Client CRM
Keep author profiles, contact details, representation information, pen names, rights, documents, books, works in progress, calls, and activity in one connected record.
Literary Agency Software · Built by STA
Backend
Books
A literary-agent CRM built inside a working literary agency.
Backend Books connects clients, books, works in progress, submissions, editors, publishers, offers, deals, rights, and commissions—so agents can spend less time rebuilding spreadsheets and more time representing authors.
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Private STA SystemOne connected operating record
01Clients
02Books & WIPs
03Submissions
04Editor Directory
05Deals & Rights
06Commissions
The Direct Answer
What is a literary-agent CRM?
A literary-agent CRM should reflect how representation actually works: an author may have several projects, each project may carry different rights, and every submission may involve a publisher, imprint, editor, response, offer, deal, contract, and commission.
Backend Books is STA's answer. It is a private literary-agency operating system designed around those connected relationships—not a generic contact database with publishing labels added later.
One structured record follows the work from early development through submission, acquisition, contracting, payment, and long-term author-career management.
One Continuous Workflow
From promising manuscript to paid commission.
- 01
Discover
Track queries, reading preferences, review status, and the path from prospect to represented client.
- 02
Develop
Organize clients, books, series, works in progress, project materials, rights, and publishing metadata.
- 03
Submit
Build targeted editor lists, manage outreach, record responses, and keep every submission attached to the right project.
- 04
Close
Follow offers through negotiation, contract, announcement, payment, deal completion, and commission reconciliation.
Purpose-Built Capabilities
The operating system behind the agent.
Backend Books replaces disconnected sheets and one-off trackers with linked records that can be searched, updated, reported, and reused by the team.
Books, Series & WIPs
Manage standalone books, series order, covers, blurbs, tropes, reading age, publication dates, accolades, pitch materials, manuscripts, and project development.
Submission Tracking
Create rights-specific campaigns, attach editors, prepare Gmail drafts, track inquiries and submissions, record interest or passes, and retain a complete project history.
Offers & Deals
Connect offers and publishing deals to the correct client, project, publisher, imprint, editor, rights package, status, terms, and supporting documents.
Commission Tracking
Record expected and received commissions, connect income to clients and deals, and give agents and agency leadership a clearer operational view.
Team Operations
Bring team meetings, minutes, social scheduling, shared project context, portal access, and agency-wide reporting into the same private workspace.
Shared Market Knowledge
An editor directory that grows with the agency.
Every STA agent works from a shared, ever-expanding publishing directory. Editors connect to their imprints and publishers, can be classified by category and territory, and can be reused across project submission campaigns without rebuilding the research.
- U.S. acquiring editors
- Foreign acquiring editors
- Publishers and publishing groups
- Imprints and editorial programs
- Foreign co-agents and territories
- Editorial categories and specialties
Coming Soon
Acquiring-editor intelligence
Better targeting from verified agency history.
The next layer is designed to turn attributable agency knowledge into better submission decisions: editor and imprint fit, recent acquisitions, response outcomes, category patterns, calls, deal history, and relationship context.
This intelligence layer is in development. Backend Books will distinguish verified facts from research notes and will not expose one agent's private submission strategy to another agent.
Current Availability
Built for STA agents. Built to help a literary agency scale.
Backend Books is currently private software for Storyteller Talent Agency—not a public self-service subscription. Emerging and experienced literary agents interested in the system can explore careers with STA or contact the agency directly.
Frequently Asked Questions
Backend Books FAQ
What is Backend Books?
Backend Books is Storyteller Talent Agency’s private literary-agency CRM and operating system. It connects client management, books and works in progress, submission tracking, editor and publisher research, offers, deals, rights, commissions, and team operations.
Is Backend Books a CRM for literary agents?
Yes. Backend Books is purpose-built around literary-agent workflows rather than adapted from a general sales CRM. Records connect authors, projects, rights campaigns, editors, publishers, imprints, offers, deals, and commissions.
Does Backend Books include an editor and publisher database?
Yes. The STA team shares an ever-expanding directory of U.S. and foreign acquiring editors, publishers, imprints, and foreign co-agents. The directory supports editorial categories, territories, specialties, contact research, and reusable submission relationships.
Can Backend Books track literary-agent submissions and book deals?
Yes. Agents can manage project-specific rights campaigns, editor targets, outreach status, responses, offers, deals, contracts, and commissions while retaining the history on the relevant client and project.
What is the acquiring-editor intelligence layer?
The planned acquisition-intelligence layer will build on verified agency information such as editor and imprint fit, attributable deal history, response outcomes, category patterns, and relationship history. It is identified as coming soon and is not represented as a current feature.
Can literary agents outside STA subscribe to Backend Books?
Backend Books is currently a private system developed for Storyteller Talent Agency agents, not a public self-service subscription product. Literary agents interested in the system may contact STA or review the agency’s career opportunities.