This article is from the source 'nytimes' and was first published or seen on . It last changed over 40 days ago and won't be checked again for changes.

You can find the current article at its original source at http://www.nytimes.com/2014/06/20/books/literary-agent-carmen-balcells-forms-joint-venture-with-andrew-wylie-spanish-and-latin-american-literature.html

The article has changed 2 times. There is an RSS feed of changes available.

Version 0 Version 1
After Years of Solitude, Spanish Literary Champion Takes Partner After Years of Solitude, Spanish Literary Champion Takes Partner
(2 months later)
BARCELONA — Carmen Balcells was never just a literary agent. Nicknamed La Mamá Grande, after a story by Gabriel García Márquez, she served as a confidante and coach, someone who paid her writers’ dentist bills and deftly resolved their domestic problems while promoting the greatest Latin American and Spanish authors across the globe, including Mr. García Márquez, Mario Vargas Llosa and many more. BARCELONA — Carmen Balcells was never just a literary agent. Nicknamed La Mamá Grande, after a story by Gabriel García Márquez, she served as a confidante and coach, someone who paid her writers’ dentist bills and deftly resolved their domestic problems while promoting the greatest Latin American and Spanish authors across the globe, including Mr. García Márquez, Mario Vargas Llosa and many more.
During the boom in Latin American literature in the 1960s and 1970s, when political turmoil shook that region and Franco ruled in Madrid, Ms. Balcells became a crucial liaison connecting Spain and Latin America with the rest of the world and helped a generation of Spanish-language writers find audiences in English.During the boom in Latin American literature in the 1960s and 1970s, when political turmoil shook that region and Franco ruled in Madrid, Ms. Balcells became a crucial liaison connecting Spain and Latin America with the rest of the world and helped a generation of Spanish-language writers find audiences in English.
Today the boom is over, but the backlist lives on. Facing the prospect of a waning empire and no clear successor (her son does not want to take over), Ms. Balcells, 83, announced last month that she had signed a letter of intent with the New York literary agent Andrew Wylie to form a new venture, the Balcells-Wylie agency, in which her writers would come under joint management with Mr. Wylie.Today the boom is over, but the backlist lives on. Facing the prospect of a waning empire and no clear successor (her son does not want to take over), Ms. Balcells, 83, announced last month that she had signed a letter of intent with the New York literary agent Andrew Wylie to form a new venture, the Balcells-Wylie agency, in which her writers would come under joint management with Mr. Wylie.
“I want things clean and ironed,” Ms. Balcells said, switching into Catalan from Spanish in an often elliptical, multilingual conversation last week in her airy apartment on the elegant Avenida Diagonal here, the heart of Spain’s publishing industry. Still formidable, even in a wheelchair, she was wearing one of her trademark white dresses.“I want things clean and ironed,” Ms. Balcells said, switching into Catalan from Spanish in an often elliptical, multilingual conversation last week in her airy apartment on the elegant Avenida Diagonal here, the heart of Spain’s publishing industry. Still formidable, even in a wheelchair, she was wearing one of her trademark white dresses.
In play is the literary estate of Mr. García Márquez — who died in April and who Mr. Wylie said was estimated to have sold more than 50 million books — as well as the fortunes of 300 or so other writers represented by Ms. Balcells, including Mr. Vargas Llosa, Isabel Allende, Javier Cercas and the estates of Carlos Fuentes and Pablo Neruda.In play is the literary estate of Mr. García Márquez — who died in April and who Mr. Wylie said was estimated to have sold more than 50 million books — as well as the fortunes of 300 or so other writers represented by Ms. Balcells, including Mr. Vargas Llosa, Isabel Allende, Javier Cercas and the estates of Carlos Fuentes and Pablo Neruda.
If the deal goes through, the joint venture would give Mr. Wylie a far deeper reach into a lucrative and growing market as the center of gravity in Spanish-language publishing is moving away from Spain, hit hard by an economic crisis, to Latin America, where sales are on the rise.If the deal goes through, the joint venture would give Mr. Wylie a far deeper reach into a lucrative and growing market as the center of gravity in Spanish-language publishing is moving away from Spain, hit hard by an economic crisis, to Latin America, where sales are on the rise.
