PFD crisis rumbles on

As the crisis at PFD rumbles forward, the media world watches on in fascination, report Gavin Knight in Media Guardian:

While the nation talks about the McCanns and Jose Mourinho, in publishing and media circles there is only one story - the mass resignation of the leading agents at PFD, the UK's largest talent and literary agency. "We are all gripped," one publishing director tells me. "We can't talk about anything else," says an excited rival agent. When the departing agents set up their as yet un-named agency after Christmas in new premises, they could take with them a glittering conga of British talent ranging from Keira Knightley to Richard Curtis, Kate Winslet to Tom Stoppard, Ricky Gervais to Alan Bennett. A conga worth 75% of PFD's income.

In The Financial Times, Jan Dalley also provides an interesting insight into the affair.

Meanwhile, in The Guardian, Martin Wagner says that, whoever their agent is, for a writer the relationship can often be a let-down.

Most young writers, keen for their first break, accept any offer from an agent, no questions asked. But right from the beginning the odds are stacked against them. An agent has many writers to look after - of course, how could an agency be profitable otherwise? - but a writer has only one career. So for a writer to be with the wrong agent can be lethal, while the agent has not much to lose, apart from a few wasted phone calls and stamps, and maybe a minor dent in his or her reputation. But like a bad marriage, a poor match between an author and agent can result in a lifetime of disappointment - for the author, at least.