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Holloway Literary Agency

hikarinotsubasa

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Nudged on a query, since they don't *seem* to have a no response means no policy, and got the strangest form letter:

Thank you for your submission. Unfortunately, we will not be pursuing representation of your work. We encourage you to continue working with critique partners, revising your ms until it is the best it can possibly be and then continuing to submit elsewhere. We wish you every success in your writing career. Thanks again for thinking of Holloway Literary.

This is obviously a form letter. Didn't have any salutation at all - no "Dear Author" and no name. It seems VERY strange to tell writers to keep revising in a form letter, oh but don't submit here again. Obviously what they mean is "It's just not for us, for whatever reason," but I can see that this could potentially be taken the wrong (extremely discouraging) way.

Also, every email I sent to them came back from a different person: Original query addressed to Nikki Terpilowski (who seems to be the only agent, although it's hard to tell?), auto-reply from Elle Stafford, Submissions Editor. I re-addressed my nudge to Ms. Stafford and got a reply... from a Destiny Vandeput.

I've never seen that before. Of course a lot of agents DO use interns or assistants to help with the slush pile, but I've never seen form letters that weren't signed by the agent or the agency as a whole. Again, doesn't BOTHER me that Ms. Terpilowski never saw the query, but it just seems weird that nothing was even signed "Assistant, on behalf of Agent."

None of that means that they can't make good sales. But a weirdly discouraging form letter (I HOPE it's obvious that it's a form, but if not, could be a lot more hurtful than "not right for our lists") and NO idea who I'm talking to at any given time or even how many actual agents there are... kind of left a weird taste in my mouth.

Anyone with a partial have a different/better experience?
 
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I got the same form letter. I also found the wording to be a bit unprofessional.

On an unrelated note, on their "Bookshelf" page, the very first title listed is misspelled.
 

popgun62

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I sent them the requested 50 pages, then sent an email later saying that I got an endorsement from a NY Times bestselling author. They sent me another request for 50 pages. Weird. I never got a reply after that. I ended up getting a great publishing deal with Permuted Press with no agent.
 

MissMaster

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Nudged on a query, since they don't *seem* to have a no response means no policy, and got the strangest form letter:

Thank you for your submission. Unfortunately, we will not be pursuing representation of your work. We encourage you to continue working with critique partners, revising your ms until it is the best it can possibly be and then continuing to submit elsewhere. We wish you every success in your writing career. Thanks again for thinking of Holloway Literary.

This is obviously a form letter. Didn't have any salutation at all - no "Dear Author" and no name. It seems VERY strange to tell writers to keep revising in a form letter, oh but don't submit here again. Obviously what they mean is "It's just not for us, for whatever reason," but I can see that this could potentially be taken the wrong (extremely discouraging) way.

Also, every email I sent to them came back from a different person: Original query addressed to Nikki Terpilowski (who seems to be the only agent, although it's hard to tell?), auto-reply from Elle Stafford, Submissions Editor. I re-addressed my nudge to Ms. Stafford and got a reply... from a Destiny Vandeput.

I've never seen that before. Of course a lot of agents DO use interns or assistants to help with the slush pile, but I've never seen form letters that weren't signed by the agent or the agency as a whole. Again, doesn't BOTHER me that Ms. Terpilowski never saw the query, but it just seems weird that nothing was even signed "Assistant, on behalf of Agent."

None of that means that they can't make good sales. But a weirdly discouraging form letter (I HOPE it's obvious that it's a form, but if not, could be a lot more hurtful than "not right for our lists") and NO idea who I'm talking to at any given time or even how many actual agents there are... kind of left a weird taste in my mouth.

Anyone with a partial have a different/better experience?

I got the same form letter, I thought it was odd too.
 

AderuMoro

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I got a partial request for 50 pages on February 16, and a week later, a request for full. The requests seem very impersonal. They don't even begin with "Dear Author."

Hmm :I
 

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This is obviously a form letter. Didn't have any salutation at all - no "Dear Author" and no name. It seems VERY strange to tell writers to keep revising in a form letter, oh but don't submit here again. Obviously what they mean is "It's just not for us, for whatever reason," but I can see that this could potentially be taken the wrong (extremely discouraging) way.

<snip>

None of that means that they can't make good sales. But a weirdly discouraging form letter (I HOPE it's obvious that it's a form, but if not, could be a lot more hurtful than "not right for our lists") and NO idea who I'm talking to at any given time or even how many actual agents there are... kind of left a weird taste in my mouth.


