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Bova Agency

OneTeam OneDream

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Has anyone dealt with them? I did a search, but didn't find anything other than people planning to submit, or had submitted to them. No actual useful info. Anyone got any?

(P&E has them listed, but with no info)

www.barbarabovaliteraryagency.com
 

James D. Macdonald

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With any agency the question you should be asking isn't "are they so bad that I should cross them off my list?" It should be "are they good enough that I should put them on my list?"
 

Julie Worth

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If they request your ms, they will insist on an excusive...in writing. So you might want to leave them for last.
 

OneTeam OneDream

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Julie Worth said:
If they request your ms, they will insist on an excusive...in writing. So you might want to leave them for last.


Yeah, they already requested the exclusive, which I can't give to them for 2 weeks, because I already have an exclusive with a different agent until the end of this month.
 

OneTeam OneDream

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James D. Macdonald said:
With any agency the question you should be asking isn't "are they so bad that I should cross them off my list?" It should be "are they good enough that I should put them on my list?"


Okay...."are they good enough that I should put them on my list?"
 

Julie Worth

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Barbara Bova’s husband is Ben Bova, the famous SF writer. She doesn’t seem to be in the picture much, nowadays. Bova agent Marlene Stringer has a $ at P&E, indicating at least one sale.

Actually, I’m surprised they would request your ms (about a baseball season, isn’t it?), as it seems outside their stated interests.
 
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OneTeam OneDream

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Julie Worth said:
Barbara Bova’s husband is Ben Bova, the famous SF writer. She doesn’t seem to be in the picture much, nowadays. And I’m surprised they would request your ms (about a baseball season, isn’t it?), as it seems outside their stated interests.


I thought the same thing, but I was suggested to send it to Elizabeth Osbourne (NF agent) I queried about 2months or so ago, and got the request from her today. Didn't expect it, but hey, I'm not gonna argue with it.


Good memory on ya though!!
 

HapiSofi

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Oh, for pete's sake. Barbara is Ben Bova's agent. She's Orson Scott Card's agent. She's got a few others as well -- my impression is that she prefers a smallish list of authors. She's definitely legit.
 

dragonjax

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Julie Worth said:
If they request your ms, they will insist on an excusive...in writing. So you might want to leave them for last.
I can report that for a partial, at least, this isn't true. Ms. Bova replied to my e-query in one day and said I should submit the partial and synop to her associate, Marlene Stringer.
 

Julie Worth

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dragonjax said:
I can report that for a partial, at least, this isn't true. Ms. Bova replied to my e-query in one day and said I should submit the partial and synop to her associate, Marlene Stringer.

Sorry, by ms I meant the full ms.
 

emeraldcite

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Quote:
Originally Posted by James D. Macdonald
With any agency the question you should be asking isn't "are they so bad that I should cross them off my list?" It should be "are they good enough that I should put them on my list?"




Okay...."are they good enough that I should put them on my list?"

In other words, do they have sales? Sales to major publishers? Recent sales? If you don't know, why bother?

I think that's what's wrapped up in Uncle Jim's comment. (Correct me if I'm wrong...I'm just interpreting...but those are the questions I would ask. If I can't figure out who some of their clients are and if they are making some decent sales, I won't query.)
 

badducky

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Though Mrs. Bova seems nice,


Marlene was kind of rude to me... Really rude, actually. I was approaching her with a very good situation (for her), and she was pushy, strident, and un-necessarily didactic.

I don't think I would want her on my team. Maybe I caught her on a bad day.
 

dragonjax

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(Side note: This is annoying, because I know I've responded to this message, but it, along with a PM I previously sent, have mysteriously vanished. Grrrr.)

I've found Marlene to be responsive, enthusiastic, and very professional.
 

CaoPaux

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Ain't just you, DJ, looks like we lost fours days of posts in the latest move. :Hammer:
 

dragonjax

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CaoPaux said:
Ain't just you, DJ, looks like we lost fours days of posts in the latest move. :Hammer:
Crap, really? Man, that's a bummer. (But I'm relieved that it's not just me...)
 

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I just received an email from Marlene Stringer requesting to read the first three chapters of my paranormal thriller, EBONY, along with an outline. She said that Barbara Bova forwarded my query onto her.


Are they reputable? Is it worth sending?
 

dragonjax

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Toni1953 said:
I just received an email from Marlene Stringer requesting to read the first three chapters of my paranormal thriller, EBONY, along with an outline. She said that Barbara Bova forwarded my query onto her.


Are they reputable? Is it worth sending?
Marlene is a partner agent at the Barbara Bova Literary Agency. I guarantee that they are very reputable. They represent, among others, Ben Bova, Orson Scott Card, Trish Cook and Joyce Henderson.
 

Stacia Kane

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I know this is an old thread but I thought I'd update to say it looks like they're no longer insisting on exclusives. I got a full req from Marlene Stringer and she didn't say anything about exclusivity.

I can't, of course, say for sure they no longer ask for them in any case, but at least in this one they haven't.
 

Zelenka

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I have to say Marlene Stringer was very courteous with me too when she requested a full, and even emailed to say it had arrived safely from the UK, which I thought was an added touch.

Saying that, the rejection was a form email, about one sentence if I remember rightly.
 

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Bump to see if anyone has any updated information. I got a very positive (and very prompt!) response to a full from Ms. Stringer and am fishing for clues before talking to her on the phone.

I have a full out with another agent, and partials out with a couple of others, and I'm not 100% sure what the etiquette is here, so clues on that subject would also be appreciated.