Aaron M. Priest Literary Agency

The Priest Agency also represented:

R is for Ricochet by Sue Grafton
The Interruption of Everything by Terry McMillan
Moo by Jane Smiley
Angela's Ashes by Frank McCourt


Any subagent there will most-likely know what she's doing.

COOL! I loved the Nanny Diaries before it was big. What a great book! (I was also a nanny at the time, so it was a double riot.)

She asked to see my full manuscript (novel) six months ago and I haven't heard a peep from her. I'll wait a couple more weeks and then will email to ask her whether she's read it.

Serious agent. Serious agency.
Back when I was seeking representation, I queried Lucy. It did take her awhile to get back to me (I was already represented by the time I received her "pass") but she did reply. Which is more than can be said for some agencies.

They've noted that they 'respond within 2 weeks if interested,' so after 4 weeks, I assume they've passed. What I don't know is if they're one of those kind of agencies who make group decisions---so I'm not sure if you can query someone else there if you don't hear back from one...

In my experience, a query about the status of the submission always brings about a rejection reply. Of course, no query results in no reply at all for me.

Janet - this is so true that I had to drop a note here because it just hit home - you inquire about the status of your sub and as sure as the dawn's going to break, a few days later (often even just a couple of days later) a rejection comes in. I'm sure there are folks out there who do not have this experience, but at least for me it is 100% true. And I mean no exceptions. Just had to offer my sympathy.

In pragmatic terms, (just what I think) what happens is probably this. If the sub has been with an agent/editor a few weeks longer than their advertised "turnaround" time, it has already been rejected just the paperwork hasn't been done on it and might not be done at all if the author doesn't inquire. It's very rarely that a writer will have all but forgotten about a sub and then - wham - out of the blue agent offers representation. It happens, but I view those instances as the proverbial lucky-win, the kind that features in a lottery. Happy Easter. My regards and best.

I called the agency and left a message asking if they represent YA or chick-lit, never received a call back. Does anyone know?

Ooh, calling teeters on the edge of bad form; I doubt they'll return your call. If you happened to catch the receptionist or an assistant, I'm sure they'd have answered your question, but . . . stick with internet research via Agent Query and the like.

Huh, well I called them ages ago so I'm not expecting a call back. But why is it considered bad form? I've never heard that before and it makes me wonder why they would list their phone number. I know most agents don't want e-queries, and that wasn't my intention, so why else would people call?

Lucy Childs forwarded my query to Nicole Kealney, who requested my full manuscript. Anyone have info about her and her sales specifically? Thank you!

Nicole Kenealy

Howdy,

Has anyone heard of the agent Nicole Kenealy? I've looked her up on P & E, but she wasn't listed. According to QueryTracker, she's with Aaron Priest (which is legit), but I can't find out a lot about her.

My main concern (other than is she reputable or not) is does she accept horror? According to AgentQuery, she does. But other sources say not.

Anyone have a clue??

Thanks!

CaoPaux said:

Adding link: http://www.aaronpriest.com/index.html

Click to expand...

Thanks for the link, CaoPaux.

So Ms. Kenealy is legit, but her bio doesn't specifically state that she reads horror. But then again, it doesn't say that she doesn't read it, either. Yikes! I *hate* that. Agents, if you are listening...please give us poor writers a break and spell it out already.

Doodlebug said:

Thanks for the link, CaoPaux.

So Ms. Kenealy is legit, but her bio doesn't specifically state that she reads horror. But then again, it doesn't say that she doesn't read it, either. Yikes! I *hate* that. Agents, if you are listening...please give us poor writers a break and spell it out already.

Click to expand...

I hate the Agent Information Bios that read like this:

'Anne has been happily married for 25 years. She has three lovely daughters, enjoys painting, and cheers for the Marlins. An English major from Brown, she worked as an editor at Doubleday before becoming an agent in 1999.'

Gee, that's swell.

What the hell does she represent!?!?!?!

Yes, I finally dug deep enough to find out what she represents (it was buried somewhere on the submissions page instead of under her personal bio.) Apparently she does represent horror, but takes only "upscale" horror. I'm not sure what that means...maybe I need to print my ms on paper bought from Saks rather than Walgreens?

OMFG. SOMEONE JUST STAKE ME PLEASE.

I addressed my query to Lisa Vance and ended up sending it to Lucy Childs. OMG.

When they say "Please do not submit to more than one agent at this agency," do you think they mean multiple queries at the same time?

(So many agencies have me scratching my head with requests like that. If they say not to query another agent b/c they all work closely together and your query might be sent to a more suitable agent... then great. I know not to re-query. But comments like the one quoted above are cryptic to me).

It says they only respond if interested, so I take it that Lisa's no response to my 3/29 query = rejection. I'm just wondering if it's okay to email another agent now.

Just send the one query to the one agent at the agency. Period. Do not sent to multiple agents at the same agency. At all.

If you sent a query in March and they haven't responded, they aren't interested.

In other words, exactly what it says.