James G. Hepburn

The history of the literary agent from the beginning of printing up through the middle of the 20th century.

The title The Author's empty purse refers to the lament of authors not getting their fair share and how that evolved over time. In the beginning authors were paid outright for their work with a one time fee and no royalties. Frequently we read of authors worrying about or ending up in debtors prison, and the warnings to people not to become writers. The problems were exacerbated by wealthy writers who believed it low to accept payment for their writings, a belief that it was the authors duty to write for country and religion, and the sheer glut of authors.

This untenable situation evolved into the half-profit system where authors would get half the profit but the publishers books were secret and creative accounting abounded. From this came the agent, first a friend that helped steer deals, which evolved into a full time job for people that took a 10% cut from the author.

The book traces the changes over the centuries of how authors are paid and the role of the agent. The agent hated by the publishers sure that they were paying extra because of it with publishers stating that they were truly on the authors side with many of them slamming their doors on agents, while authors eager for the agent but wanting to drop them as soon as they had any success, and the agents role as a filter bringing the best work to publishers.

A fascinating story documenting the changes in publishing and how we got to the system we have today which has really only been in place a short time in the history of printing. Well documented and covering little known aspects of the careers of many well known authors.… (altro)