WordServe Literary (Greg Johnson)

Deborah L. Reeves · Sep 5, 2006

Hello,
I'm pretty new here so I hope I'm posting in the right place. I'm looking for information on a literary agency called, Word Serve Literary (www.wordserveliterary.com). The owner/agent's name is Greg Johnson. Anyone know anything about them?

Thanks!

JerseyGirl1962 · Sep 6, 2006

Deborah L. Reeves said:
Hello,
I'm pretty new here so I hope I'm posting in the right place. I'm looking for information on a literary agency called, Word Serve Literary (www.wordserveliterary.com). The owner/agent's name is Greg Johnson. Anyone know anything about them?

Thanks!

First, Deborah - :welcome:

Actually, you could've started a new thread after checking the Index (I checked the Index, and there's no mention on this particular agency).

Would one of the mods please port Deborah's post into a new thread?

Thanks!

~Nancy

Deborah L. Reeves · Sep 6, 2006

WordServe Literary

Hello,
I posted this in the wrong place. :flag:

Sorry!

Has anyone here heard of WordServe Literary Agency (www.wordserveliterary.com)? The owner/agent is Greg Johnson. I've searched this site and can't find any info on him. I also searched on P&E. They don't have anything negative to say about him. There is a $ sign after his name, so that good. I went to his website and he sounds great. I was hoping to find someone who may have had contacted him.

Thanks!

Deborah L. Reeves · Sep 6, 2006

Yikes, someone moved my original post over here! I'm so sorry for posting this question twice.

ByGrace · Sep 6, 2006

Greg was once an agent with Alive Communications. I've heard nothing but good things about him. He solely submits to the Christian marketplace is my understanding, and attends CBA writers conferences.

Deborah L. Reeves · Sep 6, 2006

Thank you, ByGrace, for the information. I was pleasantly surprised when Mr. Johnson replied to my e-query so promptly. He said my ms sounded interesting and asked for a proposal and five sample chapters.

What is a proposal exactly? I'm thinking maybe the original QL, synopsis and the sample chapters. Is that correct? Also, do I send the first five chapters of the ms or just ramdom chapters? I would think the first five, but I want to be sure.

I want to get this right before mailing everything to him. He's on vacation right now, so I want to have it ready for him when he returns to work.

I'm very excited he's willing to take a look at my ms. I know it's not a sure thing, but it's still positive to me. LOL

ByGrace · Sep 7, 2006

Deborah,

For fiction you should send him a cover letter, the first 5 chapters, your author's bio, synopsis, and a self-addressed stamped envelope.

Good luck. Let us know what happens.

JerseyGirl1962 · Sep 7, 2006

Deborah L. Reeves said:
Yikes, someone moved my original post over here! I'm so sorry for posting this question twice.

Deborah,

That's okay - it takes awhile to get used to the layout here.

You may want to check out the Newbie Guide to Absolute Write which is linked at the top of each page.

Good luck!

~Nancy

williamfromkc · Dec 29, 2007

WordServe

I just sent a query to WordServe but to Rachelle Gardner. She wrote back the next day letting me know she had the query. Usually the first contact I receive from the agent is either the rejection (usually) or a request for the manuscript (almost never). That was a first. Anyone know whether these people actually sell novels?

CaoPaux · Jan 7, 2008

Their Author News page will answer that question (which is better asked before querying, natch).

williamfromkc · Jan 8, 2008

It had been some time since I sent the query in and I didn't remember. BTW, got a rejection two days ago.

jamiehall · Jan 12, 2009

There is a blog at http://cba-ramblings.blogspot.com/ for Rachelle Gardner.

emandem · Jan 13, 2009

I submitted to Rachelle Gardner once before but she never responded... She does keep a pretty busy blog though--haiku contests, a lot of musings and chat stuff.

Deb Kinnard · Jan 14, 2009

I submitted to Greg just after one of my chapter-buddies signed with him. She'd sent him a romance novel. His e-mail came later that day that they're not interested in romance novels.

