Corvisiero Literary Agency / Literary Powerhouse Consulting (Marisa Corvisiero)

I can't see how that would help your case. Exclusives, in general, aren't good for writers. Query widely and don't pin your hopes on one dream agent.

Also, you saying that it's exclusive without them asking for it to be exclusive doesn't make much sense. They might even feel like you're pressuring them into making a decision and, therefore, be more likely to reject.

Yep. Rarely would a new-ish author offer an exclusive. I just talked to one agent this summer, and that's one of the unprofessional presumptions she doesn't like.

Saw this link on AW re: an apparent deal Corvisiero made with William Morrow for a publication planned last June:

http://absolutewrite.com/forums/archive/index.php/t-149373-p-11
.html

Is that the deal alluded to earlier in this thread? Understood that title appears to be the same genre mentioned before, although to William Morrow that time, rather than a similar-genre novel sold to Avon Impulse mentioned 10/27 on Corvisiero's site.

Their London-based apprentice agent, Jana Pleyto, requested a full of my historical fiction. Several agents from other agencies also requested fulls of the same (awaiting for her or any of them to respond to the full).

Interesting (tricky?) question: if one might receive an offer of representation from any current agent with Corvisiero's agency (I didn't, but if one did), would one hold off in case the other agents (of agencies having track records with bigger houses) holding fulls of the same novel possibly offer to rep and have better chances getting in the door to more/bigger houses?

HumbleScribe said:

Interesting (tricky?) question: if one might receive an offer of representation from any current agent with Corvisiero's agency (I didn't, but if one did), would one hold off in case the other agents (of agencies having track records with bigger houses) holding fulls of the same novel possibly offer to rep and have better chances getting in the door to more/bigger houses?

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Maybe I'm misunderstanding your question, but if you get an offer of representation, no matter who the offering agent is, you immediately alert the other agents who have your manuscript (and maybe even the ones you've recently queried). This gives the other agents a chance to make competing offers, which you can weigh against the original. Then you accept one of the offers or reject all of them--if, for whatever reason, you decide none of the offering agents are satisfactory--and go back to square one.

Great advice, thanks. I also read about the first-right-of-refusal aspect, though that's a bit more specific in certain circumstances further along.
On a semi-related tangent...involving the initial query phase:
I've even mentioned in a few of my latest queries, when disclosing that it's a multiple submission (esp. with the agencies that ask you to specifically mention whether it's a multiple) that half a dozen agencies have requested partials/fulls. Not sure it spurs interest or is a turn-off as bragging or presumptiveness, but one other recent agent, where I'd mentioned in the query about the multi requests for fulls, did immediately ask for her own full.

HumbleScribe said:

Great advice, thanks. I also read about the first-right-of-refusal aspect, though that's a bit more specific in certain circumstances further along.
On a semi-related tangent...involving the initial query phase:
I've even mentioned in a few of my latest queries, when disclosing that it's a multiple submission (esp. with the agencies that ask you to specifically mention whether it's a multiple) that half a dozen agencies have requested partials/fulls. Not sure it spurs interest or is a turn-off as bragging or presumptiveness, but one other recent agent, where I'd mentioned in the query about the multi requests for fulls, did immediately ask for her own full.

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I'm not an expert on contracts, especially compared to some of the people on this forum, but it's my understanding that a right of first refusal only comes into play at the contract stage. If a publisher offers on a manuscript, they often want first dibs on your next manuscript, which they secure through an option clause or a right of first refusal. In other words, it's not something to worry about at the agent level.

As for whether or not to mention other requests, I usually only mentioned them if an agent specifically asked how many other people were looking at the manuscript. You don't want to make it look like you're a braggart (or someone who discloses too much information--authors have to be mum on a lot of subjects), and it may do more harm than good if the agent has a different idea of how many requests a successful query should garner.

Hope that helps!

I recently received a full request from Saritza Hernández. Is anyone here representated by her or have any experience with her? This agency seems to primarily (if not exclusively?) sell to small presses and indie publishers like Entangled and Dreamspinner Press, which is fine as there are quite a few erotica/romance books, but where are the HarperTeen and Penguin Young Readers sales?

Just things I'm always considering. I wouldn't be opposed to going indie, but a lot of small presses take unagented submissions anyway (no 15% to worry about).

