Wolfson Literary Agency (Michelle Wolfson)

I got a fairly quick rejection from Ms. Wolfson. Sorry I can't help you more (although she seems like a solid agent).

She's been with two other agencies before starting her own. In 2005, (I think) I pitched to her at the CT Romance Writers Conference, and she asked for a partial. After sending it, I never heard back and, according to the conference organizers, neither did any of the other 50 authors she requested material from. (It was very embarrassing for the CTRW.) Michelle told organizers that she sent notes to all authors saying she had just had a baby and could not read the material. No one that I know of, ever received such a note. For being in the business for 4-6 years she has very few sales.

Adding link: http://www.wolfsonliterary.com/

She started with Ralph Vicinanza, and then was at Artists & Artisans before setting up on her own.

- Victoria

I can't find her on publisher's marketplace.

I found her through the new agency announcements in Writer Gazette. She used to be with Adam Chromy at Artists and Artisans, very legit agency. I queried her ...oh...a month, maybe six weeks ago, and haven't heard anything..yea or nay. No form letter, nothing. The things she was looking for seemed to be in line with my work, but no answer is a no, I suppose. But then again, I gave up on another agency after three months, but just the other day, I got a nice form rejection. Maybe Woldson is still out there somewhere, and maybe the trip out on her own didn't work for her. Who knows?

On red flag for me is that she doesn't list any clients or books sold on her homepage. None. Zip. Nada. I find that very unusual for someone who has been an agent for 4-5 years.

ETA: Here's her page at Agentquery. Also no clients or books sold.

i just found this thread on her because
i had been holding off on querying for those
exact same reasons, soccer mom.

http://www.writers.net/forum/read/10/152012/152012

of interest esp is the last post on that page.

Michelle's Agency News page lists several recent sales.

- Victoria

Michelle represents a good friend of mine and she's doing a dynamite job for her. After my friend fired hot shot agent Paige Wheeler for basically ignoring her, she hired Michelle to pick up the pieces and damn, that woman rocks! I've met Michelle a couple of times in Denver at the RMFW fall conferences and was very impressed with her professionalism. She's come a long way and now has her own agency. Though fantasy isn't a genre she usually represents, she did just sell a 2-book fantasy romance book deal to Dorchester. So I queried her on my urban fantasy tonight. I'll let you all know how that goes.

I queried her last month, and got a partial request within 4 days - haven't heard on it yet, but it's only been a month

Just a quick update: Her website indicates she will be on maternity leave from May 31st, 2008 until the fall, and she won't be accepting new queries during that time.

The baby is due June 23. Woo hoo!

Good thing I got my query in before then!

Michelle hasn't racked up hundreds of sales, but she has made some significant ones; while she was a junior agent at the venerable Ralph Vicinanza Agency she made a major sale of a YA book at auction.

She's smart and energetic, and I'd have no hesitation about signing with her.

Michelle Wolfson's website shows she's back on the job after her maternity leave. She responded (rejection, unfortunately) to my recent e-mail query in about a week.

Me too, tbrosz.

On her web site she says: We will respond to all queries within eight weeks. Sometimes queries get lost in the spam filter. If you have not heard from me in eight weeks, please send a follow-up email.

So if you didn't get a response I'd try again.

S

Michelle is my agent--I just signed with her. She's only recently getting back into the swing of things. Those of us who have had babies know it can take you out of commission for a long time.

She responded the same day to my query with a partial request, requested the full after ten days, and called me two days later with an offer.

We've only just started working together, but so far she seems very professional and I'm very excited to continue with her.

elknutswife said:

I queried her last month, and got a partial request within 4 days - haven't heard on it yet, but it's only been a month

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I got a request in about three hours. That was a year ago. Not a peep out of her since. And nothing to a follow up.

Anyone have more recent experience with/info on Wolfson?

One of my best friends is repped by Michelle and just loves her. She's a very proactive agent, hands on, communicative. She recently made a YA deal (not my friend's). If I didn't already have an agent I'd send her a query in a heartbeat.

Thanks, Karen.

Traven said:

Anyone have more recent experience with/info on Wolfson?

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A friend of mine just signed with her. They both seem very enthusiastic about one another.

I sent a query to her last month and got a quick reply. She's on twitter pretty often too. She's a hoot.