SPOTLIGHT FEATURE: Charlotte Merritt from Andrew Nurnberg Associates

Good morning, everyone!

Today I’m excited to share with you a wonderful interview with Charlotte Merritt!

Charlotte is a literary agent with Andrew Nurnberg Associates. She joined in 2018 after having lived and worked in India and Hong Kong for many years. Prior to that she worked in publishing in London for over a decade, first at Bloomsbury and then at Hodder & Stoughton.

Charlotte focuses on a wide range of non-fiction, including history, politics, psychology, and current affairs. She is also searching for unique memoirs and new perspectives on the natural world. Her aim for 2022 is to find books that make us laugh or offer sage advice about how to live a good life.

Charlotte also does One-to-One sessions with us, so be sure to book a session for advice on your non-fiction query letter and book proposal!

Check out some highlights from our interview with Charlotte below.

“I work with a number of really talented experts in their field, and it’s just fascinating to be privileged enough to see their knowledge at close quarters.”

Good afternoon Charlotte, thank you so much for taking the time to talk with us today! We would love to know more about how you became an agent, what you’re looking for in non-fiction submissions, and advice for querying authors.

Q. What brought you to agenting?

After a career spanning eleven years in publishing and then a seven year stint living in Asia working in both India and Hong Kong, I returned to the UK and realised that I wanted to shift to the other side of the pond away from publishing and into agenting. I think the reason for that is that in publishing, although it’s fascinating, you’re constantly onto the next thing and ruled by the publishing calendar, and I wanted to be in a part of the industry where long term relationships take precedence. I also wanted to be on the side of the writers and the people whose creativity powers the industry.

Q. What’s on your wish-list at the moment?

There are a few things that I’m looking for outside the mainstay of my nonfiction list. I think we could all do with more humour right now and I would love to find some brilliantly funny writers. Whether that’s satire, something more lifestyle focused, or even some really talented graphic writers or cartoonists. I just think it would be great.

I would also love to find some original nature writing. It’s such a populated field, but I’d really like to find someone who approaches the natural world from an entirely new perspective.

I represent a lot of historians and I’m fascinated by the history of objects and what objects from the past can tell us about social history. And that, I suppose, is a cross disciplinary thing between design and history, and so I’m always looking out for that too.

I think there’s a huge appetite for books on psychology and what makes people tick, and I’m always looking for fresh voices within the field of psychology that can help us all understand ourselves a little bit better.

Finally, I think it’s a real shame that the old-fashioned form of biography has fallen out of favour, and although these days you most certainly don’t need to do the cradle to grave plod in a huge tome in order to understand a past life better, I think there’s something fascinating about this form of narrative. I’m really keen to find cultural biographers, whether for musicians, contemporary or classical literary figures, or artists.

Q. Is there any genre you’d rather not receive?

I receive a lot of memoir and I am keen to continue to represent memoirs – but there has to be a real reason behind it. It has to be someone who’s insight or story is completely different to anyone else’s and who has a totally unique standpoint, who ideally can help us examine a current preoccupation that we all want to understand better. So I’m hesitant to receive memoir in great quantity.

Also sports books. I really don’t know anything about sport so please don’t send me those.

Q: What is a day in the life of an agent like for you?

My days are quite structured because I find that the bits of my job that require the most concentration are the editing and close reading, so it’s far better for me to do that as early in the day as possible when I’m at my most alert. I generally then schedule meetings later in the day. So I’ll get my editing done first, and then that segues into catching up with editors or my clients. I’m very lucky at ANA to be surrounded by a number of fantastic international colleagues who all know their markets in different territories inside out, so I’m also constantly checking in with them too.

Q. What makes for a successful author-agent relationship? How can both parties get the most out of the relationship?

A lot of it is about trust and honesty. You have to work closely together and as an agent you have to feel confident enough in your relationship with your client that you can give them very robust feedback – and equally the author has to feel confident enough in the relationship with the agent that they trust your feedback and find it constructive. Every agent-author relationship develops its own rhythm. As an agent the best thing is often to give feedback that points the way forward rather than presents people with a dead end. And for the author it’s about being totally honest, and if they’re feeling uncomfortable about something or they feel overwhelmed, or they want more time, or they’ve hit a wall, just be honest about it. Everything can always be sorted out, but as an agent you need to know what the problem is first and then you can help them work through it.

I would say my kind of bugbear is when clients just disappear with no prior warning for months on end. It’s always better, even if it’s going to be bad news and they’re not going to deliver their manuscript for umpteen more months and it’s going to be really late, it’s far better to know as soon as possible and then I can help them work around or work with that.

Q. What’s the best thing about being an agent?

It’s without doubt having the privilege to work with unbelievably talented writers as my day job, and it’s as simple as that. To be right there at the beginning of the creative process to help them, particularly with non-fiction, to help them finesse and hone their ideas, it’s perpetually interesting. I work with a number of really talented experts in their field, and it’s just fascinating to be privileged enough to see their knowledge at close quarters.

Q. Do you have any final words of advice for querying authors?

I would say really think about your submissions letter. Avoid cliches; make sure you’re speaking from the heart. Imagine that you are addressing someone who’s standing in front of you, and try to be yourself as if you want to kick off a fascinating conversation about your book.

The full interview can be found on Charlotte’s AgentMatch profile.

If you’re interested in booking a one-to-one session with Charlotte, please click here.

In the meantime, if you’re struggling with your query letter and synopsis, do check out our free resources on our website. We have lots of info to help you on your way. Or, better still, if you’re a Premium Member with us, our lovely Writers Support team will be happy to offer you a free query letter review!