Days of The Jackal: how Andrew Wylie turned serious literature into big business

One thing you notice about the literary agent world is: there are a lot of them. How can they all be making money? I think the answer is that they're not. There's a severe power law distribution, similar to acting, where a few agents like Wylie make really big bucks, and the rest... well, I did a little research:

ZipRecruiter says her salary (they're almost all female), if she’s average, is $58,585. Salary.com puts it at $70,187. Indeed says $88,363. This survey gives a range in NYC of $52,925 to $90,024, but also says that most of their compensation comes from selling books. Agents at large agencies may receive a small salary, but they’re expected to make most of their money from sales, similar to most salespeople.

Whatever figure you settle on, this is not a lot of money for an expensive place like NYC.

By way of job comparison, Salary.com says the median salary for various occupations in New York is

barista: $29,028

municipal bus driver: $44,502

automotive mechanic I: $57,607

literary agent: $70,187

police officer: $74,400

secondary school teacher: $76,212

librarian: $82,215

The NY Times also did a profile on Andrew Wylie this week, by the excellent interviewer David Marchese. I got more from the NY Times piece than the Guardian one:

https://www.nytimes.com/interactive/2023/11/12/magazine/andr...

> “That is how you take Tiananmen Square,” Wylie crowed, recalling his success. “You put Henry in the first tank, and you fill it with gas!”

Tiananmen Square was not a great military victory. Everyone knows that unarmed protesters are no match for armed tanks. It was, however, a demonstration of utter ruthlessness, so maybe that is the vibe he is going for.