Sandra Dijkstra Literary Agency

I've nothing but praise for Natalie. She did something no other agent ever did: kindly took mercy on my query letter (via an AW forum) and rearranged its order and trimmed it to be better (wow!).

Although I received an R from her for the partial I mailed for my historical fiction, she took the time to share specific reasons in a constructive, tangible way. Now I'm submitting a query for other novel to her, because I'd consider myself lucky to be one of her clients someday. An exceedingly courteous agent all the way.

Just thought I would post--I've accepted an offer from Taylor Martindale at the Sandra Dijkstra Literary Agency, and I couldn't be more thrilled--YAY!

I actually had the pleasure of meeting Taylor in person, and she's *awesome*. Really, anyone considering querying Taylor or Natalie should do so--I've heard nothing but raves about both of them so far.

Good luck!

YAYAYAYAYAYAYAYAYAY Hound! *happy dances* *throws a party*

And on top of houndrat's wonderful news, I add my own. I just signed the contract with Natalie Fischer. She is simply awesome! I, too, suggest querying her or Taylor. This is a wonderful agency and I'm ecstatic to be working with them!

Oh wow, congratulations, agentpaper!

Sandy Shin said:

Oh wow, congratulations, agentpaper!

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Thanks! I'm psyched. Can you tell? LOL.

Congrats agentpaper!

And good luck, Sage

Thanks, Inkspatters and Sage. And good luck to you, Sage. I don't know anything about Taylor, but she seems just as nice. : )

Just got a personalized rejection from Natalie, just from a query. It was encouraging and helpful!

Sorry about the R PastMidnight. At least it was helpful. Was it just a query or a query and the first 50?

Sorry about the rejection, PastMidnight, but if you're anything like me, that thoughtful and encouraging rejection made you feel almost as good as a request for a full. I really like this agency; I think they truly respect writers there.

Query with first 50. Not being requested material, I didn't even expect an R (I know they only respond if interested), so I was really pleased to get an email with feedback. Although I'm not sure the things she pointed out can be fixed in this ms, it's given me ideas for the next one!

Hello all. I'm about two months out on a query with the first 50 to Natalie, I know that there website says they only respond if interested, but it seemed like Natalie and Taylor were responding with rejections as well. Anybody have any ideas?

I queried the Dijkstra agency twice: once for a short story collection and once for a novel. They took about one month to reject the short story collection (with lovely words of encouragement) and two months to reject the novel (also gently and with encouraging words). So I'd wait a couple more weeks before nudging, I think.

Agent contacting me First??

Ok, this is going to be a really amateurish question. I got a comment that went to my spam filter on my blog from a literary agent. At first I brushed it off. But I was curious and the agent is from a reputable agency (as well as having good things said about her here on the forums as well). The agency is Sandra Dijkstra Literary Agency--the same one that represents authors like Amy Tan and Lisa See.

While my books are in the same vein, they aren't even close to finished yet (as I've stated numerous times on my blog) and an agent contacting a writer by scouting blogs seems...well, I've never heard of it before. As they say, if it's too good to be true...

My concern then comes if this is a spammer using an agent's actual name and email impersonating them. They should be made aware of this. At the same time I cannot help wondering if it is true and I don't want to offend if it is.

Anyway, does anyone have any advice? Or has anyone ever received spam comments in their filter coming from a supposed agent?

I actually have heard of legitimate agents contacting people this way before, although it's kinda unusual. I'd go ahead and respond (with caution). As long as the language isn't that of a spammer, I don't see any reason to suppose the message isn't from the real agent.

I've been contacted by a reputable agent on Twitter, of all places. She had read my tweets, realised I have specialist knowledge in a rather strange area, and asked me if I thought there was enough stuff there to write a non-fiction book about. Sadly I had to say no: but still, it does happen.

DMarie84 said:

Ok, this is going to be a really amateurish question. I got a comment that went to my spam filter on my blog from a literary agent. At first I brushed it off. But I was curious and the agent is from a reputable agency (as well as having good things said about her here on the forums as well). The agency is Sandra Dijkstra Literary Agency--the same one that represents authors like Amy Tan and Lisa See.

While my books are in the same vein, they aren't even close to finished yet (as I've stated numerous times on my blog) and an agent contacting a writer by scouting blogs seems...well, I've never heard of it before. As they say, if it's too good to be true...

My concern then comes if this is a spammer using an agent's actual name and email impersonating them. They should be made aware of this. At the same time I cannot help wondering if it is true and I don't want to offend if it is.

Anyway, does anyone have any advice? Or has anyone ever received spam comments in their filter coming from a supposed agent?

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That's actually a pretty decent agency. You should contact them, but please use caution. Good Luck!!

I think it 100% depends on what the comment said. As you have no finished product, there's not much she can do for you other that what she's possibly already done--offer encouragement for what might be something she'd be interested in when it's finished. I wouldn't contact her unless it specifically asked you to OR you're ready to query. THEN, I definitely mention her having visited and commented and provide a link to your blog in the query.

Keep in mind, a lot of spam comments I've gotten that were caught by Akismet are short and vague like "This is interesting, I'll be sure to keep following..."

Sandy Dijkstra is real.

And agents are always on the lookout for talent.

I know of one who, having read someone's poetry on their LiveJournal, wrote to ask, "Say, by any chance have you written a novel?" (Happy ending and multiple books published out of that one.)

So, it happens.

Be yourself, and remember that agents are people too. They read and comment on blogs just like you and I do.

Now ... why did the comment go to your spam filter?

AuburnAssassin said:

Keep in mind, a lot of spam comments I've gotten that were caught by Akismet are short and vague like "This is interesting, I'll be sure to keep following..."

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And they're posted by people with names like "omega watches" and "how to treat genital warts". (Seriously--those are two examples out of my spam queue.)

One of their agents is a member here, and has given some good feedback over in Query Letter Hell. Depending on the nature of the comment, it could certainly be genuine.

I've heard more and more stories about agents stumbling upon future clients rather than the other way 'round--via twitter, blogs, and even here, in QLH and SYW. So, yes, it happens--and probably more than you think.

I honestly think it makes sense. I mean, agents can either dig through slush, which is a huge crapshoot, or, they can browse around a site like AW, where there are many serious writers who have been working hard on their craft and, also, IMO, where there's a TON of talent to be found.

I actually got a request for material from this agency, after one of the agents read teasers on my blog. It was just a request to read pages, but it ended with an offer, and I did end up signing. And, for the record, I LOVE LOVE LOVE my agent there.

Feel free to PM me if you have further questions--I'd be happy to help, if I can.