Ella Kennen has decided to leave agenting at this time, and therefore is no longer accepting queries from the Corvisiero Literary Agency.

I say this as a former client of the agency.

Note: for authors considering this agency, it may be worth reading Erik Thurman's other forum posts.

I got an email from someone at the agency last week who said Ella is considering my MS. It was after the 13th I believe. I haven't heard since, and am a little hesitant to go back to them to ask.

Don't be timid. Ask politely and find out for certain.

Since the agent who let me know gave me a R&R option, I sent an email today to make sure. If she's really gone, I'll do the R&R and resub. I can't do that if someone else there is considering it. Haven't heard back yet.

Get this: after sending my query + synopsis and being asked to send Jana Pleyto 30 pages, then asked to send her the full, etc. over 13 months after initial contact, I'm informed that she's left the company.
No tidying up, no feedback provided to authors on work she requested and sat on over a year, nothing. Oh, but I can start from square one and contact their other agents, if I'd like.
This is the second time in the past 12 months someone at some agency bails and leave the submitted stuck without a word of feedback, regardless that they requested as much as a full.
Trying their other agents? Feels like starting from scratch. Granted, Jana was a junior agent, so presumably didn't have some one under her to possibly have also read the material to help gauge whether another agent their might be
a better bet than another, or even assist.
I think a little apology would have been helpful. None was deemed worth giving, though.
Doesn't exactly leave me smitten with seeking another there. Seems like a crumby way to handle it. Who knows, maybe she pulled the plug without notice.
Although some in the forums mention the wisdom of being patient even to the point of being surprised over a year after their submittal, I'm getting the feeling that if an agent really loved one's material, there's some chance they'd strive to make time before the 1-year marker came and went.

hank you for thinking of Corvisiero Literary Agency. Unfortunately due to personal and educational demands, Jana Pleyto is no longer an agent with Corvisiero Literary Agency. If you would like to query another agent at Corvisiero, please review our agent bios at http://www.corvisieroagency.com/representation.html

All the best,

Corvisiero Literary Agency
www.corvisieroagency.com

I'm currently represented by Saritza Hernandez, who has been wonderful so far. I'm going to get my editorial letter from her soon, just several weeks after I signed on with her. She really understands my project and has a lot of ideas on how to improve it before we go on submission. Fingers crossed!

Saritza was one of the agents I had considered three years ago for a M/M space opera, because she really seemed like an enthusiastic cheerleader for the genre. But I held back because of her lack of experience and her (then) association with Perkins. How have her sales been with this agency?

From what I can tell, pretty solid. She seems to sell fairly often and she's sold to Bloomsbury, Kensington, Dreamspinner Press (quite a few deals with them), Harmony Ink, etc. I've got my fingers crossed for going on submission. She has contacts at the Big 5 and mid-sized publishers like Disney Hyperion, so we shall see.

Sigh. I'm still interested in Saritza, but the other stuff going on with this agency has me very hesitant to even query.

Filagree - I was told by a friend rep'ed with one of the agents, that it's very much a silo agency and each individual agent can be as good as they want to be. While some agents here may not be strong, others may be wonderful. It's up to researching the individuals in this case I think.

I can update that I'm on the fourth round of revisions of my YA MS before we go on submission, and Saritza and junior agent Cate Hart have been very thorough but also diligent in getting things done. I've always been given clear deadlines, emails have been responded to promptly, and our phone conversations have been very detailed and helpful.

So while I can't speak to the rest of the agency, Saritza has been a wonderful agent so far. Here's hoping things continue to go smoothly when it comes to submission time!

That's a huge relief.

I have noticed this. I went to their website and looked at the authors. Of 107 shown clients, on 18 are men. Less than one-fifth.

That is why I no longer submit to them.

PeteDutcher said:

I have noticed this. I went to their website and looked at the authors. Of 107 shown clients, on 18 are men. Less than one-fifth.

That is why I no longer submit to them.

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I counted 22 men.

What's your point?

I don't actually care about the gender breakdown of authors at any particular agency. There are many other filters that matter more, for both agent and author. In my case, I was surprised to find a good many male agents interested in (or at least not running away from) steamy M/M romance.

Helix said:

I counted 22 men.

What's your point?

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Just that they don't seem to view men equally. I understand most women here would not agree. But if there were only 22 women shown out of 107 authors represented...I suspect it would be considered a red flag.

We poor men are under appreciated in writing