Nancy Coffey Literary & Media Representation

JJPie said:

I believe that's right. I queried Joanna electronically but I believe Nancy is snail mail. Someone else can answer that better.

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That's my understanding too.

When Nancy requested my full a few months ago, she requested it snail mail, too.

Can someone point me in the drection of Joanna's email address? She and Nancy sound like good additions to my list of potential queries. Thanks so much and congrats to everyone who has gotten contracts with either Nancy or Joanna!

Hi all. To answer Soulcascade first. I am not sure about if my agent will ask for a % of the book I sold myself. I would have no problem giving a % if she were able to push the book along when it came out and help with more sales. I WOULD have a problem with her asking for a % of the advance, which I negotiated for myself and spent long ago. Anything made from here on in I have no problem paying a % on. As for Robyn, I believe Nancy likes snail mail and Joanna will take email. When I spoke with Joanna about 10 days ago, she said I could email her my manuscript but to print a hardcopy and send it to Nancy because she likes it that way. For Rose, Joanna's email is [email protected]. Good luck to all, and Happy St Patrick's Day!

Happy St. Patty's Day to you, anthony and thanks so much for the email address!

People around here (AW in general) are so helpful. I love you guys!

????

Where'd everybody go???

anthonyjcardieri said:

Where'd everybody go???

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I'm here! Just submitted my revised MS to Joanna!

I've been on vacation and collecting rejections actually. But question for anyone:

Does anyone know what Joanna's turnaround time is for partials?

Thanks!

I worked with Joanna on my manuscript a bit. I ultimately went with another agent/agency, but let me say, she’s amazing. She’s smart, funny and spot on with her advice. Not only that, she’s genuinely nice. Anyone who ends up with her as their agent is a lucky, lucky writer.

Nancy is my agent but Joanna asked me to submit a thriller manuscript I had written since Nancy doesn't do those. She told me that she probably wouldn't get to it until the summertime so I am not holding out much hope. I can wait though. I am still writing the sequel for Luck of the Draw. Can't think of a damn title though. It's really driving me nuts. Anyhow, don't give up, JJPIE. I got rejections up the wazoo while shopping Luck of the Draw to agents. Nancy herself turned me down the day I got it picked up by St Martins Press. But I tried for a long time. Persistance does pay off. Erin, how many things did you need to revise, and do you think it made for a stronger, tighter manuscript?

anthonyjcardieri said:

Erin, how many things did you need to revise, and do you think it made for a stronger, tighter manuscript?

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I needed to beef up my worldbuilding (backstory) a bit (added a few paragraphs of explanation), and make my MC's voice more consistent in certain parts. Yes, I definitely have a much stronger MS now, and Joanna's advice was spot on and invaluable! So now the nail biting waiting begins!!

Thanks for the words of encouragement, ANT. Your success story was quite amazing! I'm still plugging along and sending stuff out though it's hard to stay realistic much less than optimistic in this economy.

I agree with JJ, ANT your story is inspiring. It's so discouraging to shop your beloved MS around and get rejected. I can't tell you how great it is to hear your story (that the agents you submitted rejected but an editor fell in love with it). Gives me hope!

Question to Erin on world-building:

When is it too much and when is it not enough? Is that another subjective call? I got a rejection the other day basically saying my world is too complicated. How do you be Goldilocks?

JJPie said:

Question to Erin on world-building:

When is it too much and when is it not enough? Is that another subjective call? I got a rejection the other day basically saying my world is too complicated. How do you be Goldilocks?

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It is so subjective and every agent or editor will look at it differently. Some like light world building others like heavy. Just look at books on the shelves, i.e. Twilight (light) vs. Robert Jordan (heavy).

I know my book is light in world-building because my magic is releasing and evolving (and book 2 would have more intense worldbuilding). But I never really explained how my world got to where it was at the start of book 1, so that's one thing I needed to expand.

