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[Agency] DeFiore and Company (formerly DeFiore and Company Author Services)

TracyG

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Nope, but she's only had my partial for around three weeks or so...
 

TheCakeNovelist

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I sent my partial (100 pages) in July, and e-mailed a quick follow-up last week. Caryn got back to me within minutes requesting the full, with some very nice words about what she'd read so far.

I won't lie...I did a little dance :)
 

D.L. Shepherd

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I had the same experience after I received several offers last year. I don't know whether it is the agent or the assistant, but fulls seem to sink without a trace.

I know someone else on query tracker reported the same thing, and they nudged more than once.

Congrats on your offers from last year!
 

Thedrellum

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E-queried Meredith Kaffel on 2/17/2013 (inc. 1st five pages).
Full requested by her assistant Morris Shamah on 2/19/13.

YA Sci-Fi 67K words.
 

Krista G.

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Just wanted to let everyone know I'll be hosting an interactive interview on my blog with Ms. Kaffel this Friday, February 22. If you have a question you'd like to ask her, feel free to hop over sometime that day.

I'll be back that morning to post a direct link.
 

Thedrellum

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Rejection on my full from Ms. Kaffel after a nudge as a result of an offer of rep.

Her rejection was great, however, and essentially said that although she liked a lot about the book, it didn't go in the direction she thought it should. As a result, she bowed out because the agent who offered was probably excited about the book as is.

She seems like she would be great to work with.
 

wombat

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Queried Meredith Kaffel at 10:47 this morning, rejection sent at 11:20. Way better than the other extreme of being left hanging for months, for sure.
 

Cel_Fleur

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Hi. Does anyone know if Rebecca Strauss is open for submissions? The DeFiore site doesn't list her as one of the agents currently considering, but internet activity suggests otherwise. Last month on Twitter, for instance, she posted "I'm actively looking for more: women's commercial fiction, romance, mystery, fantasy, science fiction, & YA."
The agency seems awesome, so it would be sucky to aim a shot in the deepest dark.
 

Thedrellum

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If the agent's feed (on Twitter, Facebook, whatever) says they are actively looking for manuscripts, I would take that as an A-OK to submit. Before I did so, I would make sure that there's nothing recently contradicting that desire for manuscripts. And when I submitted, I would probably make sure to reference the tweet (or whatever) I saw.

Anyway, good luck with your querying process! It's a long, hard, and sucky road (for most of us).
 

sooshi

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I queried Caryn yesterday, and she responded with a polite rejection last night.
 

JamesBaldwin

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I sent in a cold query to the agency as a whole, and got a request for a full a couple of days ago. All my digits are crossed, but I'm not holding my breath.

I've got no idea which agent was interested enough to read the full!
 

jtrylch13

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Equeried Rebecca Strauss on 10/7/14
YA Post-Apocalyptic
Form R on 10/18/14
 

CaoPaux

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Just a note for the record that they dropped "Author Services" from their name back in '13.
 

Lulubell

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Rebecca Strauss was my agent for almost a year. I'd been querying that project forever and she seemed like a good choice, good agency, a few clients whose names I've actually heard of before--no matter that they weren't in the genre I wrote in. She had no sales I knew of in my genre/category but she told me she was just looking to get into it. She was super-nice and enthusiastic, we talked at length about my book, so I was like all right, I'm on board.

Well, the first red flag was when she never mailed me back the signed contract. Then she made me do revisions for eight months, taking a month+ to read each new version I sent her. Finally I put something together that was to her satisfaction (I actually disagreed with a lot of the changes but hey... you know how it goes. An agent from NY was paying attention to me so I kept my reservations to myself and did as I was told.) And then we went on sub.

After it didn't sell for six figures after three months, she just kind of lost interest in me. She took two weeks to answer a two-sentence email, she hated everything I sent her... And then she dumped me over email, in the weirdest freaking message I've ever read. In the year I was with her she didn't make a single sale in my genre/category...and as far as I know she STILL hasn't made one.

I was going to just suck it up and move on. But then I had a talk with a friend and (after a glass of wine or two) opened up about this less-than-stellar experience. She strongly suggested I share it with others who are querying/choosing their agent. You may draw your own conclusions, but word of advice--check for sales, not just any sales, but sales in your genre, in your category. To good publishers. Sometimes agents are just new and that's normal, especially when it means they'll prioritize you and nurture your career. But when you're getting neither of these things, it's just not worth the anguish and ruined self-esteem.
 

Chumplet

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I have been researching Lisa Gallagher and learned that she had moved to this agency. However, her submission guidelines are inconsistent. I found a form on a personal web page, which requests that three chapters be attached as a pdf. It also says to make it TNR 22 pt... I think that was a typo but it was in there twice. I'll err on the side of caution and assume she meant 12 pt.

Her profile on the agency site doesn't specify the type or length of partial (it says to attach the manuscript as a word document but I have my doubts that she wants the whole thing), and the agency guidelines say to include only 5 pages but to check individual agents' guidelines.

So, given all these conflicting guidelines, should I attach three chapters as a Word document and explain that this seems to be the most logical choice? Or not explain at all and risk the email being deleted because I included an attachment?