• Guest please check The Index before starting a thread.

Arcadia Literary Agency (Victoria Pryor)

CaoPaux

Mostly Harmless
Staff member
Super Moderator
Moderator
Super Member
Registered
Joined
Feb 12, 2005
Messages
13,952
Reaction score
1,746
Location
Coastal Desert
Victoria Gould-Pryor of Arcadia Literary Agency has made solid sales, although a cursory search doesn't find any since 2004. A polite inquiry re: her current client list may be in order.
 

Viva Forever

Registered
Joined
Nov 13, 2008
Messages
12
Reaction score
1
Victoria Pryor had asked for my full MS. Does anyone have information on her response time?
 

batgirl

Writting broad
VPX
Super Member
Registered
Joined
May 13, 2005
Messages
1,680
Reaction score
282
Location
Vancouver Island
Website
bmlgordon.com
The agency is described here as one of the top 10 agencies for true crime, literary fiction, and travel books.
The info here, with not a huge sampling, gives her response time as between 4 days and 3 weeks, but I think that's from original query to rejection / request, not for looking over requested material.
There's an entry in The Agent's Directory by Rachel Vater, which you can check on google's book search, but it doesn't mention response times either.
Sorry nothing definite, but perhaps someone with personal experience will pop up.
-Barbara
 

NY_Michelle

Registered
Joined
Oct 6, 2009
Messages
10
Reaction score
1
As of a 6/11/09 update on WritersMarket.com she is only looking at fiction from previously published authors.
 

love2win

Registered
Joined
Oct 17, 2009
Messages
3
Reaction score
1
Victoria Pryor is an excellent agent and replies promptly to an email inquiry. Advice: Keep the query brief with a very good story hook, plus the first two chapters in the body of your email to her. If she wants to see the whole book, she'll reply to tell you she's received it and will get back to you in two weeks on average.

She is solid to work with and gives excellent criticism and advice.

Best of luck.

By the way, I sent her a first novel and she responded very well, so we're proceeding. She does accept work from newbies, but any publishing,writing, and/or editing credits you have even in a different field are a plus.
 

minkyboodle

Registered
Joined
Sep 14, 2009
Messages
16
Reaction score
2
Location
Durango, Colorado
Website
www.brownbrushbooks.com
I regret taking some of her advice...

Four other agencies were requesting pages when Victoria asked for my MS. She also asked that I put off any other contacts while she worked with me. It was a profound mistake. All the other agencies that requested pages...declined to wait...and she claimed to run out of engergy with the story.

If she asks for your material, good for you, and I wish you better luck. If you halt any other activity on your queries, just because of your excitement...you have just harmed yourself. She should not make such requests of any writer that she contacts.

I have been advised by two editors, that no agency should ever be given an exclusive. If they want your work - they will take time to read it and make an offer to you. Don't harm your own chances as I did for Victoria.
 
Last edited:

kaitie

With great power comes
Super Member
Registered
Joined
Sep 10, 2009
Messages
10,992
Reaction score
2,525
I think if you already have four manuscripts out, it's simplest to let the agent asking for the exclusive know that and agree not to send any new ones out. If the agent isn't amenable to that, then you haven't hurt your chances with the others. From what I've seen around here, though, it sounds like most agents who ask for exclusives are willing to put up with not being able to get one if there are already manuscripts out. That really sucks, though. :( Wishing you the best of luck next time.
 

BaldEagle

Super Member
Registered
Joined
Aug 25, 2011
Messages
71
Reaction score
3
Location
Home is where the heart is.
I may have set a record here. I queried Arcadia via email yesterday at approximately 5 PM Central. Had my rejection by 7 PM Central. Either my effort was really bad or her definition of commercial fiction and mine differ.
 

Stacia Kane

Girl Detective
Super Member
Registered
Joined
Jul 23, 2006
Messages
8,142
Reaction score
2,668
Location
In cahoots with the other boo-birds
Website
www.staciakane.com
Either my effort was really bad or her definition of commercial fiction and mine differ.

Or maybe your project just didn't appeal to her. Maybe she's already repping a similar project. Maybe she'd already rejected four similar-sounding projects just before yours. Maybe she has a particular aversion to the name "Andy" and that's the name of your MC (that's a joke, btw).

A rejection, whether fast or slow, doesn't mean that the work in question is necessarily bad or that the agent doesn't know what s/he is doing, and as long as it's not a fantasy query sent to an agent who only reps non-fiction it's nothing to do with genre, either. It's not personal. It just means that particular agent isn't interested in seeing more. That's all.

Another agent may feel differently. If the query and writing are great, chances are good that another agent will. I don't think there's a published author on this forum whose query for their published book(s) didn't get rejected by at least one agent; I know I've gotten a few form rejects from queries. Not every agent is going to be interested in every project.

Once you have 50 posts you can post your query in Query Letter Hell (in Share Your Work; the password is "vista" [without the quotation marks]) and we can help you with it, if you like. Meanwhile you might find it useful to start reading and critting other people's queries and pages; giving critique to others often teaches us a lot, at least in most writers' experience.
 
Last edited:

bunderful

Super Member
Registered
Joined
Feb 2, 2011
Messages
127
Reaction score
7
I never posted my experience - I received a full request from Victoria within 24 hours of querying and then a rejection on the full 1 week later. At least it was fast!