> “That is how you take Tiananmen Square,” Wylie crowed, recalling his success. “You put Henry in the first tank, and you fill it with gas!”
Tiananmen Square was not a great military victory. Everyone knows that unarmed protesters are no match for armed tanks. It was, however, a demonstration of utter ruthlessness, so maybe that is the vibe he is going for.
One thing you notice about the literary agent world is: there are a lot of them. How can they all be making money? I think the answer is that they're not. There's a severe power law distribution, similar to acting, where a few agents like Wylie make really big bucks, and the rest... well, I did a little research:
ZipRecruiter says her salary (they're almost all female), if she’s average, is $58,585. Salary.com puts it at $70,187. Indeed says $88,363. This survey gives a range in NYC of $52,925 to $90,024, but also says that most of their compensation comes from selling books. Agents at large agencies may receive a small salary, but they’re expected to make most of their money from sales, similar to most salespeople.
Whatever figure you settle on, this is not a lot of money for an expensive place like NYC.
By way of job comparison, Salary.com says the median salary for various occupations in New York is
The NY Times also did a profile on Andrew Wylie this week, by the excellent interviewer David Marchese. I got more from the NY Times piece than the Guardian one:
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[ 3.2 ms ] story [ 33.2 ms ] threadTiananmen Square was not a great military victory. Everyone knows that unarmed protesters are no match for armed tanks. It was, however, a demonstration of utter ruthlessness, so maybe that is the vibe he is going for.
ZipRecruiter says her salary (they're almost all female), if she’s average, is $58,585. Salary.com puts it at $70,187. Indeed says $88,363. This survey gives a range in NYC of $52,925 to $90,024, but also says that most of their compensation comes from selling books. Agents at large agencies may receive a small salary, but they’re expected to make most of their money from sales, similar to most salespeople.
Whatever figure you settle on, this is not a lot of money for an expensive place like NYC.
By way of job comparison, Salary.com says the median salary for various occupations in New York is
barista: $29,028
municipal bus driver: $44,502
automotive mechanic I: $57,607
literary agent: $70,187
police officer: $74,400
secondary school teacher: $76,212
librarian: $82,215
https://www.nytimes.com/interactive/2023/11/12/magazine/andr...