Joanne van Os - How Selwa Became My Agent

Around 2001, I decided to write an account of my life with the real Crocodile Dundee. Writing the story of how your ex-husband killed a police officer and wounded several other people, and was then shot dead, was not something I wanted to do, but it was necessary.

Before I ventured down that road, I rang an editor friend in Sydney. She said mine was a sensitive and difficult story to write. I needed an agent, and the agent I needed was Selwa Anthony.

“She’s the best person you could get to represent you,” she said.

I wrote to Selwa, not expecting a reply for at least a few weeks, if not longer, as I’d been told how busy she was, and that she didn’t take on many new authors.

“You might not hear back for a month or two, but it’s worth trying,” my friend had said. “She’s the best in the business. And she knows when a book will work.”

Selwa phoned me the day she received my letter. Since then, Selwa has been my trusted agent and my wise counsellor through the writing, editing and publication of five books so far.

The best thing to happen to me in my writing career was meeting Selwa Anthony at the beginning of it. I love her!