CookeMcDermid Lit. Mgmt. (formerly The Cooke Agency) / Cooke International

Saskatoonistan said:

I know! Freakin' weird, eh?

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Tell me about it... I'm so shocked, I think I need CPR or somethin'.

Well they do rep A Lee Martinez who writes some kick ass albeit offbeat fantasy.

dragonmedley said:

OMG! A Canadian agent willing to look at science fiction and fantasy. I think I just fell off my chair

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Not only that, but I like their name.

Site bookmarked...

Well I sent a polite inquiry regarding a manuscript of mine they'd been reading since November 3 2008 (I sent a polite inquiry one month ago today and heard nothing, so I waited another four weeks) I was today rejected with rather a generic rejection blaming market conditions and having to feel very committed to a project.

Normally I wouldn't have a problem with that, however since I'd made it past the partial stage and they rejected a full, I kind of hoped for some constructive criticism or at least something other than a market reason. Yeah, sounds whiny, but what are you going to do?

Saskatoonistan said:

Well I sent a polite inquiry regarding a manuscript of mine they'd been reading since November 3 2008 (I sent a polite inquiry one month ago today and heard nothing, so I waited another four weeks) I was today rejected with rather a generic rejection blaming market conditions and having to feel very committed to a project.

Normally I wouldn't have a problem with that, however since I'd made it past the partial stage and they rejected a full, I kind of hoped for some constructive criticism or at least something other than a market reason. Yeah, sounds whiny, but what are you going to do?

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Must have been a batch reject because I got one too.

Miguelito said:

Must have been a batch reject because I got one too.

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Yeah, kinda sucks to hold it that long and then get a basic PFO letter. Oh well, back to the drawing board.

Saskatoon, I had the same thing happen to me from an agent from writers house, they requested a full and rejected it but didn't give any crits . I was told my story was very imaginative and I did a great job creating an interesting cast of characters....still it sucked not to hear any solid feedback...

Turns out the agent's assistant rejected the submission I'd sent. So flash forward three weeks, I get another rejection from The Cooke Agency, this time from the actual agent and it was a carbon copy of the one the assistant fired off.

Sounds like it's kind of disorganized there.

Their website says that "we are not currently accepting submissions." I don't know how long that's been there.

Tbrosz, I think it must be recent, I queried them in January and at the time they were accepting subs.

Hi all
I queried the cooke agency in February and was asked to send the first 30 pages on March 19th. She got back to me today (11 days later, lightning fast!) with my R. No personalized feedback, just a generic form (grr) blaming the economy for making the agency have to feel "passionate" about materials. Still, my experience with them was good and...did I mention fast?

Despite the big "not accepting submissions" still being up, they do accept submissions again.

I e-queried on 6/25 after noticing them showing up on Agent Query and got a request for a partial today 6/30.

KeatsLove said:

Despite the big "not accepting submissions" still being up, they do accept submissions again.

I e-queried on 6/25 after noticing them showing up on Agent Query and got a request for a partial today 6/30.

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Yep - I got a request for thirty pages of a new urban fantasy novel I am working on yesterday.

From their submissions page:

We are not currently accepting

queries and submissions except by

invitation or referral.

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Cooke Agency

Hi all. I haven't been on this site for quite some time - busy little bee that I am these days - but saw this tread and thought I'd add to it. I sent in a query on my paranormal romance novel on July 20th, got an email back from Elizabeth Griffin on July 22nd asking for first 30 pages and another email from her on August 4th confirming receipt of the partial, with polite apology for the delay in getting back to me. She says they'll need about 6-8 weeks for "everyone" to review the partial before they get back to me, so I'm still crossing everything that they like what I've put together and agree to work with me.

I queried the Cooke Agency on August 9th because I rather stupidly missed the message on their website saying that they aren't currently accepting submissions. I noticed this message afterwards and assumed that I probably wouldn't hear anything back and I was going to strike them off the list for the time being but then I got an email from Elizabeth today (Aug 24th) asking me for:

a more detailed synopsis
overall word count of project
submission history of project
first thirty pages with the text double-spaced to be sent to them by email.

So it appears that they may be accepting submissions again and the turn around time for me was 15 days from initial query to response.

crossing fingers, toes and everything else that they will like what I send them tomorrow!!!

I was impressed with this agency's efficiency and business-like manner. I equeried on 7/9/09, got a request from Elizabeth Griffin for 30 pages, etc. attached on 7/15/09 which I sent. Got the R today - form R - but was polite and not a surprise. I would reqeury this agency in a heartbeat. It's how I wish more agencies would conduct business: efficient and polite.

I got a request for a partial today too...but not the detailed synopsis part...just the bio, submission history and first three chapters.

Hi AngelaA! How long did it take for them to respond to your query? I sent mine Aug 18 and haven't heard back. Was wondering if I should take that as a pass. Thanks!

I sent in a query on August 8, received a response on the 12 requesting the partial and then on the 21st they mailed a receipt of the partial paired with an apology for the delay. Quite honestly, they're very efficient, whereas I'm still waiting for responses to queries that I sent at the beginning of last month :/

If you sent a query on the 18th, HappyCamper, it hasn't even been a full week yet! They do seem pretty speedy, but if you don't hear anything by the end of the week, you could probably assume it means a no.

Sarah Christine said:

I sent in a query on August 8, received a response on the 12 requesting the partial and then on the 21st they mailed a receipt of the partial paired with an apology for the delay. Quite honestly, they're very efficient, whereas I'm still waiting for responses to queries that I sent at the beginning of last month :/

If you sent a query on the 18th, HappyCamper, it hasn't even been a full week yet! They do seem pretty speedy, but if you don't hear anything by the end of the week, you could probably assume it means a no.

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Thanks! Knowing always trumps waiting.

Especially if you've been gnawing your fingers off, agreed

HappyCamper said:

Thanks! Knowing always trumps waiting.

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It took them over a fortnight to respond to my query so hang on in there!

Trying to. Hopefully will still have part of an elbow left after all the chewing is over and done with.

Elizabeth got back to me this afternoon to confirm safe receipt of my submission package they had requested from me, less than 24 hours after I had emailed it to them.

So far my impressions of Cooke are that they seem really organised as well as being polite and friendly.

Now, like HappyCamper, I will be merrily chewing off my nails/fingers/hand/arm while I await their decision