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Ward & Balkin, Inc. (formerly The Balkin Agency, Christina Ward L.A.)

Lotuspetal7

Does anyone know anything about the Balkin Agency? I found it in the Writers Market. It has no website but is listed on other websites with no comments of any kind, good or bad. I noticed it wasn't in your index so I wanted to ask. All I know is that Mr. Balkin represents only nonfiction. My book--not finished but I have all my thoughts together for a solid proposal--is about the origins of Chinese characters.

Thanks,
Bonnie
 

UrsusMinor

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Balkin would probably be worth querying; they have sold a number of books that straddle the line between scholarly and commercial (see, for example, "Israel on the Appomattox," published by Knopf). They also represent some business books, some pop sociology, and seem to represent the literary estate of religious philosopher Martin Buber. Sales on record to Little Brown, Holt, and a few others.
 

Lotuspetal7

Thanks!

That helps a lot. Sounds perfect for me, especially the straddling the line between scholarly and commercial, which is just what I want to do. Sure hope he's interested! *holding breath*
 

eparrot

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Christina Ward Literary Agency (Kit Ward)

I have been trying to find sales for Christina Ward, and agent I believe is based in Boston. A Google search yields quite a few conferences and workships with her as a panelist. I found one sale on Publisher's Weekly and one on Publisher's Marketplace (to be published in Spring 2007), but can't find much else other than she's been agenting for 15 years after being an editor.

I did not find her on the AW index, and she is on P&E with no ranking one way or the other, and on AgentQuery with one listed sale. Thanks in advance for any help!
 

victoriastrauss

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One reason you might be having trouble finding her in a search is that she goes by Kit rather than Christina. Search on "Kit Ward" in Google Books or Amazon and you'll turn up a number of sales.

- Victoria
 

eparrot

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Victoria -

Thanks for the reply, that is just what I needed.

- Ed
(a long-time fellow Amherst resident, now living in Florida)
 

Miss Plum

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Queried 5/24/10
Full requested 5/24/10
Rejected 6/2/10
 

Miss Plum

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Is there a reason why barely anyone has responded in this thread since 2007?
Not sure. QueryTracker shows 78 queries since January 2008, and that's just the people who chose to record their queries there. I see quite a few B&BC threads that peter out after essential info is produced.

I'm catching up on posting statistics on everyone who requested anything from me, for those who are curious about response times.
 

Miss Plum

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Christina doesn't have a website. I found her on QueryTracker.
 

kaitie

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I didn't mention anything because she rejected me. ;) I generally only post my requests.
 

Dr. Johnson

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I e-queried Kit Ward 1/11/11 using the new merged agency's e-mail per the website. There's been no response and I was wondering if they're a "no response means not interested agency." Has anyone had similar experience with them?
 

turningpoint

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I queried Ms. Christina Ward on 2/21 and have not had a response. I like the look of their website. I am still learning the query process. I am waiting on a couple of partials I have out with other agents but find the length of time baffling. It seems so different from ordinary communication to wait a couple of months for a reply. Curious business.
 

Dr. Johnson

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I queried Ms. Christina Ward on 2/21 and have not had a response. I like the look of their website. I am still learning the query process. I am waiting on a couple of partials I have out with other agents but find the length of time baffling. It seems so different from ordinary communication to wait a couple of months for a reply. Curious business.

Ms. Ward asks for 25-30 pages with a query. That's the equivalent of a partial. So she might take longer to respond. Some agents include a timeline in their guidelines, e.g. "If you don't hear from me within x weeks, I'm not interested." Unfortunately, she doesn't.

In my experience, if you have a partial out for more than 8 weeks it's ok to give the agent a polite nudge for status. Having said that, I've had agents sit on partials for 6 months or more, and some never get back. As for fulls, I've had agents take 6 months to a year to respond; others get back in a matter of days. Some have sent nice personal responses leaving the door open, others send forms (or have assitants send them) and others don't reply at all.

Anyway, good luck!
 

Vandal

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From Publishers Lunch:

Christina (Kit) Ward, 59, founder of the Christina Ward Literary Agency, most recently co-owner of The Ward and Balkin Agency, and formerly an acquiring editor at Little, Brown in Boston, passed away November 19 after a brief illness. Her colleague writes: "Kit was a brilliant editor and champion for her authors whose work ranged from bestselling literary fiction to gardening books and nature writing, to poetry. She was a sought-after speaker and teacher at conferences including Breadloaf and Writers at Work."
 

CaoPaux

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She will be missed.

Has anyone heard whether the agency will continue? I'm not finding any sales reports for Rick since last March.