Back in the early 90s I knew a number of writers who were represented by Joy Harris. She has--or had--some big sellers: Whitney Otto (How to Make and American Quilt) and now I believe Sena Jeter Naslund is also a client (Ahab's Wife). Some good writers she had back then (Louis B. Jones, for example) haven't published anything for about ten years after very promising and praised starts. I don't know if that has more to do with Mr. Jones or Ms. Harris. Jones may not have sold, in spite of the critical praise from the Times and Wash. Post, and after 3 books that don't sell publishers these days are likely to give up on you. (If they'd done that with John Irving, they would've missed out on the huge seller The World According to Garp).
She also represented my wife, a novelist, and in their interactions I observed her to be rather excessively cloyingly flattering at first with the first sale and then, as time passed, very hard to get a hold of and very hard to talk to. Someone on this thread referred to getting a questionable email in which an agent from the J Harris Agency referred to the writer as an *overlooked talent* or some such thing and that reminded me of Joy's rather fulsome manner. Perhaps this would be okay, but what I observed firsthand--and I certainly observed the effects firsthand on my wife--was that this initial gushy seduction was forgotten in the absence of another big sale and phone calls were not returned etc.
Maybe all--or many--agents are like this. They love you and gush over you when you're hot and new and fresh from a deal and lose interest if you don't follow it up with big stuff. But my wife's current agent is I believe more consistent, more professional, and I think this is a definite virtue.
Sorry to write so much, but that's what I know of the Joy Harris Agency I hope it is of use to you.
