Elaine Markson Literary Agency (formerly Markson Thoma L.A.)

I believe Julia Kenny is responsible for foreign rights sales, so she may not appear in sales listings.

AgentQuery says Julia is building her client list. Anyone have any experience with her or the agency?

May I just say that the OP is a textbook example of how to start a thread in B&BC.

DeadlyAccurate said:

May I just say that the OP is a textbook example of how to start a thread in B&BC.

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I think it is fine if people want to do it that way, but I don't think you need to put up everything you can find. When I am asking about an agent here, I am really wanting people's opinions of them because they have worked with them, queried them, heard them speak...

I am not looking for anyone else to say what they think of the agent's website. If someone has never heard of an agent, what help is it really if they tell me what they think of their website or something else found online? OK, that's just my opinion. Sorry to go off topic.

I don't agree, gettingby, I want as much writers' information and opinions as I can get.

Elaine Markson Literary Agency (Julia Kenny)

Hey Fellow Writers, Can anyone tell me about Julia Kenny at the Markson Agency? Have you worked with her? Is she legit?

Thank you! Grace

Here's the Publishers Marketplace page
http://www.publishersmarketplace.com/members/juliafkenny/

Some good names listed as clients of the agency so no worries about the legitimacy of the agency

Thanks for your help. I am most interested to know if anyone has worked with Ms. Kenny or the Markson Agency but I certainly will welcome any and all information. As for DeadlyAccurate, Sorry, I'm a newbie and don't have a clue what your abbreviations mean.

OP = original post(er)
B&BC = Bewares & Background check

Is it just me or do they make themselves very hard to find? No listing in the Guide to Lit Agents '09 but they are on Agent Query. I fear they're really not looking for new authors, but I'm going to query anyway. They rep Alice Hoffman, Kim Edwards, Billie Letts & David Wroblewski among others, fwiw. Only 2 have Publishers Marketplace entries. I'll be back to let you know what happens...or doesn't...

Some agencies don't have much of a presence, but that doesn't always transcribe to being a bad agency with something to hide. Quite frankly if they rep writers you've heard of or can find, and there's some track record online of constant sales that's still a plus. Like was stated earlier in the thread at least one is a foreign rights agent, so those others who don't have PM entries may not for that reason. I don't know how foreign agency works or how PM works exactly, I don't think writers communicate with foreign rights agents anyway.

M.R.J. Le Blanc said:

Some agencies don't have much of a presence, but that doesn't always transcribe to being a bad agency with something to hide...Like was stated earlier in the thread at least one is a foreign rights agent, so those others who don't have PM entries may not for that reason.

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I think my note was unclear - it's a very reputable agency with an impressive client list - I wasn't worried about that, just that the low profile might be an indication that they're mostly closed to new clients (at least everyone but Julia Kenny, the Foreign Rights Director who says she's "actively building" her own client list but so far has no sales.) But I'm going for it anyway because you never know, right?

I queried Eleanor Jackson last week, and she requested a full the same day...so she must be taking new clients.

I agree, though, that this agency isn't very well-publicized.

socact said:

I queried Eleanor Jackson last week, and she requested a full the same day...so she must be taking new clients.

I agree, though, that this agency isn't very well-publicized.

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Hey Socact,

Did you hear back from Eleanor yet?

Molly

Nope, I haven't. Since she mentioned four to eight weeks in her response, I guess I'm going to give it until the eight-week mark to nudge.

Are you in the same boat?

socact said:

Nope, I haven't. Since she mentioned four to eight weeks in her response, I guess I'm going to give it until the eight-week mark to nudge.

Are you in the same boat?

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I suspect I will be! Right now she's only had my full of about a week. I was trying to guestimate her response times to partials. Good luck with her!

Hey Socact and anyone waiting on Eleanor,

I just heard back from her today with a nice personalized rejection. So it only took her about a week with mine. Maybe you should nudge?

She seems super-nice.

Molly

Hmm, that's interesting. Thanks for letting me know! Since she said four to eight weeks in her e-mail, I think I'll wait until the eight week mark. But I have a feeling it probably got lost in her shuffle somewhere (wouldn't be the first time - I seem to have bad luck with this!).

My query story for Eleanor:

I queried Eleanor Jackson on 5/26. She responded on June 3, asking for the full ms and 4-8 weeks to get to it. I let her know I had another offer of representation on June 24, and on June 30 she asked to set up a call to talk about my manuscript.

She offered representation, and after talking to the other agents who had offered, I decided to sign with Eleanor this week.

She's fantastic, and I can't wait to work with her! The fact that the agency has such a great client list is just icing on the cake. Eleanor's track record, her passion and professionalism, and the fact that she's really easy to talk to and a great communicator are what sold me.

Good luck to those who have material with her! Keeping my fingers crossed for you.

Congratulations Claena!

Congrats Claena!

Thanks for the info, too. I sent a nudge one week ago on my full, but she's on vacation until July 12th. So hopefully I'll hear something from her next week.

Expecting a rejection, but I'm used to those.

Big congratulations, Claena! You must be over the moon!

Socact -- I have everything crossed for you! Even just a request from this agency is a big deal, so pat yourself on the back for your writing and hard work.

I hope you get that phone call!

Em

Thanks for the encouragement, Em! I hope so, too.

Her eight weeks with my full is up, and I emailed her last week while she was on vacation, but haven't heard back. I guess I'll give it a couple weeks? I hope she got the e-mail. She seems like a fast responder, based on other people's experiences.

Socact -- in case it helps, I always give two months for partials and three months for fulls before nudging.

For example, an agent had my partial past the time given under guidelines on the agency website, but it hadn't been two months yet (my rule). I sat tight, and five days later, heard from her. I was glad I didn't nudge.

Another concern is whether the agent rec'd the ms or not; but most likely this agent is extra-busy coming back from vacation.

But if you have reason to believe your ms might not have been rec'd, that's a whole 'nother can of worms.

Em