[Agency] NY Creative Management (Jeff Schmidt)

In May 2011, I submitted my query to NY Creative Management. Jeff requested a full, and that weekend wrote back a rejection – the story wasn’t strong enough to sell. I asked him what he didn’t like, but he didn’t respond. Over the winter, I decided to stop subbing that story and switched to my newest. I submitted the new query to him in March 2012. A day later, he requested the full, and a week later, he asked to represent the manuscript! I was so excited and wrote back immediately. He said to call him the following day at noon.

I took my lunch break at noon and dialed the number he’d given me. No answer, so I left a message. At 1, he called back to say he’d accidentally given me his cell phone number. My boss was great about it and let me take a break so I could speak with Jeff. He told me that he liked the story as it was and wanted to start submitting that day. That worried me, because I’ve never had another besides poems and short stories published. I’d been hoping an agent could help me edit. He also didn’t want to work on my query or synopsis, just to email them to him so he could email them to publishers. He’d only seen my manuscript. Jeff also said he doesn’t do contracts. I was concerned, so he told his secretary to email it to me. I told him I would have a lawyer look it over (that’s what my agented friends told me to do) and I would get back to him. (On a side note, he didn’t remember seeing my full from before and wasn’t very interested in seeing other things I’d written. He said he would take a look at them rather reluctantly)

I didn’t receive the contract by the next day, so I sent a follow up email. He sent me two copies then. I thanked him and said I would have my lawyer look them over. I made an appointment with a literary lawyer, but my work schedule made it hard for us to meet. I told him it would be a few weeks and he said okay. Later that same week, he emailed to ask if I’d signed it yet. I felt bad, but I really wanted a lawyer to look at it.

Before I got in to see the lawyer, I heard back from another agent. She also wanted to represent me. The story was one I’d collaborated on with a professional illustrator – I wrote, he drew. Jeff wasn’t interested in the pictures, but this new agent was, so I decided to go with her. She also wanted to see my other manuscripts. I told him I was sorry, but because of the collaboration, I felt I should go with her.

NY Creative Management now has a web site here. They seem to have a subsidiary publishing arm that showcases three authors (eight books total). The last sale posted at PM was in June of 2011.

No Longer Accepting Screenplays

I submitted for some time, and as of 7/29/14 I got this reply concerning two queries of mine from Jeff Schmidt:

"I like both storylines but we are predominantly book agents and our only screenplay sales have been those based on previously published material. You are better off with a west coast agent who specializes in original scripts…but no, I don’t know one to recommend. It’s a whole different wheelhouse.

Good luck and keep me posted.

If you decide to write a novel, I’d be happy to read it."

Obviously professional and friendly, but it seems there is little chance of being represented as a screenwriter by this agency anymore.

I recently had a manuscript rejected by Jeff Schmidt and based on the comments here, I didn't miss out on anything, which certainly made me feel better. If he has virtually no meaningful sales history, then having him as an agent wouldn't mean a thing, like ramma lamma ding dong or give peace a chance (to quote Homer Simpson). Masquerading as a real agent seems a bit sadistic.