• Guest please check The Index before starting a thread.

Books & Such Literary Agency

nash

nom.nom.nom.nom
Super Member
Registered
Joined
Dec 4, 2008
Messages
93
Reaction score
1
Sent a query to Wendy Lawton today, and received an automated message telling me that they only respond if they want more so if I haven't heard in 30 days, they've decided to pass.

That's okay, at least that's something other than crickets chirping!! LOL
Oooooh, right, 30 days. I guess that's a no for me. Bummer.

Best wishes on your search!
 

sarahfru

Chin up.
Registered
Joined
Mar 14, 2010
Messages
19
Reaction score
0
Location
Brooklyn, NY
Website
www.sarahrae.net
Sent a query to Wendy Lawton today, and received an automated message telling me that they only respond if they want more so if I haven't heard in 30 days, they've decided to pass.

That's okay, at least that's something other than crickets chirping!! LOL

Same thing happened to me. At first I thought it was an automated form-letter rejection!
 

Jamiekswriter

USA Today Bestselling Author
Super Member
Registered
Joined
Jul 13, 2010
Messages
1,227
Reaction score
152
Website
www.jkschmidt.com
Any new information about Rachel Kent and Books and Such? Because I have such awesome notes, I have her down as someone to query . . . but I'm querying an adult vampire novel and she looks like she's a YA-ish agent and the agency looks like it's slanted towards romance and christian books. Anyone know if there was an urban fantasy buzz about her/them? Thanks :D - Jamie
 

CAWriter

Super Member
Registered
Joined
Apr 7, 2009
Messages
281
Reaction score
18
Any new information about Rachel Kent and Books and Such? Because I have such awesome notes, I have her down as someone to query . . . but I'm querying an adult vampire novel and she looks like she's a YA-ish agent and the agency looks like it's slanted towards romance and christian books. Anyone know if there was an urban fantasy buzz about her/them? Thanks :D - Jamie

The agency is definitely slanted toward Christian books. Rachel isn't strictly YA, but she does represent writers with a youthful voice (if that makes sense). She might be open to urban fantasy, but it would probably need to have a fairly conservative and/or Christian tone.
 

Deb Kinnard

Banned
Flounced
Joined
Apr 28, 2008
Messages
2,382
Reaction score
311
Location
Casa Chaos
Website
www.debkinnard.com
Books and Such is very well respected in the Christian fic market. If Ms. Kent has joined the agency, and likes to get queried for YA fiction, I'd be willing to bet she isn't limited to that genre alone. Reason: there's a scarcity of large Christian houses that publish in the YA market. So I'd feel it's at least a 70% safe bet to query Ms. Kent on anything in this spectrum that you'd like to pitch to her.
 

K. Victoria Chase

Super Member
Registered
Joined
Oct 26, 2011
Messages
352
Reaction score
20
Location
Virginia
Website
torilounge.blogspot.com
Well, Ms. Kent just responded (almost 6 months later) to my three chapters. She passed, but I had already sold the book back in May!!! I thought meeting agents at conferences would mean a faster response time, but I was wrong. Happy I sold it! :)

"I really like your story, but I don't think it's the perfect fit for my representation at this time." --Your standard form response.
 

MAS

Super Member
Registered
Joined
Aug 28, 2011
Messages
234
Reaction score
23
Per Publisher's Lunch, writer Cynthia Ruchti will join Books & Such Literary Management as an agent.
 

Deb Kinnard

Banned
Flounced
Joined
Apr 28, 2008
Messages
2,382
Reaction score
311
Location
Casa Chaos
Website
www.debkinnard.com
Cindy Ruchti is a very fine writer, has a great sense of humor, is romance-friendly, and...

Wonder if the writing thing didn't work out for her? The Christian market is tightening down, not that it wasn't tighter than a Scottish great-uncle already. Maybe the publishers are accepting one out of ten thousand books nowadays instead of one out of a thousand.
 

Krista G.

AW Addict
Super Member
Registered
Joined
Aug 28, 2009
Messages
617
Reaction score
43
Cindy Ruchti is a very fine writer, has a great sense of humor, is romance-friendly, and...

Wonder if the writing thing didn't work out for her? The Christian market is tightening down, not that it wasn't tighter than a Scottish great-uncle already. Maybe the publishers are accepting one out of ten thousand books nowadays instead of one out of a thousand.

There are quite a few authors who double as agents. I don't think this has to mean that she's given up her writing.
 

Deb Kinnard

Banned
Flounced
Joined
Apr 28, 2008
Messages
2,382
Reaction score
311
Location
Casa Chaos
Website
www.debkinnard.com
No, probably not. I'm merely speculating. The C-fic market is insanely tight, with some major names now going direct-to-reader. One could wonder all kinds of things, and know nothing at all except what I read online.

My first agent was/is a writer who went into agenting and gave it up about two years later, after gaining publication contracts only for her own work and maybe 2-3 others. She never sold word one of mine after two years of the association. My second agent, who also sold nothing at all for me after three years, also writes in this same market. Seems kind of a conflict of interest -- if she hears of a need of XYZ Publishing, and they want a novel similar to books we both have written, whose work do you think she might pitch? Human nature alone dictates the answer.
 

Krista G.

AW Addict
Super Member
Registered
Joined
Aug 28, 2009
Messages
617
Reaction score
43
No, probably not. I'm merely speculating. The C-fic market is insanely tight, with some major names now going direct-to-reader. One could wonder all kinds of things, and know nothing at all except what I read online.

My first agent was/is a writer who went into agenting and gave it up about two years later, after gaining publication contracts only for her own work and maybe 2-3 others. She never sold word one of mine after two years of the association. My second agent, who also sold nothing at all for me after three years, also writes in this same market. Seems kind of a conflict of interest -- if she hears of a need of XYZ Publishing, and they want a novel similar to books we both have written, whose work do you think she might pitch? Human nature alone dictates the answer.

Fair points.