Sebes & Van Gelderen Literary Agency was founded in 1998 by Paul Sebes, with the help of Caroline van Gelderen. We are the first Dutch literary agency that also focuses on recruiting new authors, organizing free publicity, arranging speaking engagements and writing assignments for (famous) Dutch authors and giving a Literary Debut Course.

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So there are four parts to Sebes’ role as literary agent in the Netherlands:

1. Primary representation
Like the publishers, Sebes & Van Gelderen is always on the lookout for good new authors. Novice writers come into contact with the agency in any number of ways: they simply decide to send us a manuscript, they come via other authors, they take our Literary Debut Course or opt for a more direct approach. A few of the new authors who have had a literary agent ever since their first book are Arjen Lubach, Gustaaf Peek, Rob Kamphues, Walter van den Berg, Robert Vuijsje, Bregje Bleeker, Laia Fàbregas en Ricus van de Coevering.

The first thing we do when we invite a new author is talk about the manuscript. We provide editorial supervision and give the up and coming author helpful hints and advice on how to improve it. Once we and the author are satisfied, we send the manuscript to various publishers. If a publisher is interested, we have a talk with the author and publisher/editor. This often leads to a contract with the publisher (usually after an auction), and then the book is published.

We earn our living from the commissions, which usually amount to 15%, on the royalties or the advances on them that the author receives.

We also always make every effort to sell the rights to books to film producers and foreign publishers. Arrangements are made for translations and future film rights. We see to the authors’ rights so there is no need for them to concern themselves with these matters. We take over the foreign publishing and film rights for authors who have already been published on their own (without us acting as intermediary) from the publisher, who often doesn’t have time to do them justice. Publishers are often in agreement with this kind of transfer as long as they get their share of the sale of the rights, which is often 20%.

2. Writing assignments and speaking engagements
Another important thing our agency does is arrange writing assignments and speaking engagements for all our authors. We don’t only represent our primary authors, we represent virtually all the Dutch authors (Cees Nooteboom, Leon de Winter, Adriaan van Dis and over a hundred others) regarding anything from writing advertisements for leading brands of beer to lecturing at libraries or theaters.

Up until the 1990s, it was often not done for an author to earn money writing commercially. At any rate, it was not something you talked about. This changed at the start of the new millennium. It is now completely accepted that writers cannot live from literature alone, they also need to do other things like write commercially or give lectures.

We not only arrange for the assignments themselves, we see to all the clerical work, the formulation of the agreements, the bookkeeping and so forth. Here again, we earn a commission.

3. Free publicity
Publishers always try to market their authors as best they can. We add the extra cherry on top. We have regular contact with newspapers and magazines and radio and television programs and know exactly which book and which author belongs where. We make sure our authors and their books get the attention they deserve but often fail to get. There is a surplus of books in the Netherlands, and this is something the publishers are noticing. They work on such a large scale it is difficult if not impossible to give each and every author adequate attention. That is why we are there to lend the publishers a helping hand.

4. Literary Debut Course
For the past three years, Paul Sebes has been giving a Literary Debut Course. Every year, hundreds of folks send us their manuscripts. Some are great, but most of them are awful. For the small group in between, the course is a good way to discover and bring out tomorrow’s authors’ hidden talents. The course covers all the aspects of the Dutch publishing industry. Tips are given about style, atmosphere and building up suspense, and also about the best way to submit a manuscript to a publisher. Everyone who takes the course gets a close reading of a short story or part of a novel so they can see from their own work what can and often has to be done to bring out the best. Many of the people who take the course learn enough there to eventually sell their work to a publisher.

Please see our Rights list Frankfurt 2009.