Claire Gerus Literary Agency

I love Claire. I've known and worked with her for a couple years, and she knows her stuff and is as honest as the day is long. You can't go wrong with her. Great mind, great heart. Her editing expertise will come in handy since all the agents I know edit their client's work before pitching it to editors.

contact info?

Here's her Publishers Marketplace page: http://www.publishersmarketplace.com/members/Clairus/

- Victoria

Queried her in the morning, got a response back just now. (It's 5 p.m. here) She asked for the first thirty pages. So far so good, I suppose.

I like her smile. I think I'm gonna send her a query. Couldn't hurt? Right?

Appalachian Writer said:

I like her smile. I think I'm gonna send her a query. Couldn't hurt? Right?

Click to expand...

Guess not, haven't heard anything bad about her yet at all.

she got back to you already? Here's to hoping I'm next on the list. Thanks for the heads up, she really does seem great. All her client testimonials on publisher's market are absolutely glowing.

Really impressed with this woman.

Quick response to my NF e-mail query, asked to read portions, a follow-up phone call with some marketing discussions for my NF book and her concerns about representing it in this marketplace.

Listened to my response to her suggestions.

Wants to keep in touch and when I do get an agent, to let her know.

High class and I recommend her! Anyone have any experience with her?

http://www.publishersmarketplace.com/members/Clairus/

Responded to my email query within a couple of hours and requested a partial. Rejected me in record time with very useful comments and some encouragement. She's a gem.

I still haven't heard back on my partial. the1dsquared, if you don't mind me asking, when did you get your partial request? BTW, i loved your anti-blog.

Thanks Mr. A. Request for 30 pages and rejection were on July 19, 2008. No news is probably good news my friend.

She responded quickly. I sent her the first chapter, and the wait begins. I'm hoping no news is good news.

Good luck Branwyn!

Yea, I sent her the first 30 pages on July 9th, which is why I'm getting a little antsy. Let's hope no news is good news together.

EDIT: Claire just sent me an email saying that she didn't get my 30 pages, asking me to send them again, and saying she'll get right back to me. Guess it wasn't good news. Still, I'm really impressed that she took the time to check back in with me. Most agents probably wouldn't have bothered.

Just want to say that I just got one of kindest, personal rejections I've ever received from Claire a little while ago.

I wish all of you guys the best of luck - she's great!

Clone, it's okay that you have no publishing credits. Claire is one of the sweetest agents I know, so don't panic. Editors and agents want to get a feel for the writer, who they are, why they wrote the book - the background stuff. Try to stick to giving information that ties your background in with your book. As in, "I wrote The Twinkie Manual because I'm listed in the Guinness Book of World Records for having eaten the most Twinkies in ten minutes." Info about the fact that you can fix three school lunches in five minutes and write poetry don't work here, so leave it out.

If you have any unique promotional ideas, this is also a perfect place to add this. Something like, "I give cooking seminars on how to make the perfect Twinkie knockoff and would grant me a perfect instant readership."

Does that help?

You can't go wrong being totally honest.

Thanks for the quick response, priceless1. I did pretty much what you said. I sent her a brief bio in lieu of a CV, and said I'd type up an "official" CV ASAP if she wanted one. Hopefully, I didn't bore her to tears with the info--or the writing.

I queried Claire last evening, and she got back to me in about three hours, asking for the first 20 pages, the last 20 pages, and my c v. I wrote back saying I didn't know what a c v was, and she replied, explaining it was my resume. So, now she has all the material she requested.

No agent has asked me for quite that combination before, but it makes perfect sense.

Wow, based on the enthusiasm here I queried at midnight on Saturday and by early Sunday morning had a request for a partial. I sent it off right after church, around 1, and before dinner she had written back and said that she'd like me to call her to discuss the beginning. WOO!!!!!

She also asked me for a resume, so I wrote up a quick CV with most of my writing stuff which isn't a ton, but is something.

If anyone who has worked with Claire has any tips, I'd love to hear them. I'm a tad bit nervous to talk to an agent!

She requested my partial on August 18th. I'm hoping she likes it, I would love to work with her!