Author of the week: Sterling Lord

last updated 8 January 2015

It’s fair to say that Sterling Lord has been better with writers than with wives, said John Heilpern in Vanity Fair. Though four times married, the legendary New York literary agent remains, at 92, utterly devoted to the work of scouring manuscripts and landing publishing deals for the writers he believes in. “I guess, growing up, I learned more about writing than women,” he says. His love of the authors he’s represented—including Ken Kesey, Gloria Naylor, John Irving, and David Mitchell—shines through in his new memoir, Lord of Publishing. One highlight: the day in 1951 when a young Jack Kerouac walked in carrying the manuscript for On the Road. Four long years of pitching later, Lord finally landed it a publisher. “I had no idea whether it was going to be a big success or not,” he says. “But I thought Kerouac’s voice was different and should be heard.”

Lord doesn’t worry much over how publishing has changed, said Roger Rapoport in the Charleston, W.Va., Gazette. He’s still in his office five or more days a week and always seeking not a market play but writing that keeps him reading deep into the night. “The book business is not like making an auto. Each title is unique,” he says. And while he forces himself to be stubbornly supportive of every manuscript he believes in, he also follows a rule about winning and losing that he adopted years ago. “Whether it was a major triumph or a serious disaster, I would take only 10 minutes to moan or to celebrate before moving on to the next client or the next deal.”