I received the exact same form rejection from a "Submissions Editor" a few weeks ago, and I had the same reaction you did. It was definitely off-putting, and rather unprofessional. I have years of professional writing experience, just not in fiction, but if I didn't, that rejection would indeed be discouraging.

I'm embarrassed to say she was on my list of agents not to submit to, and I queried her accidentally.
 

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Nudged on a query, since they don't *seem* to have a no response means no policy, and got the strangest form letter:

Thank you for your submission. Unfortunately, we will not be pursuing representation of your work. We encourage you to continue working with critique partners, revising your ms until it is the best it can possibly be and then continuing to submit elsewhere. We wish you every success in your writing career. Thanks again for thinking of Holloway Literary.

This is obviously a form letter. Didn't have any salutation at all - no "Dear Author" and no name. It seems VERY strange to tell writers to keep revising in a form letter, oh but don't submit here again. Obviously what they mean is "It's just not for us, for whatever reason," but I can see that this could potentially be taken the wrong (extremely discouraging) way.

Also, every email I sent to them came back from a different person: Original query addressed to Nikki Terpilowski (who seems to be the only agent, although it's hard to tell?), auto-reply from Elle Stafford, Submissions Editor. I re-addressed my nudge to Ms. Stafford and got a reply... from a Destiny Vandeput.

I've never seen that before. Of course a lot of agents DO use interns or assistants to help with the slush pile, but I've never seen form letters that weren't signed by the agent or the agency as a whole. Again, doesn't BOTHER me that Ms. Terpilowski never saw the query, but it just seems weird that nothing was even signed "Assistant, on behalf of Agent."

None of that means that they can't make good sales. But a weirdly discouraging form letter (I HOPE it's obvious that it's a form, but if not, could be a lot more hurtful than "not right for our lists") and NO idea who I'm talking to at any given time or even how many actual agents there are... kind of left a weird taste in my mouth.

Anyone with a partial have a different/better experience?

I got the same form letter. I also found the wording to be a bit unprofessional.

I received the exact same form rejection from a "Submissions Editor" a few weeks ago, and I had the same reaction you did. It was definitely off-putting, and rather unprofessional. I have years of professional writing experience, just not in fiction, but if I didn't, that rejection would indeed be discouraging.

I don't see what's so unprofessional about that form rejection.

It tells you that they're not going to take your submission any further; and it suggests that you might like to revise your work before sending it out elsewhere.

In other words, they've given you feedback on your work. Most agents don't give any sort of feedback: this is helpful of them, even if it's not what you hoped to hear.
 

LadyLex

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Just got my form rejection last night. :( Onward.
 

AderuMoro

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Got a form rejection letter on my full from Elle that read just like this:

Thank you for your submission. Unfortunately, we will not be pursuing representation of your work. We wish you every success in your writing career. Thanks again for thinking of Holloway Literary.

No "Dear Author."
 

hikarinotsubasa

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Personally, I feel it's unprofessional because they're sending it to everyone. Could my novel possibly be better than it is? Sure. Just about everything has at least SOMETHING that could be improved about it. And maybe in my case, they DID read the sample pages and decide that the writing was atrocious. That's possible.

But it's also possible that they never read further than the first paragraph of my query and knew they weren't interested in the genre, setting, word count, or whatever else.

I think, if you send "not right for my list at this time" to everyone, you may encourage people who really do need to revise, but at least you won't discourage people who have fine novels that just aren't right for that particular agency.

It's entirely possible that they read every single submission to the end and request absolutely everything that has any artistic merit whatsoever. But I doubt it. They must reject at least some queries just because... it's not what they're looking for.

I don't know... these form letters that are trying so hard to SOUND like they're not form letters aren't my favorite. I think they could possibly cause some people to make revisions that weren't necessary or discourage people from continuing to query, when the rejection may have just been a matter of personal taste.... if that makes sense?

More than anything else, I wanted other people to know that it was a form... I know that it's easy to take things personally, and if that had been my first rejection or if I'd been ten years younger when I'd gotten it, it may have really hurt. It's a form, don't take it personally, it wasn't their thing, move on! :)
 

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Personally, I feel it's unprofessional because they're sending it to everyone.

That's what a form letter is for, hikarinot. Sending out to everyone who has submitted who isn't going to get an offer of representation from the agency.

How is it unprofessional for an agency to do this? I really don't understand your objection.

Could my novel possibly be better than it is? Sure. Just about everything has at least SOMETHING that could be improved about it. And maybe in my case, they DID read the sample pages and decide that the writing was atrocious. That's possible.