The joint venture also marks the end of an era. For years, Ms. Balcells spurned the advances of Mr. Wylie, one of the most powerful literary agents in the world. No living writer has ever defected from Ms. Balcells to Mr. Wylie, and she once quipped that he would have to keep chasing widows. But lacking someone to assume her role, Ms. Balcells, who founded the Carmen Balcells Literary Agency in 1956, said she had approached Mr. Wylie this year. The outline of the deal remains unclear, and there is always a chance that Ms. Balcells could change her mind.The joint venture also marks the end of an era. For years, Ms. Balcells spurned the advances of Mr. Wylie, one of the most powerful literary agents in the world. No living writer has ever defected from Ms. Balcells to Mr. Wylie, and she once quipped that he would have to keep chasing widows. But lacking someone to assume her role, Ms. Balcells, who founded the Carmen Balcells Literary Agency in 1956, said she had approached Mr. Wylie this year. The outline of the deal remains unclear, and there is always a chance that Ms. Balcells could change her mind.
Nevertheless, Mr. Wylie said he was pleased at the prospect. “She has clients of significant interest to me,” he said in a telephone interview, adding that, of those, “about 20” were of particular interest. The Wylie Agency already represents the estate of Jorge Luis Borges, as well as that of the Chilean writer Roberto Bolaño, previously represented by Ms. Balcells, and living Spanish writers including Antonio Muñoz Molina. “We’ve had our toe in the water,” Mr. Wylie said. “This would get us in deeper.”Nevertheless, Mr. Wylie said he was pleased at the prospect. “She has clients of significant interest to me,” he said in a telephone interview, adding that, of those, “about 20” were of particular interest. The Wylie Agency already represents the estate of Jorge Luis Borges, as well as that of the Chilean writer Roberto Bolaño, previously represented by Ms. Balcells, and living Spanish writers including Antonio Muñoz Molina. “We’ve had our toe in the water,” Mr. Wylie said. “This would get us in deeper.”
Mr. Wylie added that the proposed Balcells-Wylie agency would be an entity separate from the Wylie Agency, but that he hoped the new venture would help the 1,000 writers already represented by his agency to be published in Spanish translation. The writer and translator Alberto Manguel wrote in El País that some of Ms. Balcells’s authors might suffer because Mr. Wylie was only interested in best-selling authors, an idea that Mr. Wylie rejected. But for the most part, the Spanish publishing world has generally welcomed the new venture.Mr. Wylie added that the proposed Balcells-Wylie agency would be an entity separate from the Wylie Agency, but that he hoped the new venture would help the 1,000 writers already represented by his agency to be published in Spanish translation. The writer and translator Alberto Manguel wrote in El País that some of Ms. Balcells’s authors might suffer because Mr. Wylie was only interested in best-selling authors, an idea that Mr. Wylie rejected. But for the most part, the Spanish publishing world has generally welcomed the new venture.
“For her it’s money and continuity that she couldn’t find any other way,” Elena Ramirez, the director of the Spanish publisher Seix Barral, said. “For him it’s a way to finally put his feet in a land where he tried three times before.” She continued, “I think it’s a very clever move for both.”“For her it’s money and continuity that she couldn’t find any other way,” Elena Ramirez, the director of the Spanish publisher Seix Barral, said. “For him it’s a way to finally put his feet in a land where he tried three times before.” She continued, “I think it’s a very clever move for both.”
Over the years, Ms. Balcells changed the rules of Spanish publishing. Before, writers would sign open-ended contracts with publishers, who gave meager advances and took near-total control of all rights. Ms. Balcells began negotiating better advances and fixed-term contracts, as well as complex licensing and rights arrangements. Today, she is fighting to get her writers better deals for electronic and film rights.Over the years, Ms. Balcells changed the rules of Spanish publishing. Before, writers would sign open-ended contracts with publishers, who gave meager advances and took near-total control of all rights. Ms. Balcells began negotiating better advances and fixed-term contracts, as well as complex licensing and rights arrangements. Today, she is fighting to get her writers better deals for electronic and film rights.
