How to change the rights prizeThey are stable

At the Frankfurt fair, the largest market of the publishing rights, Susanna Lea, one of the few literary agents to have pierced in France with authors of bestsellers such as Marc Levy, David Servan-Schreiber, talks about his... hated trade of French publishers.

What books are you going to grow this year in Frankfurt

We will continue the negotiations for the sale of foreign and audiovisual of the latest Marc Levy novel, "all these things that it did not say." This novel is already sold to best 700,000 in France and it is already being translated into 13 languages. The manuscript of "at the zenith" Duong Thu Huong should also be of interest to many foreign publishers. In the field of the non-fiction, I present writers as diverse as David Servan-Schreiber, which start in the United States of his latest book "Anticancer" is very strong, that François Bizot, who wrote an essay on his relationship with his former jailer, Duch, the first accused to the Court of the Red khmer genocide.

How to change the rights prize

They are stable. There is always successful authors who auctions go up very high. Unfortunately, for others, this is not the case. Be in Britain, Germany, France, or the United States, across the publishing markets are in crisis which translates in reality by a concentration, even increased sales of the authors to success... and a decrease in sales of other authors.

In France, literary agents are poorly seen publishers, who accuse them of wanting to take them the authors. What is your vision of the profession of literary agent

I have no need to defend the authors and their projects to be irresponsible and act me in a manner not consistent with ethics. Long-term issues are much too high. My role is therefore not limited to a question of money, a capacity to mount auctions on rights. I like to accompany a project from beginning to end and to do this in good intelligence with publishers. Indeed, I do not like the word "agent". I would add that I do not look for authors who are already at the top of the bestseller list. This does not concern me because I would have no added value. What I intended, are novelists who have a potential international, that I can help find readers around the world.

What specific services do you offer

My company is present in Paris, New York and, recently, in London. Which allows me to more easily get readers around the world and to be closer to publishers in each country. In the United States, for example, we have changed editor for David Servan-Schreiber, which contributed to the success of his book "Anticancer" there. We are also changing American publisher for Marc Levy, which should help us in the repositioning in the US market. We also have more tendency to involve us in each launch. This, as we only handle a small number of authors. Our role is to find the right producer to develop the film based on the work. Finally, we must be able to meet the challenge of new technologies. To meet the needs of the authors, I'm join with a company specialized in new media. Negotiations are underway. And they should lead to a merger, therefore a genuine transformation of our business. Internet offers immense opportunities for transverse communication. And, from this point of view, the acquisition of the electronic rights constitutes a real challenge. Person holds the key to the new economic model, but it is for us to do so with the authors we are actors, and not passive victims.

Do you think that term Google and Amazon will be publishing partners

Partners, or predators Nobody knows nothing. For the moment, everyone is observed.