Na

I've heard a major in English is best.

Although, the degree is only the start; you'll have to be an intern/assistant under an agent for a number of years in a major hub of publishing (like New York) before you're allowed to take on clients as a start. Both getting hired as an assistant and earning enough respect to take on clients is very hard.

I've seen agents with degrees in everything from Polisci to Geography to English, so I don't know if the degree itself is really important. I could be wrong, but it seems like it might be more important to be well-read in the genres you hope to represent and to have years of experience in a respectable agency, usually as an intern, and then going up to assistant, and so on.

WHOOPS: Edit to add you meant *becoming* an agent. Move along.

kennethlandon said:

Currently I am a dual major in Finance and Economics, however, I'm only a freshman in college and have always considered becoming a literary agent.

What degree is best suited for that field and being successful? Major in Business and minor in English?

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Majoring in English would make a lot more sense. As others have noted though, the degree doesn't matter nearly as much as the path. To be an agent, you generally have to work your way at agencies - intern, read, assist, etc.

It's a very competitive field, and your degree will matter most when you apply for internships and the like and people ask why a business major wants to intern at a literary agency, heh.

You need to have had a good amount of experience in publishing to become a good literary agent.

This can be acquired through internships, which are usually unpaid (although a lawsuit a few years ago has made many agencies wary of taking on interns now), or through working in other areas of publishing.

A degree which helps you write clear, perceptive prose is useful. So, and English degree, or a history or politics or economics degree.

My niece was offered a three-week internship in one of London's best literary agencies: she was at the time studying for an English Lit degree at QMC, which is a very well-respected course. She loved the work at the agency and was asked if she'd write a reader's report: she did, and they were amazed by how good it was, and how quickly she wrote it.

Her three weeks there stretched to three months, her whole summer holiday.

She spent her final year at university writing reports for the agency--paid work--and the week before she handed in her final dissertation, was asked if she'd go back as a temp. After a month she was given a full-time, permanent job. She was there for two or three more years, then was head-hunted by a larger agency.

She's not an agent: she works with rights and contracts. But she's still writing those reports, which are a big strength for her, and says she couldn't have done them if she hadn't learned so much about literature and essay-writing at university.

I know agents with degrees in English (from BA to PhD), Business, Education, Law, Science, History, Theatre.... yeah. It really doesn't matter what your degree is in.

What does matter is that you are able to read A LOT and quickly, that you write clearly, think logically, communicate well, understand how to network and are willing to WORK FOR A LONG TIME FOR LITERALLY NO MONEY.

That last bit is super important.

Jennifer_Laughran said:

What does matter is that you are able to read A LOT and quickly, that you write clearly, think logically, communicate well, understand how to network and are willing to WORK FOR A LONG TIME FOR LITERALLY NO MONEY.

That last bit is super important.

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The last bit will also allow the agent to sympathize with writers, who generally need that willingness in spades.

If you're truly set on becoming an agent & in college your best bet is some kind of dual or eclectic program. Agents have to be knowledgeable in several fields, so take courses in literature, business, and so on. Even if you seek a degree in a single field, take plenty of courses in several others outside your field which might bear on an agent's job.

You might take a course in time-management. Agents typically juggle several clients, and for each client juggle several responsibilities, and must satisfy each agency in other ways. I recently read an agent interview where she described her typical day. Her job would kill me!

I'd suppose that some business courses would be helpful. At Least half of agenting is about business. So that would seem helpful. Just a guess.

Plus, Laer has suggested so too. ^