Seymour Agency

By the way, here's another thread that just started up, about agents and fees.

http://www.absolutewrite.com/forums/showthread.php?t=80136

There really are such varied opinions on this - it's hard to know what's acceptable and what's not...

mollyluna said:

Sending first 50 pp to Bradford Agency.

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Great!! I'll cross my fingers for you!

The fee is %100 old practice. She's very nice. I don't think anyone should be afraid to send to her. Especially Christian writers, this is her forte. Hope this helps! =)

BrookieCookie777 said:

The fee is %100 old practice. She's very nice. I don't think anyone should be afraid to send to her. Especially Christian writers, this is her forte. Hope this helps! =)

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It does, thanks!!

So, I did hear back from Seymour today (she rejected my full manuscript). I must say, the rejection confused me a bit - no letter included, just a handwritten note at the top of the first page: "This book should start at the cell phone scene, earlier on. There's too much setup. May resubmit."

That was all. The first 20 pages (where the "cell phone scene" ended) were paperclipped together. It honestly has me wondering if she read any further than that.

I'll probably submit the book to other agencies now - I don't know about resubmitting to Seymour. Somehow I don't think that moving one scene to the front of the book will sway her to offer representation. I just don't think she liked the book enough (or what she read of it).

Oh, well. On to the next batch of queries...

ChelseaWriter said:

So, after 5 months of waiting, I did hear back from Seymour today (she rejected my full manuscript). I must say, it was an odd rejection - no letter included, just a handwritten note at the top of the first page: "This book should start at the cell phone scene, earlier on. There's too much setup. May resubmit."

That was all. The first 20 pages (where the "cell phone scene" ended) were paperclipped together. It honestly has me wondering if she read any further than that.

I'll submit the book to other agencies now - I don't really see the point in resubmitting to Seymour. Somehow I doubt that moving one scene to the front of the book will sway her to offer representation. I just don't think she liked the book enough (or what she read of it) to offer representation.

Oh, well. On to the next batch of queries...

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She probably did not read any further. She had found a reason why the book was not ready to represent and she had other reading to do.
IMHO you should think long and hard about reworking your opening and resubmitting. I don't know how many other agents you have submitted to and what response you've got, but offers to look at a rewrite don't come along very often

ChelseaWriter said:

That was all. The first 20 pages (where the "cell phone scene" ended) were paperclipped together. It honestly has me wondering if she read any further than that.

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Why should she have read further? Agents read manuscripts for one reason and one reason only, to answer the question, "Do I want to represent this author and their work?" Once they have an answer to that question, whether the answer is yes or no, there is no reason for them to read further.

Reading and critiquing manuscripts for potential clients is not an agent's primary business. Their primary business is negotiating for their current clients. Time is a precious commodity and their is no need to waste it once a course of action has been decided.

I'll submit the book to other agencies now - I don't really see the point in resubmitting to Seymour. Somehow I doubt that moving one scene to the front of the book will sway her to offer representation. I just don't think she liked the book enough (or what she read of it) to offer representation.

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The agent's advice was not to just move the scene, but to cut everything that had been read before. They indicated that the story did not start until that scene. Everything that came before it was extraneous and did not belong. This is valuable advice. Has anyone else ever told you anything similar?

ChelseaWriter said:

May resubmit.

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An invitation to resubmit is rare. It means she really liked something about your MS, so don't blow it off.

Birol said:

Reading and critiquing manuscripts for potential clients is not an agent's primary business. Their primary business is negotiating for their current clients. Time is a precious commodity and their is no need to waste it once a course of action has been decided.

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Yes, I do understand this. I wasn't expecting a critique, just a slightly fuller indication of why the entire manuscript was rejected. She had read the first 50 pages months ago and never mentioned a problem with those first 20 pages, so that's probably what had me confused about her note.

Julie Worth said:

An invitation to resubmit is rare.

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I do agree - after thinking about it seriously, I've decided to change the beginning and resubmit, after all. When I first wrote my post on this board, the rejection was fresh and I was disappointed (and, again, confused by the brief note).

Thanks to all for your input/suggestions...they are much appreciated!!

ChelseaWriter said:

Yes, I do understand this. I wasn't expecting a critique, just a slightly fuller indication of why the entire manuscript was rejected. She had read the first 50 pages months ago and never mentioned a problem with those first 20 pages, so that's probably what had me confused about her note.

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Could very well be she needed to read the whole ms in order to know for sure that you didn't need the first 20 pages.

This thread seems a bit dated, but I thought I'd share my news.