I entered another fantasy book in a contest and the editor judge told me I had too many magical beings. I had Druid sorcerers and demons, with only a mention of faeries and witches. I was flabbergasted. Most of the books I read have way more magical elements than mine. That just tells you how subjective it is. But it got me thinking and I ended up deleting the backstory on witches and faeries, which weren't necessary for my world and I'd only thrown them in to enrich my worldbuilding.

Another editor said at a conference that she wants to walk down a normal street, turn a corner and know immediately that she's in a fantasy world.

I wouldn't worry about yours unless you get several agents saying the same thing.

Thanks Erin. I actually did the same thing you did, which was took out some of the "flavor," the stuff that added richness to the world but didn't really affect any of my subplots or the main plot itself.

Well, I'm still waiting to hear back on my partial. I'm hoping no news is good news at this point...

anthonyjcardieri said:

...I am still writing the sequel for Luck of the Draw. Can't think of a damn title though. It's really driving me nuts.

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Luck of the Draw is a mystery/crime novel, right? I have noticed a long-standing tradition of making detective/mystery/crime series titles fit some sort of common theme. Since you've started out with a "card game" title, keep it running.

"Dead Man's Hand" comes immediately to mind, but you can probably think of others.

A few more: "Busted Flush," "Ace in the Hole," "Stacked Deck," "Double Down..."

Alas, got a no for my partial 4/1.

Sent my first fifty pages to Joanna a month ago and got a FORM rejection today I'm very disapointed, I'd heard lots of good things about personalized rejections from this agent and had hoped for the same myself...

Form reject on a partial is pretty much par for the course. Jo's name has been out there for a while, now. Maybe she got an intern to screen queries and partials. Most agents have to do this once the query barrage starts in order to focus on client work.

Sorry to hear about the rejections, JJPie and Soulcascade.

Oh yeah, I should have mentioned. Mine was form too. And like Soulcascade, I had heard so much about personalized rejections that I got my hopes up that at least it would be that.

But I'm not discouraged. Query on!

Thanks Erin, querying sure is hard on the head!

Hello everyone..
I was wondering if anyone could give me advice on asking about a status on a manuscript I sent to Nancy Coffey in the first week of February. I thought she worked mostly through phone, but then realized through the above posts that she always works through email. Anyhow, what is the best way to ask her for a status? I don't have her email btw...

Thanks!

Viva Forever said:

Hello everyone..
I was wondering if anyone could give me advice on asking about a status on a manuscript I sent to Nancy Coffey in the first week of February. I thought she worked mostly through phone, but then realized through the above posts that she always works through email. Anyhow, what is the best way to ask her for a status? I don't have her email btw...

Thanks!

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You might want to give it a bit more time. It was over two months before she got back to me on my full, and this is not unusual for a review of a full manuscript.

Nancy's agency doesn't just skim those manuscripts. From the comments I eventually got (I didn't end up working with them), they look at every word carefully.

We did have e-mail communication, but I am reluctant to give out the address, since I'm not sure it's a public one.

I'm back!

Hey, sorry guys, I have been out of the loop for a while. I got the copyedited manuscript from St Martins about a week ago and have been going over it word by word. Wowza, there were a lot of corrections on that thing. This copyeditor must be a genius. The knack for small detail exhibited blew me away. Anyhow, I just wanted to say sorry to both Soul and JJ on their rejection letters. Keep plugging on though. If I only had a nickel for every one of those I got. But I did read a lot of posts where you guys were talking about how subjective it all is, and I agree. That in itself should keep you going. Just because one agent or publisher doesn't go for it doesn't mean that another won't love it. Go to literarymarketplace.com and find agents and publishers you can match up with. There are so many. And TBROSZ, thank you so much for your title suggestions. Even though my book has nothing to do with card playing, I actually like those and will try to see if I can work one out to fit into what I am now writing. I appreciate the help. Ok, guys, going offline now. Again, sorry for the absence. I'll check back in tomorrow. ANT