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[Agency] Trident Media Group

DanielJSmithAyo

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Daizy,

Agents are busy, this is true. But from their standpoint, let's think about it: their major commitment is to their signed clients, as they're the ones making them money. And let's be honest: if you were her agent, wouldn't you want her pounding the pavement for you and ignoring all those pesky queries and manuscripts sitting on her desk?

Nudge in a bit, then if needed, move on. If it's a good manuscript (and I'm sure it is), you'll find what you're looking for. :)

-Daniel
 

LBrickell

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Ellen Levine, Trident Media

Hello,

At present, she has my partial manuscript (75 pages).

It's my understanding that she, like many agents, will only respond if she is interested in moving forward.

Has anyone had any experience with her requests for partial? If she moved forward with yours, I imagine she probably requested a full manuscript - how long did it take her to look over the partial, request the full, and look over the full? At what point should I assume she's just not interested?

At what point is a nudge appropriate? (Thus far, its only been three weeks, so I'm nowhere near that point yet. But maybe, ten weeks? Twelve? Never?)

If another agent has requested an exclusive, should I notify her?
 

Old Hack

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Check her submission guidelines for information about whether a nudge might be appropriate: if she doesn't specify, it's usually ok to nudge after three months or so.

If another agent requests an exclusive you can't agree to it, as this agent already has your partial. The most you can do is offer to not accept any offers for a week or so, or to not send it out to anyone else for a week or so: but generally, exclusives aren't a good thing for writers and few agents ask for them anyway so I wouldn't worry.

It might be a good idea for this thread to be merged with Trident's thread in BR&BC. I'll see what the room mod thinks and if she agrees, it might be moved.
 

Pisco Sour

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I've had the request for a full from Mark Gottlieb off a Twitter pitch contest. Does anybody have recent experience working with him? He seems to represent sff. I haven't yet sent him the book, but I'm thinking of popping it over on Monday because he seems like a great agent. Thx.
 

Drachen Jager

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I've had the request for a full from Mark Gottlieb off a Twitter pitch contest. Does anybody have recent experience working with him? He seems to represent sff. I haven't yet sent him the book, but I'm thinking of popping it over on Monday because he seems like a great agent. Thx.

Looks like we're submission buddies. I just got a full request from him off a cold query for an SFF manuscript (alternate historical, early 20th century).

From what I can see on QT, he's a fast reader (expect to hear back within a week) and he extends offers on a little over 10% of the material he requests. As you said, he seems like a good agent, so fingers crossed for both of us!
 

Pisco Sour

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Looks like we're submission buddies. I just got a full request from him off a cold query for an SFF manuscript (alternate historical, early 20th century).

From what I can see on QT, he's a fast reader (expect to hear back within a week) and he extends offers on a little over 10% of the material he requests. As you said, he seems like a good agent, so fingers crossed for both of us!

Good luck! I just got my rejection this morning. He 'liked' my pitch on Twitter contest, but won't be taking it any further. Ah well... It was nice to get the 'like'. Hope you get better news.
 

Drachen Jager

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Well at least you know the pitch is working.

I've submitted quite a few queries to Trident over the years, but this is the first request, so hopefully this is a good sign.

Good luck on future subs!
 

Pisco Sour

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Well at least you know the pitch is working.

I've submitted quite a few queries to Trident over the years, but this is the first request, so hopefully this is a good sign.

Good luck on future subs!

Thanks! At the moment 10 agents are reading the full, so I'm crossing fingers and toes. I'm also wondering now if I can query somebody else at Trident, or it they're a 'no from one means no from all' agency.

Hope this time you get the answer you want! :)
 

eqb

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I'm also wondering now if I can query somebody else at Trident, or it they're a 'no from one means no from all' agency.

Their submissions page on the agency website says:

After the expiration of a 30-day period following a submission to a Trident agent, you may make a submission to another agent at Trident.

So, yes, you can query other agents there.
 

gbhike

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Just to add some context for everyone, I queried a couple of agents at this agency and received no response. They're not a very responsive agency and if not interested, most likely won't even send you a form rejection. Also if you try to send more than one query in 30 days it won't actually go through, their little online form will tell you you need to wait longer before trying again.
 

kindling

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Mark Gottlieb was my agent for several months in 2017. Please PM for information.
 

Tchaikovsky

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Just saw this posted on QueryTracker for this agency:

WARNING DO NOT SUBMIT—don’t AGREE TO TERMS AND SUBMIT. They are the only agency I’ve encountered that essentially asks you to give up your copyright without compensation to submit. Please see the following terms that you would be agreeing to so as to submit—from their website. Totally unethical: “I understand that Trident has access to materials and ideas that may be similar to my Material in theme, idea, plot or format. I understand that I will not be entitled to compensation because of the use of any such similar or identical material if such material is created independently by Trident or its clients.
5. I hereby release Trident from any and all liability for loss of, or damage to, any copies of my Material that I may submit to Trident.”

It looks like a standard release form though, and given Trident's reputation, I don't see the harm. Can people confirm that I'm not crazy?
 

Krista G.

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It looks like a standard release form though, and given Trident's reputation, I don't see the harm. Can people confirm that I'm not crazy?

I agree with you, Tchaikovsky. I signed it to submit to an agent there the last time I was querying, but in no way did I think I was signing away my copyright (and I don't think that's how Trident interprets it, either). Books with similarities often hit the market at the same time, but that doesn't mean that anyone stole anything. Their release form, in my opinion, is just pointing that out.
 

EMaree

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I don't recommend Trident agency to writers*, but yeah, that material clause doesn't harm copyright at all. The Querytracker writer is jumping at shadows and really misrepresenting the intent of that agreement.

(*Feel free to PM me.)
 
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PMcKnight

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holy shit, Mark pretended to rep an author?

I'm really glad that I passed over him in January.
I did submit to Robert but no love.
 

quianaa2001

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This is scary too "hearing from editors that they don't even open his submission emails now."
 

Girlsgottawrite

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This is terrible! Thanks so much for sharing this with us!