Art & Creativity Quote by Richard Curtis

Gatekeeping rarely announces itself this politely. Curtis is doing two things at once: defending an industry norm while dangling just enough success-story bait to keep hopeful writers from walking away. The opening clause, "Again, we turn down most books", reads like a scripted answer to a question he gets constantly, which is its own context clue: self-publishing has become common enough that agents and editors need a rehearsed stance. The phrase "unless they have a special track record" turns quality into credential. It is not only about the manuscript; its about proof of market behavior - sales, audience, momentum - the kinds of signals traditional publishing can quantify and, crucially, de-risk.

Then comes the carefully calibrated exception: "We have taken a small number on... for a nice sum". That "nice" is doing heavy work. It keeps the anecdote breezy, almost neighborly, while reminding the listener that the real currency here is scale: the point of an agent is access to capital, distribution, prestige. He is implicitly saying, if you can demonstrate traction on your own, we can convert it into institutional validation.

"But that is an exception to the rule" snaps the door back into place. The subtext is less "dont self-publish" than "dont mistake visibility for leverage". Curtis is managing expectations while protecting the agencies core function: filtering the slush pile in an era where everyone can publish, and where the industrys power lies in choosing which already-proven signals it will amplify.