I'll see your misery and raise you a...

well I don't actually have anything. But apparently it's tough out there for agents, too.

One agent in the UK " blamed the downturn on the medium-term trend of publishers eschewing literary authors for celebrities: "Publishers' focus has been on celebrities, and most agents play very little,­ if any, role in that," she said. "I think we are at a turning point now. The search for good writing is still on in most of the world, and in some of England too."

These people have no idea how lucky they are.