Literary scout
A literary scout works for the publishing industry and scouts out the literary scene of another country, for example, in order to track down previously undiscovered, interesting literature for the readership of a publisher. To do this, he or she sifts through foreign-language manuscripts, for example .
The job title and access to the job are free, there is no regulated training or study. Literature scouts have often completed an apprenticeship as a bookseller or completed a degree in the humanities , such as German , English , linguistics , comparative studies or sociology . Sometimes they also translate the books they discover. It is not uncommon for them to later become authors themselves.
Activities / tasks of a literature scout
Literature scouts tend to act in the background, but have a decisive influence on the publishing program. Her tasks include:
- Reading and assessing foreign language manuscripts;
- Searching and finding undiscovered talents for the planning projects of the respective publishing programs ;
- Suggesting manuscripts for inclusion in the publisher's program;
- Cooperation with publishers' editors ;
- Networking of authors , publishers, readership and, if necessary, financiers ( mediator role ).
Well-known literature scouts
- Hella Faust (discovered Michel Houellebecq, among others)
Individual evidence
- ↑ a b aachener-zeitung.de , Sabine Rother: Literary detective with instinct for everything new, accessed on August 2, 2017
- ↑ deutschlandfunkkultur.de , Anette Selg: The Truffle Pigs of the Book Industry, accessed on August 2, 2017