Meredith Bernstein Literary Agency

Me too! I wanted to query her and looked ALLLL over for her yesterday with zero results. Anyone?

Carlene

Meredith Bernstein is fabulous. In the 1980's, when I was trying (unsuccessfully) to publish category romances, I was referred to her agency. During the few years I tried to publish romances, I was represented by Elizabeth Cavanaugh, an agent in her office who left some time ago for motherhood. Meredith is extremely well-established, and even back then she wasn't looking for new clients. I believe she has her own solo shop at this point. Last time I wrote to Elizabeth (when I found out she left for motherhood) I received a hand-written note from Meredith. My guess is that she still represents romances and women's fiction.

As an aside, Elizabeth never gave up on me, and she tried to sell everything I sent her. I ended up getting my master's in fiction writing and realizing that romances were not what I was intended to write. They were the first thing I tried my hand at because I thought they were fun to read. So I attribute Elizabeth's failure to sell my work to the fact that after a fairly short time, I gave up and turned to other kinds of writing.

Thank you all once again for these responses. Just came across reference to Ms. Bernstein in a mediabistro.com interview. She sounds like a good possibility and a solid and seasoned agent. And thanks, too for the google tip. Never knew that.

Happy New Year and success to you all.

Huh? I don't get the idea of supplying email on AQ yet not accepting email queries ..(http://www.agentquery.com/agent.aspx?agentid=83)

EMAIL: [email protected]
Does not accept email queries

Saw her at a conference. You get the sense she is well versed in the industry and a respectful advocate of writers. She said she's not interested in stories related to child abuse.

Has anyone had any experience with her? Querytracker shows she rejects 100% of the queries sent in.

Well, if she rejects 100% of queries she sounds like she's right up my alley...

LOL It sure feels like that with us these days.

So I guess no one's had any experience with her? I have a bit, so I'll share. I sent a query back at the end of July and she sent it back asking in writing for the first 100 pages. I did so, and then I think a couple weeks later she gave me a call and told me she liked what she read, but my novel at that point was over 160k. WAY too huge. She said if I could find a way to shrink it to something more reasonable, to contact her again and see where she was at that time.

I chopped it up and finally got to 100k after a week, then sent her a letter on August 20 and she returned it to say she was too swamped and to check in after two months. I emailed her a week and a half ago, but haven't heard back. I'm not sure if she even uses that email (it's the one off of AQ), so I was considering just sending another snail mail letter at the two-week mark. I hope that's okay? I'd sooo love to work with her.

I sent a query letter (snail mail) in April. Have not heard back...don't know if I will. O_O

Sarah Christine said:

LOL It sure feels like that with us these days.

So I guess no one's had any experience with her? I have a bit, so I'll share. I sent a query back at the end of July and she sent it back asking in writing for the first 100 pages.

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How long did it take her to get back to you?

I believe it took no more than a week. Are you waiting for a response?

An update for those interested.

Queried 12/18/09 via snail mail.

Form R today.

The weird part is that she returned my query letter with it. I was really confused after opening the letter because that was all I saw. I stood there saying, "What the...? Who just sends back a query letter? I guess that means a rejection...?" Then I peeked into the envelope and saw a tiny little blue square of paper. I still think getting the query letter back is kind of funny.

So for those who use snail mail, look closely to find your form rejection (though hopefully you won't get one!).

Sorry about the R! I got the same, from her and also from two other agencies that used the same teensy bit of paper to tell me that my ms was not right for them. I guess the query letter inside is to make sure that the envelope doesn't bend, as it would with such tiny piece of paper inside!!

sciri said:

... I guess the query letter inside is to make sure that the envelope doesn't bend, as it would with such tiny piece of paper inside!!

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Might keep their recycle bins a little clearer, too.

I got a form rejection, as well. It was a full size paper with a brief description, but she also sent my query back...guess it's her way

AlterEgox5 said:

An update for those interested.

Queried 12/18/09 via snail mail.

Form R today.

The weird part is that she returned my query letter with it. I was really confused after opening the letter because that was all I saw. I stood there saying, "What the...? Who just sends back a query letter? I guess that means a rejection...?" Then I peeked into the envelope and saw a tiny little blue square of paper. I still think getting the query letter back is kind of funny.

So for those who use snail mail, look closely to find your form rejection (though hopefully you won't get one!).

Click to expand...

The inclusion of the original query letter is for the author's benefit. Agents know you are submitting to a number of agents and possibly - probably - on more than one manuscript. Their inclusion of the query letter is a thoughtful gesture to help you track your submissions and responses.

Now. Say "Thank you, Meredith."

Partial request today on snail mail query from March 19th. Yay!

Good luck to everyone!!

CaoPaux said:

Entirely free. Just go to Google, set the search to Books, then enter the search string. I've found "agent [agent name]" to work 99% of the time. E.g., "agent Meredith Bernstein" (with quotes).

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Learn something new every day. Thanks for explaining this!

sent her the snail mail query today... let's see if there's an answer.

I have not dealt with her as an agent, but I talked with her once over the phone regarding another matter, knowing only that she was involved in some aspect of the writing/publishing industry. I immediately thought, "agent." She has the coolest "agent" voice and a wonderful sense of humor. Not that this helps any, but she seemed such a fun, personable woman.