Sandra Dijkstra Literary Agency

Popeyesays said:

She's apparently Amy Tan's agent and Jack King's.
http://search.yahoo.com/bin/search?fr=ybr_sbc&p=http://www.dijkstraagency.com/index.html

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I don't think she's Jack King's (unless I'm not reading this right). I think he lists her and subagents as people he queried. he says on his website that he does not have an agent.

I was wondering if anyone knows anything about Kevan Lyon from the Dijkstra Agency. He replied to my query in 2 days and asked for a partial.

Actually, he's a she. Quick reading with helpful comments.

Well, I hope I didn't mess that one up, addressing the mail to her as Mr. K. Lyon. Thanks for letting me know.

me tooooooooooooooooo!

i can't BELIEVE it, but i also was asked for a partial by Kevan and was sure it was Mr. Lyon.... doh!

awesome news, jewy! congrats!!

Does she accept scripts ?

beachbabe said:

I was wondering if anyone knows anything about Kevan Lyon from the Dijkstra Agency. He replied to my query in 2 days and asked for a partial.

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Did you just send a query to Kevan? The PM page for the agency says to send the first 50 pages, but I would rather just send a query to know if they are interested first before I waste the postage.

just noticed they have a website running now.

http://www.dijkstraagency.com/home

Sandra Dijkstra Rejection letter for real?

I got a form rejection letter from [FONT=&quot]Sandra Dijkstra, where she said that "your work is interesting and well-written." I'm wondering if this is a real assessment--i.e., does she have different form letters for different kinds of rejections--or does every rejection letter she sends out describe the rejected manuscript as "well written"?
Thanks for any light you can shed.

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Kevan Lyon requested the first 50 chapters from me on July 23. She said she'd reply via email if interested. I take it that not hearing from her by now = rejection, but I did include an SASE with those 50 pages.

So my question is if she ever does reject via regular mail if an SASE was included with the requested material.
Thanks in advance.

Edit: Just recalled she has a 4-5 week backlog right now, so... disregard my question.

You meant first 50 pages of course. The agency's submission guidelines ask that you submit the query, the first 50 pages and a synopsis. Maybe she was only giving you the chance to submit what they want, rather than reject you for not following guidelines.

No, I followed the guidelines. I meant pages, not chapters of course. In one sentence I said "chapters," but the other "pages." Typos... they happen.

I am over the moon that I've recently signed with Sandra Dijkstra. I've heard about her for years as one of the country's top agents. Her comments on my manuscript have made it a brand new book and she does not badmouth publishing the way far too many agents do nowadays. Those comments of hers were specific, clear, inspiring and as editorially astute as any editing I've gotten over the course of 20 years of publishing. Better still, she answers emails soon after getting them, stays in touch, and is honestly enthusiastic. She is highly regarded in publishing as an agent who's fair but tough and gets the best deal possible for her clients, and other agents I was being considered by all congratulated me for signing with her, praising her and her agency in various ways.

Since her 4-5 week backlog has passed, I thought I'd ask my original question again. Kevan requested the first 50 pages from me on July 23. She said she'd reply via email if interested. I take it that not hearing from her by now = rejection, but I did include an SASE with those 50 pages. So my question is if she ever does reject via regular mail if an SASE was included with the requested material.

I'll probably email her anyway, just because I'm wondering if my ms ever arrived, and I discovered the other day that if my email isn't checked every week, the mail that's been forwarded to the junk folder will automatically be deleted. (I was without electricity from Hurricane Ike for two weeks and couldn't check my email).

Thanks in advance.

Beware,

I had a similar issue. Never heard back from Kevan so I emailed her two weeks ago and resent my first three chapters. She took a look again and then requested a synopsis. Haven't heard back yet, but she did compliment me on my follow up. She's totally approachable!

Thanks for the reply! She does seem very nice, so I couldn't understand why she wouldn't use the SASE I enclosed for that rejection. To me, if you send an SASE, please use it. Stamps are expensive.

I just now emailed her. I probably wouldn't have bothered if not for the hurricane that blew through here and stopped life for two weeks. I'm afraid of her email (rejection or otherwise) bouncing or being deleted. The ground mail was insane for a while there, too, and our mailman does tend to get the streets around here confused.

I'm expecting a rejection, but at least it'll be a concrete one. I can finally move on then.

For those who asked how it went, I just received a reply. She says she doesn't remember my ms based on the title.

Ouch! Not a good sign. (And surely she received those first 50 pages. I've never had my ms lost in the mail before).

She said I could resubmit, but I believe I'll pass. If it wasn't a rejection, surely she would have remembered the ms title at least. She was very nice in her email, but my instincts tell me to just move on. I'll find the right agent to represent me eventually.

Count me in, too, for an "interesting and well written, but..." form rejection. This from Taryn Fagerness with this agency.

Why do I not believe them when it's sent to Dear Writer?

Blueridge said:

Count me in, too, for an "interesting and well written, but..." form rejection. This from Taryn Fagerness with this agency.

Why do I not believe them when it's sent to Dear Writer?

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At least it's an actual rejection. I prefer those to pin drop silence for months... until I break it with an email. I know what you mean about the "Dear Writer" and "well written" bit though. I'd rather hear those words if I knew 100% that they were talking to me personally. I'd prefer hearing a simple "No, thanks. Not for me." It's all part of the agent hunt, I guess. I did sign up for it. (I think I'm nuts). Sorry about the rejection.

I'm still undecided about resending to Kevan. It kind of feels like beating a dead horse to me. I think what bugs me the most is printing out out the pages again, standing in a long line at the post office again, wasting another SASE again, and possibly never hearing from her again. All these "again's" are making me dizzy.

Italics, I understand your feeling frustrated. Other than the time and expense of resending those pages (all those "agains"), I can't really see a down side to doing so...and then moving on to other agents. The fact that she requested them the first time means she saw something that she liked, right?

These days, I feel like the little beebee in the pinball machine, twanging back and forth between silence and rejection. Sometimes and some days it is very hard to keep being your own best cheerleader, isn't it?

Blueridge said:

These days, I feel like the little beebee in the pinball machine, twanging back and forth between silence and rejection. Sometimes and some days it is very hard to keep being your own best cheerleader, isn't it?

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Oh, yeah. Lately, it's been that silence that's dragging me down. Silence can sometimes feel worse than those solid rejections. I waver back and forth on that.

Hello -- coming in a little late. Just wondered if you re-submitted and what happened. (she's on my query list) -- Hope it went well!

where's Kelly Sonnack?

Kelly Sonnack is no longer listed as an agent at Sandra Dijkstra. Does anybody know where she went? This is a recent departure, because she was listed there last month.

I also read that two other agents have left Sandra Dijkstra to start their own agency (Jill Marsal & Kevan Lyon = Marsal Lyon Literary Agency).