I’m a Junior Literary Agent at Birch Literary!

Yes, that’s right! I’ve joined Birch Literary as a Junior Literary Agent, and I couldn’t be more excited! :D Can you tell?

How it came about

After losing my (uninspiring) corporate job in May in a round of budget cuts and considering returning to freelance life, I decided I needed to sit down and really think about what I wanted out of my career. I found myself at something of a crossroads: as a freelance translator, I’d faced an uphill battle with AI, and I’d lost clients with each maternity leave I’d had, so now that my kids are older and both in school, I’ve found myself regaining a bit of independence and freedom when it comes to my career.

So, my question to myself was: what interests me, and what do I really want to work in?

The answer has been books for quite some time.

Even when I gave up freelancing to join that company in November 2024, I still felt that publishing was where my heart really lay. To the extent that I’d already started drawing up a plan to contact literary agencies before I actually lost that job earlier this year. That disappointment turned out to be a blessing in disguise, as I decided to go full steam ahead with my plan.

I was going to contact literary agencies. I was looking for any opportunity. Intern. Assistant. Agent. I wanted a foot in the door, and I was prepared to work for it, from the bottom up. I taped up motivational quotes around my computer screen to keep me going.

If you don’t try, you don’t get.

All it takes is one yes.

The ‘yes’ came

Photo by Kelly on Pexels

My cold applications received many encouraging responses from agencies who weren’t looking to hire anyone due to budget constraints, but their kind words and personalisation in them convinced me I was on the right path. People in the industry thought I was qualified for the job. I was a good fit. I knew it, but it was fantastic to hear it from people within publishing.

Then I received the email I’d been hoping for.

I’d had a tremendous meltdown with my husband (sorry, Javi) the day before about my career, about how life wasn’t fair, about how everything publishing was in London or New York (all very “woe is me,” with a few hints thrown in that I wouldn’t have been adverse to moving :P). And then Monday rolled around, and I received an invite to a video call. That video call was a chat with the owner and founder of Birch Literary, Cindy Bullard, and it was insightful, motivating, and incredibly honest. I came away from that meeting feeling energised and better informed than I had been before. But mostly, I felt prepared and ready to take on the challenge.

What lies ahead

Photo by Pixabay on Pexels

So, I accepted the position of Junior Literary Agent at Birch. I drew up my manuscript wishlist, and I opened to submissions from querying authors last week.

I’ve had a tremendous response so far, with hundreds of emails sitting in my inbox. I can’t wait to read them all, and hopefully find new, talented authors in there to represent. Then will come the hard work: editing their manuscript to prepare it for submission to editors.

My approach as a junior literary agent

Photo by Jessica Lewis 🦋 thepaintedsquare on Pexels

I will always strive to answer every submission I receive, since I know what it’s like to be on the other side, waiting for an email to acknowledge your query, your job application, your whatever! I know a lot of work goes into crafting a pitch for a manuscript, not to mention the work that goes into writing the novel itself, so I feel like a response is the least I can do.

Beyond that, upon signing authors, I aim to be a fairly editorial agent. After a decade spent translating, editing, and proofreading other people’s words, then spending the last five years writing, editing, and marketing my own writing, and critiquing and beta reading other authors’ books, I’m more than prepared.

I'm excited to work on books and take them from a raw version to a more polished version that editors will want to sell on shelves to readers. It’s such a privilege to be able to do this.

Photo by Pixabay on Pexels

So, stick around for future blog posts, which will mix agenting advice with my usual writing advice, and my own book content. You can also sign up for my updates and monthly newsletter using the form below on this page.

Make sure you follow me on X (@RhiMacG and @Rhian_at_Birch), Instagram (@rhian_writes and @rhian_at_birch) and Goodreads.

Thanks, and see you soon!