It took an in-depth look at a talk given at SCWBI's national conference on "The Art of the Deal, all about how a book is acquired. Presenters Brenda Bowen (agent with Sanford J Greenburger Associates, on the right) and Alessandra Balzer (VP & co-publisher of Balzer + Bray, an imprint of HarperCollins Children’s Books) used their roles as agent and editor to “act out” the process. (note: Brenda worked for Alessandra at Hyperion). They opened their talk with a short discussion of how an editor and agent like to work, that it’s both a business and personal relationship. Then they started their “case study” of the acquisition of a fictitious debut literary novel."
Even though it's a fictitious example, it's got details about royalty rates and how offers might change when more than one editor is involved that are fascinating.
You'll want to read all about it here.
