Is the world of books in decline? Is it worse for authors now than ever before? Things are undeniably tough today. The power of the chains’ three-for-two promotions and the influence of Richard & Judy’s Book Club have been perceived by some as good for consumers but, paradoxically, they can make things harder for those authors not selected. But it has ever been thus.

Barry Turner writes that there is little to suggest that the current crop of young writers will get the same breaks as the Amis generation of 20 years ago, but this week’s Man Booker longlist — with Sarah Waters, David Mitchell, Andrew O’Hagan, Jon McGregor and Kiran Desai selected, all of whom are under 40 — shows that young writers of merit are being given a chance to break through.

And while it is true that some independent bookshops are closing, good ones, such as John Sandoe or Daunts, in London, prove that a caring independent bookseller can thrive in the high street when it knows its customers and can rely on their loyalty.

There is undoubtedly a worrying perception that, if you are a celebrity, you have a book in you (or rather a book that someone will draw out of you). The front tables in the shops this winter will be groaning with books that I’d love to see remain unpublished. But people buy them — and when there is a market, a publisher will attempt to make money from it.

From the money generated by the sales of a No. 1 bestseller comes the cash that might, just might, go towards the small advance on a first literary novel that could launch a promising career. And publishing companies do care about the books that they publish. Headline’s passion for Victoria Hislop’s The Island was there the day it bought the book, as was Canongate’s for Louise Welsh, whose new novel The Bullet Trick has consolidated the success of her debut novel The Cutting Room.

What is undeniable is that publishers make life difficult for themselves. Cinemas don’t offer discounted prices for the latest Harry Potter film, so why do publishers allow booksellers to discount their bestselling titles? Today all books have to fight harder than ever in a world where a hardback title often costs more than a CD or DVD. As an agent, you have to have a heavier dose of optimism in your outlook than you might need in other jobs: you have to believe that good writing will somehow find readers and that word of mouth will carry the work of an author whom readers care for. Turner writes that the show will go on, and it will. It promises to have its share of bumpy rides but that, bizarrely, is half the fun.

David Miller is a literary agent at Rogers, Coleridge & White Ltd