Salon

The literary agent is a common figure in the Western publishing world. Most publishers would not deal with a first time author without a mediator; most established authors prefer to let agents handle the business side and concentrate on their writing. In Russia, though, the book business is a relatively small affair: not only is it concentrated in a couple of major cities, but within these cities all the major players know each another, making for a tight "old boys' network."

"The only difference between the work of a literary agent here and in the West is that in the West, an unsuccessful book means little money for the agent; here, it means a lot of time uselessly spent and perhaps even financial loss," says Alexander Gavrilov, director of the "Book Review" publishing house. "Also, I don't know about foreign agents, but in Russia, speaking from experience, an agent often acts as a shrink for the author. Russian writers are extremely sensitive and vulnerable."

In spite of the relative novelty of the concept, some agencies work quite actively on the Russian market. One example is FTM, which mostly handles the rights of 20th-century Russian classics, such as evergreen children's author Korney Chukovsky or the Nobel-winning Boris Pasternak, although living writers such as Viktor Pelevin use their services as well. Another success story is the St. Petersburg agency "Goumen & Smirnova," founded by two young women in 2006; their clientele already includes dozens of Russian and foreign authors. They have successfully sold translation rights for some of the most popular modern Russian novels, as well as worked the other way, bringing to Russia such names as Cecilia Ahern, the Irish author of the blockbuster "P.S. I Love You."

Russian agencies should be ready to fight for their existence, though, because large international publishing houses are lying in wait. Recently, Trident Media Group, a powerful New York-based literary agency representing such authors as Tom Clancy and Elizabeth George, bought the rights for the novels of fantasy writer Aleksey Pekhov. "We see a new generation of Russian authors who are not divided from their Western contemporaries either culturally or philosophically," says Robert Gottlieb, the company's chairman. "However, a new name is always a risk. I took that risk with Mr. Pekhov, and it proved to be a real success."

The international publication "Publishers Weekly" commented on Pekhov's success with an article titled "Are the Russians Coming?" It's not clear yet, but if they are, it's good news for the writers and for literature.