But it's also possible that they never read further than the first paragraph of my query and knew they weren't interested in the genre, setting, word count, or whatever else.

Reputable agencies don't read every single word of every single submission they receive: there's no point reading a sub if it doesn't fit what they represent (poetry sent to an agent who only represents non-ficiton, for example). But they will read enough of it to know it's not for them--for whatever reason.

I think, if you send "not right for my list at this time" to everyone, you may encourage people who really do need to revise, but at least you won't discourage people who have fine novels that just aren't right for that particular agency.

You might also encourage people the agency isn't interested in hearing from again to submit to them again: this would be a waste of everyone's time and effort.

I don't know... these form letters that are trying so hard to SOUND like they're not form letters aren't my favorite. I think they could possibly cause some people to make revisions that weren't necessary or discourage people from continuing to query, when the rejection may have just been a matter of personal taste.... if that makes sense?

More than anything else, I wanted other people to know that it was a form... I know that it's easy to take things personally, and if that had been my first rejection or if I'd been ten years younger when I'd gotten it, it may have really hurt. It's a form, don't take it personally, it wasn't their thing, move on! :)

I don't think any of the letters that I've seen quoted here are trying to sound like they're not form letters. There's no attempt at personalisation: there's not even a salutation. And I see nothing in them which should unrealistically encourage writers to revise and resubmit. They're quite clear.
 

mommygoth

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Holloway Literary

Anyone had any experience with this agency? I queried them with 15 pages as requested on 5/16 and just received a request for the first 50. Their website looks pretty impressive in terms of recent deals.
 

mrsmig

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You'll find a thread about them in the main Bewares, Recommendations and Background Checks thread here. <link snipped> (I think you posted at the Artists' BR&BC thread by mistake.)

I expect a mod will come along soon and move your question there.
 
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mommygoth

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You'll find a thread about them in the main Bewares, Recommendations and Background Checks thread here. (I think you posted at the Artists' BR&BC thread by mistake.)

I expect a mod will come along soon and move your question there.

Ah, thanks. Not enough coffee this AM.
 

Cel_Fleur

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Just realised that I queried this agency in my 18/7/14 batch, but they never replied. Is there any point nudging? Especially since it was before my querying hiatus and they are now closed to subs. Should I just mark them as an R?
 

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I had quite an odd experience with them. I queried and had a request from a "Submissions Editor" to send 50 pages directly to the agent's email address. I did that. A month later I nudged her with an offer. She asked for the full and then passed. From the wording I think she read the synopsis and decided not to read the novel, but that's valid: it told her enough.

The strange part is that a few weeks later a different Submissions Editor replied to my original query and asked for the first 50 pages to be sent to her (the SE). Not sure what happened there.
 

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The same thing has happened to me, which was why I asked. The Submissions Editor asked for 50 pages, and I was just wondering if that was the norm (for them, I suppose). I guess I'll just wait and see.

Thanks for the info!
 

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I had a partial request from this agency as well, and it came that way, as a request from the Submissions Editor. So I think it's definitely the norm. Good luck!
 

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Hi. My partial just got upped to a full request last night. I was wondering if anyone had signed on with this agency. I'm a little nervous that they haven't sold anything to one of the Big Six (but maybe I'm just being too snotty?) For those that posted in June about getting partial requests, I am very curious to know what happened.
 

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Hi. My partial just got upped to a full request last night. I was wondering if anyone had signed on with this agency. I'm a little nervous that they haven't sold anything to one of the Big Six (but maybe I'm just being too snotty?) For those that posted in June about getting partial requests, I am very curious to know what happened.

I would be very wary of signing with an agent who hadn't sold lots of books to the Big Five. If this agent hasn't sold anything to them? You're wise to be concerned.
 

Krista G.

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Hi. My partial just got upped to a full request last night. I was wondering if anyone had signed on with this agency. I'm a little nervous that they haven't sold anything to one of the Big Six (but maybe I'm just being too snotty?) For those that posted in June about getting partial requests, I am very curious to know what happened.

An agent will almost certainly sell your manuscript to the publishers or types of publishers he or she has already sold to, so when you look through an agent's list, you have to ask yourself, "Would I be happy at any or all of these houses?" If the answer is yes, then working with that agent would be great. If the answer is no, then you'd be wise to look elsewhere.

I have no experience with Holloway Literary Agency, but a quick look at their list confirmed that virtually all of the publishers they've sold to accept unagented submissions. Big 5 versus non-Big 5 aside, I'm not sure how wise it is to pay an agent 15% to place your manuscript with a publisher you could have placed it with on your own.