[Agency] Harold Ober Associates

Listed on Preditors and Editors as having sales to legitimate publishers. Is not accepting manuscripts.

Craig Tenney is a legit agent and a very nice man, but is not accepting any new clients except by referral, as far as I know.

[Agency] Harold Ober Assoc.

I just joined this forum and have learned a lot. So a broadcast thanks to all.

I have an 82,000-word completed manuscript that is something of a new American Graffiti meets Tuesday with Morrie. Jake Elwell of Harold Ober has taken a keen interest in it and has been extremely helpful in suggesting some edits and restructuring.

What's your problem, eh? Well, we are at a point where he seems to want to take the book away from my premise and make it more of an historical narrative. I know better than to think that a debut author can insist too much on having "my voice" or to know the market for a book as well as a good agent, but it really would turn it into a completely different book -- one that I think takes it away from my reason for writing it.

So, this may be more commiseration than a fair request for advice, but I was wondering if others had similar experience with an agent. As well, is anyone famliar with Harold Ober agency and Jake Elwell?

Thanks for any thoughts.

You need to talk to him and express how you feel. Perhaps you two aren't on the same page and maybe you and he aren't going to be the Dynamic Duo you'd hoped for.

Or perhaps he's seeing something deeper in the story that you are simply too close to see. Hear him out. Ask questions related to the direction in which he's going. Be as constructively-minded as possible.

Then, weigh what he has to say with your gut instinct and go from there.

Good luck; this is a hard one.

Thanks

Always good advice. I'm never a fan of e-mail when it comes to having conversations to build mutual understanding. I'll just ask him if i can give him a call. He and I both have enough invested in this.

Let us know how it works out.

edgyllama said:

Let us know how it works out.

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Most definitely!

Has he signed you as a client, or are these edits and rewrites a prerequisite? There is a point where you don't want to be turned into a hack writer by an agent hustling formula. Why can't a first time author be his own voice?

Riki

Just wanted to share my experience with Phyllis Westberg. I queried by snail mail and received a prompt response in a week. A personal letter stating that she is not taking on any new clients at this time. A rejection, but very classy and nice.

Great talk with Jake Elwell

I re-wrote my book and sent it to Jake since he had looked at an earlier draft of it last year. i was concerned at the time that he was trying to take it in a direction I did not want to go, but now I appreciate he was really just trying to tell me to take it some direction --it was trying to be too much to too many people. He talked with me for quite a whole after reading the whole manuscript. He had very specific and very insightful suggestions. I was impressed.

I'm hoping it moves forward.

I wish these agencies would stop insisting on receiving queries only by postal mail. It's expensive and costly. I'm making note of this one, but will have to think about it. There are a lot that will accept email queries, after all.....

I queried Craig Tenney at the beginning of the summer -- folded the 5 pages so it fit into a $0.44 envelope. He requested a full three days later by email. He ended up passing a week later, but he was very prompt and personable.

Wondering if anyone has heard from this agency (specifically Kathleen Zakhar) lately? Trying to determine on QT whether she has become a non-responder, or if she's just backlogged.

WendyN said:

Wondering if anyone has heard from this agency (specifically Kathleen Zakhar) lately? Trying to determine on QT whether she has become a non-responder, or if she's just backlogged.

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QT now says she is closed to queries

Hathor said:

QT now says she is closed to queries

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She [Kathleen Zakhar] appears to be open to queries now, but that's according to QT. The website doesn't list her as a junior/associate agent at all (just as "assistant"), and the submission guidelines say they accept snail mail only, while her QT profile states email is OK.

Too many inconsistencies to sort through.

Has anyone been able to find a record of any sales for Kathleen? The description of what she's looking for sounds promising, though there's not much official info out there as far as I can see. She's still not listed on the official website, despite apparently working there for two years. (Though given that the agency has been going strong for over a century --!-- they may not be overly concerned with keeping the site up to date.)

The New Agent Spotlight at Writer's Digest has her submission guidelines laid out. I'm thinking of querying her just in case, though it would be nice to know a little more.

Snail-queried Craig Tenney 10/17/2014.
Got form R 10/25, according to which he's not taking on any new authors at this time.

Points for promptness, though if he's not open at all, it'd be nice if their website said so and saved both our time.

Has anyone had any more recent interactions with agents at HO? Just wondering what the current response rate is like.

Anyone have any recent experience with this agency? Or their junior agent Elise Erickson?