Renuka Chatterjee is India's top literary agent and has represented many bestselling authors. In the interview, she discusses what she looks for in manuscripts and how the publishing process works in India. She typically represents about 10% of the manuscripts she receives, focusing on works that are above average quality and have potential for a higher advance. While publishers will consider direct submissions, having an agent can help a debut author stand out from the slushpile. Renuka emphasizes that aspiring authors should ensure their manuscript is polished and tailored to an agent's interests before submitting.

2. Interview with India’s Top
Literary Agent

4. Renuka Chatterjee – Interview
with India’s Top Literary Agent

5. It’s been almost a decade since I was a debut
novelist in India so many of my recent posts have
been geared towards breaking into the
international publishing industry. To assist my
Indian readers, I interviewed Renuka Chatterjee,
India’s top literary agent and

6. possibly one of the most experienced people in
Indian publishing, on what it takes to get
represented by someone of her stature in India.
Renuka is particularly dear to me since she was
my very first agent in India and an absolute delight
to work with. I hope her candid, thoughtful
answers below are useful in your writing journey:

7. KB: Renuka, I can’t imagine how I would have
ever sold KEEP OFF THE GRASS if I had
reached out to a publisher directly. You were such
an incredible partner through the whole journey for
both me as an author and HarperCollins as a
publisher. Are most publishers in India today
evaluating debut novels only through literary
agents like in the US or do they still evaluate
direct submissions?

8. RC: It’s different here – publishers are quite open
to getting manuscripts directly from authors, in
fact, if it’s a first novel, they probably prefer it that
way, so that they don’t have to bid against other
publishers, and get away with a lower advance!
Though from a first-time author’s point of view, it
definitely helps to have an agent to bat for you –
as otherwise, your work could just get lost in the
slushpile.

9. KB: Of 100 manuscripts that cross your desk, how
many do you represent? What are the usual
reasons you reject manuscripts?

10. RC: Being a one-woman show, I take just about
10% of the manuscripts that come my way. one of
the reasons is, of course, that I just don’t have the
bandwidth to handle more, but the other main
reason is that a lot of what comes your way is
either really bad, or even if publishable, is what as
a publisher I would see as a ‘mid-list’ title

11. which means I wouldn’t pay more than Rs. 40,000 or
50,000 as an advance, and as an agent – my
commission on that kind of advance just wouldn’t be
worth the effort involved. So for practical reasons – I
would take on only those authors whose work I
believe to be above average, and have a chance of
attracting good bidding and a higher advance.

12. KB: A lot of aspiring authors visit my blog. What is
the one thing you wished they thought about
before they sent in a submission to an agent?

13. RC: That they would spend more time cleaning up
the copy and getting rid of the typos. Also, that
they would really read the agent’s website and
see what kind of work it handles, rather than send
sci-fi or fantasy or some other genre that it’s
clearly stated we’re not handling.

14. KB: is there a particular genre that you think is
underrepresented in India today and you wished
you’d see more submissions in?
RC: Good literary fiction and non-fiction. Everyone
is on the commercial fiction / mass market
bandwagon.

15. KB: Almost ten years ago when you first
represented me, I remember your sage wisdom
that an author shouldn’t develop a reputation of
being a “difficult” author. It stuck with me through
all these years. Could you shed more light on
that? I know most authors are prickly so what
distinguishes the truly “difficult” ones?

16. RC: The ones who go on rewriting their work till
the nth hour; those who are forever complaining
about the marketing and promotion of their book –
true, this is often justified, and publishers do need
a push to get the book out there and noticed – but
there are times when the publisher has done
whatever it can, and if the book still doesn’t sell
20,000 copies – it could be the book itself, and not
the lack of promotion.

17. KB: In your illustrious publishing career, has there
ever been a book that “got away”–a book you
rejected which turned out to become a
phenomenon?

18. RC: Yes, many! One of them, I fear, will be THE
SEEKER – and I am not being facetious, I truly wish I
had read it with a more receptive mind but I’ve also
rejected Samit Basu’s SIMONQUIN PROPHECIES,
Advaita Kala’s ALMOST SINGLE, amongst others, all of
which went on to become bestsellers. And though I did
publish Jhumpa Lahiri’s INTERPRETER OF MALADIES
at HarperCollins, I thought it would just do moderately
well, rather than become the phenomenon it did.

19. KB: Finally, your one writing tip for someone
about to embark on the tumultuous but delightful
journey of writing a book?
RC: Write only if you really have a story to tell –
and not for any other reason.

20. I hope you enjoyed Renuka’s interview. And if her
words propel you to write, don’t forget to sign up
for my full video course on How to get a Top 5
publishing deal here.

21. For more details
Visit us @
http://www.karanbajaj.com/