Ms. Balcells’s parties are legendary. Once, she hosted a dinner for the Mexican novelist Carlos Fuentes and his wife. When their plane was delayed for hours, she had the dinner served, then had the entire table cleared and set again so that when the couple finally arrived it appeared as if the party was just starting.Ms. Balcells’s parties are legendary. Once, she hosted a dinner for the Mexican novelist Carlos Fuentes and his wife. When their plane was delayed for hours, she had the dinner served, then had the entire table cleared and set again so that when the couple finally arrived it appeared as if the party was just starting.
“She’s a force of nature,” Ms. Allende, the Chilean novelist, said in a telephone interview. “She’s generous and splendid and over the top.” Ms. Allende said that after Ms. Balcells sold translation rights for her first novel in 1981, she invited the writer to a party at her home in Barcelona. “I looked like a peasant, I was coming from Venezuela, I had no idea what the literary world was all about, I’d never read a book review, never studied literature,” Ms. Allende recalled. “And she received me as if I had been a famous writer already.”“She’s a force of nature,” Ms. Allende, the Chilean novelist, said in a telephone interview. “She’s generous and splendid and over the top.” Ms. Allende said that after Ms. Balcells sold translation rights for her first novel in 1981, she invited the writer to a party at her home in Barcelona. “I looked like a peasant, I was coming from Venezuela, I had no idea what the literary world was all about, I’d never read a book review, never studied literature,” Ms. Allende recalled. “And she received me as if I had been a famous writer already.”
For a woman who went on to befriend members of the Spanish royal family and most prime ministers (after the Franco era, which ended in 1975), Ms. Balcells came from humble origins. She grew up in a small village in Catalonia in a home without heat or running water. She studied business, but has no university degree.For a woman who went on to befriend members of the Spanish royal family and most prime ministers (after the Franco era, which ended in 1975), Ms. Balcells came from humble origins. She grew up in a small village in Catalonia in a home without heat or running water. She studied business, but has no university degree.
“I never wanted to be important,” she said. Under Franco, when a woman couldn’t open a bank account without the signature of her father or husband, “I wanted to be independent, autonomous at a time when a woman without a rigorous education, without a powerful family, couldn’t choose what to do on her own,” she added.“I never wanted to be important,” she said. Under Franco, when a woman couldn’t open a bank account without the signature of her father or husband, “I wanted to be independent, autonomous at a time when a woman without a rigorous education, without a powerful family, couldn’t choose what to do on her own,” she added.
She met Mr. García Márquez in Mexico in 1965 and sold the United States rights to his 1967 novel “One Hundred Years of Solitude,” which sold 1 million copies almost immediately. In a now-famous story, the novelist once asked Ms. Balcells if she loved him. “How can I answer that?” she told him. “You’re more than 30 percent of my business!” (Ms. Balcells said that was still the case today.)She met Mr. García Márquez in Mexico in 1965 and sold the United States rights to his 1967 novel “One Hundred Years of Solitude,” which sold 1 million copies almost immediately. In a now-famous story, the novelist once asked Ms. Balcells if she loved him. “How can I answer that?” she told him. “You’re more than 30 percent of my business!” (Ms. Balcells said that was still the case today.)
Asked what she considered her legacy, she paused. “The dream of my life was to start a literary agency and to have a writer like Gabo,” she said of Mr. García Márquez. And she achieved it. “I agree,” she said, her eyes lucid and mischievous. “I am a remarkable woman.” Asked what she considered her legacy, she paused. “The dream of my life was to start a literary agency and to have a writer like Gabo,” she said of Mr. García Márquez. And she achieved it. “I agree,” she said, her eyes lucid and mischievous. “I am a remarkable woman.”