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Prospect Agency

Beware_of_Italics

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Does anyone have recent info on Becca Stumpf? I sent my query/synopsis/1st 3 chapters to Prospect Agency (addressed to Emily Sylvan Kim I believe), but the junior agent is the one that replied, asking for the full ms.

Is it common for a junior agent to do this? In the past I've had an assistant reply for an agent that I queried, but never a junior agent... or an agent I didn't query... asking for the ms to read themselves. I guess it could have been passed on to her from Emily, but it's my understanding that my ms doesn't really fall under the genre she typically looks at.

I can't find much info on her except for the biography on their website, and that she's judged contests before. I understand she used to be an assistant at Writers House, but moved to The Prospect Agency in 2006.

Any info on Becca would be appreciated. :) She seems really nice, but I can't find much info.

Also... sorry for any typos, etc. The electricity keeps going out, so I'm typing fast.
 
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Jake Bell

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My experience is that the agents at Prospect all work pretty closely together. It's not at all unlikely that Emily read your ms, thought it was good, but not something she wanted/had time to represent, and passed it along to Becca.

I'm represented by Rachel Orr, so I'm not familiar with Becca, but I'm very happy with Prospect as a whole.
 

Karen Duvall

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Becca will be attending Rocky Mountain Fiction Writers' Colorado Gold conference in Denver on September 12, 13 and 14 this year, and take pitches as well as giving workshops. I'll be attending myself. You can get information about the conference at www.rmfw.org.
 

Lainey Bancroft

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For anyone that's curious to know, Becca's rejections on fulls are form rejections.

Mini rant: I'm getting a little tired of form rejections on fulls. :cry: They make me feel like I must really suck.

Ouch! Yes, a form on a full would...wound deeply! Haven't queried them yet because I'm 'meeting' Emily at the ORWC in a few weeks and wanted 'face time' first. She likes women's fic. She does! Her site says so! I'll let you all know how it goes.
 

Karen Duvall

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I had a fantastic time chatting with Becca at the Colorado Gold conference this past weekend. What a friendly, enthusiastic young agent who's thrilled to talk with anyone and everyone about their work and about the industry in general. I'm already agented so I didn't pitch to her, but we had time to talk at a couple of parties during the weekend. Becca is just wonderful, seriously. I know someone she's working with on revisions to a manuscript (YA SF) and she's been extremely helpful. We have our fingers crossed that an offer is forthcoming. He'd certainly be lucky to have her represent him.
 

jamiehall

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Here they say:
Please submit only one manuscript at a time. We keep centralized records of submissions so please refrain from simultaneous submissions to this agency. If a manuscript is declined, please do not re-submit the same manuscript or a manuscript that is substantially the same (to any agent).
Does that mean not to query another agent at the agency if you've been declined by one, or does it mean you can query other agents at the agency about the same project as long as the rejecting agent didn't request the entire manuscript?

I see some stories upthread about stuff being rejected for multiple submission (even when it was a different book - which ironically their website says is okay to do!) but I'm still unclear.

Has anyone actually queried a different agent at this agency after having a query rejected by one agent, without getting slapped down for it?
 

andracill

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Jamie, I have heard stories about that kind of thing at other agencies -- but I think they might pass things around at Prospect. Iow, unless it's a new query for a new ms (or greatly revised one), I think you're just wasting your and their time.
 

JennyCP

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Anyone know about how long they're taking to get to people who've queried from the submissions page? I e-queried Rachel Orr last week and haven't heard anything yet. Thanks!
 

ThatMovieAnnouncerGuy

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FWIW, I submitted using the page 7/2 and got R'd on 8/17. The wording sounded as though they pass around because it was signed "Prospect Agency".
 

Riv

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I thought that an agent on fifth avenue was somebody playing around. Which is my impression of them.



I have no knowlege of any agents, but I live right near that adddress, and it's a mailbox rental place.
 

quillfish

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Anyone know about how long they're taking to get to people who've queried from the submissions page?

I heard back from them in about two months, and they say it can take up to three. I have found them very courteous and professional. I think the form is nice because you get immediate confirmation your submission didn't slip into the query black hole.
 

Erin

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Here's my experience: I got a response from the online submission in 5 weeks with a request for a full from a junior agent (not the agent I submitted to). She rejected it a week later with a nice invitation to submit other works.
 

KAP

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I used their online form to query with a synopsis & three chapters, and I got an automated receipt that included my name and my novel's title. That was back in mid-September. After 3 1/2 months, I status queried according to the guidelines on their webpage (wait at least three months and include receipt email). That was two weeks ago. No word from Prospect.
 

Blueridge

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I submitted today (for Becca) using their online form. I like the feel of their web site, and thought that some of the questions they asked in their form, such as the last book you've read and a favorite sentence from your manuscript, were interesting.
 

Mel A.

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Just passing along a quick fyi:
When I was uploading my materials tonight, the online submission page gave me only two options for agents to whom I could direct my query - Emily Sylvan Kim and Vivian Chum. It noted in parentheses that Becca Stumpf and Rachel Orr are not currently accepting submissions.
 

KAP

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I'm writing them off as no response after more than 4 1/2 months. Ouch.

kap

eta: got form rejection after 5 1/2 months
 
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Lainey Bancroft

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Sorry Kap. Hope you're feeling better.

I queried the beginning of October, didn't bother to status query because I'd written it off as a 'no response' means NO. Yesterday I had a rejection, "Solid writing...story not for us...think of us for future projects..."
 

Barber

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I queried back in the end of September, uploading the first three chapters and filling out everything they asked for. A couple weeks ago Becca requested the full.

So nearly five months means you never know, right? I wouldn't write them off yet. (Though it's better than getting your hopes up, I guess.)
 

redlady1

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Just passing along a quick fyi:
When I was uploading my materials tonight, the online submission page gave me only two options for agents to whom I could direct my query - Emily Sylvan Kim and Vivian Chum. It noted in parentheses that Becca Stumpf and Rachel Orr are not currently accepting submissions.

I realize that this is a few months later, but Becca Stumpf is accepting submissions again. I queried her in February through their website. No word back yet, but that doesn't seem too unusual from the responses here. Anyone else got anything recent from this agency?
 

JJPie

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I just queried and will keep you guys updated.

I queried them a few years ago and received a reply in a month and a half for what it's worth.
 

Barber

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It took two months for Becca to reject my full.

Not sure if it was a form, but it said I'm "clearly a talented writer", and she "enjoyed the premise a great deal",but "the voice didn't feel YA enough for her to connect with the characters".

Either way, an R is an R, and I appreciate the chance :)

I'd query again. No complaints here.