Andrea Brown Literary Agency

I queried Laura Rennert a week ago. Not rejected yet, so that's a plus. I guess.

ejwriter said:

how did you all decide which agent to query at andrea brown?

i'm sending out my first batch of queries tomorrow, and i'm trying to narrow down my top choices.
this agency is in my top 5, but damned if i know which agent to query. FOUR of them are jumping out at me.

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I queried Mary Kole only because I felt drawn to her. Lol I know that's no help at all, but she just seemed to fit both my personality and my book's personality better than the others.

Heard back from Laura today; she asked for permission to put me in contact with Mary as they both like the project but Mary has more free time than Laura does right now. Judging by the wording she used (that I'm not posting lest I jinx myself), this sounds like a Very Good Thing. I also hear Mary's got an excellent editorial eye, and I know they're wanting a few revisions, so we'll see what she has for me.

Wowzers congrats Ether! This seems super promising!

Cool, Ether! Mary's really nice, AND she's great about getting back to people.

I just met Laura at the SF writer's convention. She's very nice, but she did say that they are more backed up than it says on their site right now. I queried her a few months ago, but I don't think my project is really her cup of tea anyways.

Sage said:

Anyone who has a novel that fits what she's looking for, Mary Kole seems to be VERY actively looking for new clients. She offered to two of my friends in the past week or so. She responds fast too.

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I like her bio on the page. I'm trying to decide between querying her or Jennifer Rofe. Does anyone know if Mary has sold anything recently? She doesn't have a PM page.

I don't know what Mary may have published, but she's sold two picture books in the last six months.

Thanks litgirl. That's what I meant. Anyone know if she's sold any middle grade?

Heard back last night! She just got back from some confrences and said she'd be sending along some notes to me on my MS after this weekend.

anybody know if these guys are a no response means no agency? I queryed on 12/27 and haven't heard back yet.

rebobinar said:

anybody know if these guys are a no response means no agency? I queryed on 12/27 and haven't heard back yet.

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Unfortunately, yes. Did you get an autoresponse when you queried stating that it was received? It seems kind of hit or miss whether or not people get them.

Auto responses..

I got an auto response the same day I submitted to Mary, stating that agents will respond if interested. However, her website/blog (kidlit.com) says she always responds with her own form letter, personalized rejection or manuscript request. I'm hoping that's true.

ether - nope, didn't get one. Ugh - no response means no drives me nuts!

If you didn't get an autoresponse, it's hard to tell if it went through or not. I've read on this thread that most people have gotten autoresponses, buuut... I didn't get one when I submitted and mine went through.

Give it a couple weeks and if you're worried it might not have gone through, try re-querying and just explain that you had concerns that your query didn't make it to their inbox. I'd just give it some time so that if they did get it, you aren't giving it to them twice.

I queried Mary Kole last month, and she sent me a polite form R after about two weeks. I did get an autoresponse as soon as I sent it, though, so if you didn't receive that, I'd send the query again.

Sage said:

Best to query and forget about it unless you get a request.

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Yeah that's the approach I'm taking. I queried Caryn Wiseman and I've been told that it might be more then 8 weeks before I get a response...and I'm not 100% sure I will.

Oddly enough I queried her first sending the query but forgetting the 10 pages. She emailed me back almost IMMEDIATELY saying it sounded interesting and asking me to send the ten pages. I sent those immediately hoping she might read them right then...wishful thinking, I know. Still, It'd be funny if after that I had to wait like a year before getting a response lol

Actually I think Aprilynne Pike had to wait like a year from a response from Jodi Reamer before landing her as an agent, so like Sage, it's possibly you may get a pleasant surprise in the mailbox one day after you've forgotten about it.

Slooow business.

She had the story on her blog, but I think it was full to offer.

Yeah it's definitely hard sometimes cuz some people seem to slide right through while others have to fight for a long time. But everyone's story is different. Pike may have had to wait a year to get the big Y on her full, but look at all the success she's gotten since then! Disney practically pounced on Wings if I recall (isn't Miley Cyrus involved?)

So yeah, inspiration all around

I think it's perfectly reasonable for things to come up - provided they still respond to status queries and express a basic level of interest. All they need to do is read your MS and love it. I think that could still happen at any time, provided they still plan on reading the MS (hence the basic level of interest).