I just received a partial request from Mary Sue Seymour (synopsis + 1st 50 pages). What is interesting is I sent it on Sunday evening at 5:00-ish (EST) and her email response to me was at 9:00 p.m. I'd say working that late on a Sunday implies a bit of dedication. I'll let everyone know what turns up!

I was pleased to get a partial request twenty minutes after I queried. We'll see how that goes.

Does anyone have any recent dealings with Ms. Seymour? I could use some up to date information! Thanks!

Shameless,

Got a rejection on my partial on July 6 . Looks like our partial requests came at about the same time. Good luck with yours!!

Vixey

vixey said:

Shameless,

Got a rejection on my partial on July 6 . Looks like our partial requests came at about the same time. Good luck with yours!!

Vixey

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Sorry about the rejection!
I actually received a request for a full from her. I just wanted to know if anyone has dealt with her before. She seems very nice, but I don't know much about her.

Don't throw out the baby with the bath water!

ChelseaWriter said:

So, I did hear back from Seymour today (she rejected my full manuscript). I must say, the rejection confused me a bit - no letter included, just a handwritten note at the top of the first page: "This book should start at the cell phone scene, earlier on. There's too much setup. May resubmit."

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Don't completely ignore this note! Consider it!

I find, when I'm writing, that I tend to start at 0 mph, and then work my way up to a full head of steam. Later, I go back and find out that my story didn't really start until page 20 (or in one case, page 50!) and that the first part of the book was actually backstory that needed to be leaked into the plot in drip and drabs later.

A first time novelist doesn't have the cushion that a Stephen King or a Michael Connelly gets. You HAVE to intrigue the reader from the first paragraph. They need to get sucked in and intrigued very quickly. Remember, the agent is your first reader, the editor is the second, and they both try to look at the mss with the same eyes as the consumer would. Why would they buy this book?

That she's interested in seeing the mss again after you've reworked it, makes me think that 1) you're a good writer and she sees potential, and 2) she wants to know if you'll take editorial notes.

My first book is being published by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt in the spring and I have gone through at least EIGHT major re-writes since my agent took it on. (2 1/2 years going back and forth!) The first set of re-writes was at my agent's direction and the next seven were from my editor at HMH. And they were EXTENSIVE. Including plot changes, new subplots, major scene cuts and reworking to eliminate excessive POVs.

KEEP TRYING! And remember, no criticism is infallible, but all criticism has merit and should be considered. You can't apply every note and comment, but consider the source and think about the end game. Getting published!

My submission

I've submitted my Historical romance to her. She responded within a few hours to my query about three weeks to my partial and then I submitted my full and she got back to me within 6 weeks, telling me my writing was pretty good, but my book was about 12-16000 words short, to bring it up to over 80,000 words. She asked me to resubmit if I made the changes and wished me luck. (P.s I did receive the notorious prayer card lol)

So, now I have resubmitted after making the addition, and I do feel the story is better with the added length. It was just difficult to stop the work I was doing and go back to my "finished" novel.

Well, my set time when I asked for a length for exclusivity she said she'd need 6 weeks, but on my newest resubmit it's been about 7 weeks and I haven't heard back yet.

Fingers still crossed,

Cya
Cp

Fingers still crossed

I contacted her yesterday and she says she was way behind in her reading.. There's still hope

Cya,
Cp

My submission

I submitted a query in October, and she asked for a partial one week later. Then, she contacted me several weeks later and requested the full manuscript on exclusivity. My ms was out on another exclusive at the time. I finally sent it to her on December 15, but I restricted her exclusive period to one month and told her to contact me if this was a problem. I haven't heard anything yet. Her exclusive is over at the end of next week, and I will contact her then.

Just heard back from her from an email query after an hour or so. She asked for the first 50 pages. And she asked for it in a hard copy through the mail.
Just wondering: Is it normal to ask for a hard copy after an email query?

Leigh86 said:

Just heard back from her from an email query after an hour or so. She asked for the first 50 pages. And she asked for it in a hard copy through the mail.
Just wondering: Is it normal to ask for a hard copy after an email query?

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Absolutely. Good luck!

Leigh86 said:

Just heard back from her from an email query after an hour or so. She asked for the first 50 pages. And she asked for it in a hard copy through the mail.
Just wondering: Is it normal to ask for a hard copy after an email query?

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Go Leigh!!! Congrats!!!

I'm impressed she answered the email! I've queried her on my separate projects with no avail!! I just reemailed her about my YA....will see if I hear anything!!! Maybe she's checking emails today!

Wow. Well, that's awesome then! Yay for me and good luck, June!

Got a rejection from her in the mail today after being asked to send in a partial. And of course, I got the prayer card.