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What the 2017 agent said
In a Scroll.in interview published on 7 October 2017, Jessica Woollard of David Higham Associates, a London literary agency, answered questions about what foreign editors look for, whether an overseas agent helps, what makes a pitch travel and whether debut writers gain from book fairs. Her answers reflect her own experience and opinion at that time. They are not a current survey of UK or US publishing, and they should be dated accordingly.
Publishing decisions combine taste and market arithmetic
Woollard described UK and US publishing as very competitive. In her account, sales and marketing teams weigh a book’s past sales, the size of the total consumer market and projected future sales, while editors bring their own taste to the decision. She put it this way: “Whereas you employ an editor for their taste, you employ a sales and marketing person for their interaction with the market.” A manuscript therefore has to persuade both an editor who loves it and a commercial team that can see a readership for it.
Familiar subjects are easier to sell, but the advantage is limited
She observed that editors may find some subjects more familiar and easier to move toward, and she cautioned that this is a limited approach. Her comments do not mean a writer should reshape a story to match what foreign readers expect of India, or lean on stereotypes. The practical reading is narrower: a clear premise that a stranger can grasp in one sentence is easier to pitch than one that needs a long explanation.
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Many editors rely on agents to filter submissions
Woollard said many editors would not read work unless an agent had already filtered it, and she described UK and US agents as a route to foreign publishers. This was her experience in 2017. Publisher guidelines have changed since then, and some houses, including the Indian imprints discussed below, accept direct submissions in certain divisions.
Voice travels, according to Woollard
Asked what international editors look for in South Asian literature, she answered: “But the key to good international writing to my mind is the voice.” She said a strong voice can be recognized by readers in places such as Germany, Canada or Brazil. Voice is her literary judgment, not a formula. A distinctive voice still has to be paired with a readership that a publisher can plausibly reach, which she treated as a separate commercial question.
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Book fairs help professionals more than debut writers on their own
International book fairs, she said, help publishing professionals build relationships. A debut writer attending alone, in her view, was unlikely to benefit in the same way. The interview does not establish what attending a fair costs today or what return a writer can expect from it.
Expect uncertainty and measure success at home too
Woollard described publishing as “a massive gamble” and said an overseas deal is not the only indicator of a book’s merit. She advised writers to be proud of what they have achieved in their home market and not to be disillusioned if an international deal does not happen.
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How current Indian publishers ask to be approached
The submission pages below belong to three Indian publishers and one agency. They show why you must check the rules for each target: the publishers do not share one policy, and none of these pages describes the policy of a UK or US house. Each page’s requirements are its own and should be confirmed on the live page before you send anything.
| Publisher or agency | Route | Materials requested | Response expectation |
|---|---|---|---|
| Hachette India, adult and business books | Through a literary agent only; unsolicited proposals not accepted | Not applicable; the agent submits. The page’s agency list is described as indicative, not exhaustive or necessarily current, and not an endorsement | Not stated |
| Hachette India, children’s books | Direct submission, in English (English translations welcome) | One-page proposal; chapter breakdown where applicable; first three sample chapters; artwork samples if applicable; author bio of no more than 200 words | Indicative eight weeks |
| Bloomsbury India | Direct submission of English manuscripts across genres | Synopsis of no more than 500 words; chapter outline; three chapters or 3,000–5,000 words of sample work; brief author bio; the manuscript’s status. Full manuscripts are preferred | Eight weeks if the manuscript is taken forward |
| Penguin Random House India | Direct submission via “Publish With Us” | Author bio; synopsis; three sample chapters. A covering letter is optional | If nothing is heard within six months, the publisher will not pursue the submission |
| Red Ink Literary and Film Agency | Agency submission; the agency does not charge a reading fee | Not stated in the guidance reviewed | 30 days to evaluate a proposal; a further 60 days if a full manuscript is requested. These are the agency’s stated expectations, not guaranteed timelines |
What Red Ink Literary and Film Agency says it does
- It provides an initial assessment and editorial advice to accepted authors.
- It searches for publishers locally and internationally and attempts to negotiate terms.
- It does not handle poetry, plays, screenplays or short stories.
- It is not presently handling children’s literature, though it is open to young adult (YA) fiction.
These are the agency’s own policies and scope. They are not a general description of how agencies work.
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How to choose your route
- Identify the genre and the division. A publisher can run different routes for adult, business and children’s books. Hachette India’s adult and business division is agent-only, while its children’s division accepts direct submissions.
- Check the live submission page on the day you send. Rules, page limits and response windows change, and the publisher’s page is the authority on its own policy.
- Match the materials exactly. Send only what the page requests, within the stated length, and make the synopsis and sample chapters the strongest parts of the submission.
- If the target requires an agent, research agents rather than publishers. Penguin Random House’s FAQ recommends the Writer’s Market directory for finding agents and publishers. The edition you find may be out of date, so confirm each listing against the agency’s own website before writing to it.
- Respect the response window. If a publisher’s page gives a deadline after which it will not pursue a submission, treat that as its answer and move on.
Checking an agent before you sign
The Society of Authors’ “Agency Submissions Best Practice Guidelines,” published in March 2025, is professional guidance rather than law or a guarantee of any agent’s conduct. It says agents should provide clear, current submission instructions, and it sets a firm line on fees: “Fees: reading fees should never be charged.” It also recommends an agency agreement before representation begins.
Hachette India’s caveat adds a further check. A publisher’s list of agencies does not mean the publisher endorses those agencies or guarantees that they will accept your work. Before agreeing to representation:
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- Look at the agency’s record and whether it handles your genre.
- Read the agreement closely and identify which rights and territories it covers.
- Be cautious of any agency that asks you to pay to be read.
- Seek independent professional advice on the terms if you are unsure. No single standard contract is established by the sources, so the terms on the table are what matter.
What is and is not established
The Woollard interview is nine years old, and its remarks on UK and US editors reflect 2017 conditions. The Indian publisher pages were checked in 2026, but they describe only the policies of those Indian imprints and cannot tell you the current position of any foreign house. No current success rate, number of foreign deals for Indian writers, or current economics of overseas representation is established by these sources, so none is offered here. Nor is there a verified current cost or return for book-fair attendance.
What the evidence supports is narrower and more useful: follow the current rules of each target, check any agent against the Society of Authors guidance, and treat a foreign deal as one outcome among several rather than a verdict on the quality of your book.
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