The Plains Agency (Christi Cardenas)

Vermilion, that was so fast! Good thing she didn't leave you hanging, but I'm sorry for the rejection.

Still waiting here!

Mel A. said:

Just posting my query experience for those interested in following the time frames:

e-query 2/12/09
rejection today 5/12/09

= three months exactly.

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Same thing here...

My query went in on February 15th, and I got a rejection on the 12th as well.

This seems to confirm my earlier theory that some agents accumulate a large pile over many weeks, until their workload finally lets up enough that they can work through it in a relatively short time.

She's still playing catch-up. I queried her on March 2, and got a reject May 14 (my birfday! Is nothing sacred? LOL).

I'm still waiting on my 2/27 query.

The Plains Agency

Hi everyone. I signed on to this forum to post this message. As much as I hate to spread bad word, I feel that I must in order to save others from misfortune. I apologize for the anonymous posting, but I need to protect my reputation in the industry.

I was a client of Jonathon Lazear's. Christi Cardenas, who now runs "The Plains Agency" owned the Lazear Agency. She left the agency owing clients thousands of dollars, and has since refused to respond to email or phone messages from clients.

I do not recommend that anyone do business with Christ Cardenas or the Plains Agency.

-author21

author21 said:

Hi everyone. I signed on to this forum to post this message. As much as I hate to spread bad word, I feel that I must in order to save others from misfortune. I apologize for the anonymous posting, but I need to protect my reputation in the industry.

I was a client of Jonathon Lazear's. Christi Cardenas, who now runs "The Plains Agency" owned the Lazear Agency. She left the agency owing clients thousands of dollars, and has since refused to respond to email or phone messages from clients.

I do not recommend that anyone do business with Christ Cardenas or the Plains Agency.

-author21

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I just did a search of Google to see if there is anything to the Author21's assertions and could find nothing that lends an anonymous post much credibility. Anyone else have anything to add? She looks legitimate to me.

Hi all,

I am a client of Christi's. I had an agent prior to signing with The Plains Agency (and one with a good reputation at that), but Christi is hands-down the best agent I've had. She's enthusiastic, prompt in her correspondence, we chat weekly, she's driven, and highly competent. I have nothing but the utmost respect for her and I could not ask for a better person to be working with. I write fantasy and she knows the market well. She reps Margarat Weis and has done so for many years. (That, in itself, speaks volumes.)

There had been a previous post in regards to some issues with the former Lazear Agency. That post has been removed since, I believe, that issue was resolved. I am not privy to what happened with the Lazear Agency itself, but I can only say glowing things about my dealings with Christi and The Plains Agency. I am extremely confident in her ability to sell, her business savvy, and her integrity.

For what it's worth,
David

David and Sean,

I understand your being skeptical of an anonymous post. Don't take my word for it. Contact Jenny Meyer (the sub-agent Christi lists with Publisher's Marketplace), or Jonathon Lazear, or any of Jonathon Lazear's former best-selling clients who are still owed money by Christi. I am one of them.

Author21, will you please contact Writer Beware (in confidence)? My email address is [email protected]

Thanks.

- Victoria

Any follow up on this, Victoria? Anyone else?

Thanks!

Also curious if anything ever came of the anonymous poster's claims. ???

Anybody have any new info on Christi? AgentQuery says that she's actively seeking new clients. However, her PM page says, "Please note that at this time I'm only considering new clients referred by existing clients and professional relationships."

I wish these two places had update dates on them...

Her PM page is current.

Yep, it is. I didn't know if I'd get a reply here so I finally thought, "Oh why not?" and sent her a little email to ask. She replied just this morning very politely that she is only looking at material from client and collegue referrals.

Oh well.

Fast rejection - say's she's only accepting new clients from referrals.

The Plains Agency, Christie Cardenas

I had a bad experience with her a couple years ago then met someone who had the same bad experience but fired her much sooner.....my advice is get copies of all her correspondence and responses. and don't be too patient with her....seems like she does better with science fiction.
I learned even with background checks, focus on what someone does with your work, what the plan is, get it in writing and insist they send you every response. I waited way too long ( like more than a year)....to deal with the issues. She was my first agent and I still feel bruised.

Does anyone have recent experiences or heard recent stirrings from this agency? The website is very minimal and lacks a wishlist. Same goes for her twitter and PM page. Publisher's Marketplace doesn't list any sales (at least to me, a non-paid user). She has some impressive legacy clients, and she doesn't have a listing on Writer's Beware, suggesting the earlier concerns with Lazaer were unfounded or perhaps an isolated incident.

I last queried on 4/27/21 and did not hear back. Her request rate in SF, on querytracker, is 0%.

Fiender said:

Does anyone have recent experiences or heard recent stirrings from this agency? The website is very minimal and lacks a wishlist. Same goes for her twitter and PM page. Publisher's Marketplace doesn't list any sales (at least to me, a non-paid user). She has some impressive legacy clients, and she doesn't have a listing on Writer's Beware, suggesting the earlier concerns with Lazaer were unfounded or perhaps an isolated incident.

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I have a PM subscription. It says she has five total sales, three of which were six-figure deals. Her last sale posted was 02/10/2022.

Per AgentQuery, she is closed to all but referrals. BUT... that site profile also appears to not have been updated since around 2007.

zmethos said:

Per AgentQuery, she is closed to all but referrals. BUT... that site profile also appears to not have been updated since around 2007.

https://agentquery.com/agent_print.aspx?agentid=969

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QM also says that she has a 1.3% query response rate and her last response was on 06/02/2023. Her last request was 07/22/2022.