I guess one was enough, LOL.

Maddie · Oct 2, 2010

Anybody have updated experiences with WordServe Literary? I note they sell to the Christian market, yet also to the general market; and the latter is why I queried them, including the first chapter of my gritty, provocative mss. Somewhat surprised when they came back 24 hours later asking for a partial (which contains more gritty provocative material - it would earn an "R" rating if the text and conversations were used in a movie - e.g., definitely adult fiction).

So, just curious if anyone has an anecdote or two to impart....

CAWriter · Oct 3, 2010

I know Greg and a number of authors who were with him under Alive. He does do some mainstream submissions, but I'd be kind of surprised if he took on 'R' rated projects. But you never know...

Maddie · Oct 4, 2010

That's what I figured as well, but I was very up front in my query, by including the first chapter embedded in the email, so all eyes reading it were quite open, and still, I received a response of interest and request for a partial. The result remains to be seen. Thanks for your update, CAWriter.

-Maddie

profen4 · Oct 4, 2010

I'm always confused when an agency says "No fantasy" yet they're okay with "paranormal" What's the difference? I know there are varying degrees of fantasy, but paranormal falls under fantasy, doesn't it?

CaoPaux · Oct 4, 2010

For the most part, paranormal is fantastical elements in the "real" world, as opposed to a fantasy world. I.e., your average haunted-house story is considered paranormal, not fantasy.

Cyia · Jan 3, 2011

From Rachelle Gardner's blog this morning:

Query Policy as of January, 2011

For the time being, we are CLOSED to queries, except from:

→ authors who have previously published with a royalty-paying publisher; OR

→ authors for whom we receive a personal referral from someone we know (client, author, editor); OR

→ longtime blog commenters and others with whom I am familiar.

Any other queries will be deleted unread. We expect to keep this policy in place for at least three months, and will post updates if and when our policy changes.

pilot27407 · Jan 26, 2011

Queried and received a reply asking for a partial. A month later a request for the full.
I'll let you all know what comes ut of it.

Gravity · Jan 26, 2011

Found out today they're now closed to submissions, so for those of you who made it in under the wire :Thumbs:

!

Chris P · May 27, 2011

Rachelle came up on Query Tracker, and the agency website and submission guidelines on her blog indicate she is open to submissions again, but is mostly interested in fiction of interest to women.

Laura Droege · Sep 17, 2011

Wordserve has a new agent. Rachelle Gardner announced it on her blog this morning. Her name is Barbara Scott, and it looks like she has a lot of experience in the industry as a book editor, etc. She's taking submissions for both general and Christian market (though I would doubt that she'd take anything "R" rated). Here's the link to Rachelle's blog post. http://www.rachellegardner.com/2011/09/new-agent-at-wordserve/

Deb Kinnard · Sep 17, 2011

Barbara Scott is the same lady who was a senior acquisitions editor for Abingdon. She's one of the nicest and most enthusiastic people in the publishing industry that I've ever met. Too bad she didn't want my medieval but c'est la vie. I foresee she'll bring a lot of this verve and savvy to her new endeavor.

WordServe Literary (Greg Johnson)

Deborah L. Reeves

JerseyGirl1962

I heart Malamutes! :-)

Deborah L. Reeves

Deborah L. Reeves

ByGrace

Deborah L. Reeves

ByGrace

JerseyGirl1962

I heart Malamutes! :-)

williamfromkc

I'm keeping my day job

CaoPaux

Mostly Harmless

williamfromkc

I'm keeping my day job

jamiehall

Bereaved Snarkling

emandem

Deb Kinnard

Maddie

Roe Draje

CAWriter

Maddie

Roe Draje

profen4

CaoPaux

Mostly Harmless

Cyia

Rewriting My Destiny

pilot27407

Gravity

Seen 'em come, seen 'em go

Chris P

Likes metaphors mixed, not stirred

Laura Droege

Deb Kinnard