasoned author and want to know what the heck is going on with other writers/publishers/agents/books, then yes. You don't have to have an MFA to be here. You don't have to have finished your book, or any book. You don't need to prove you're a real writer with some byline or link. (If you write you're a real writer.) If you're looking for real talk about publishing and can handle a lot of ¯\_(ツ)_/¯ and likely some typos, then you're in the right place. Bring your friends. The more the merrier.

(No need to email me about the typos. Just take them as proof this was written by a human.)