[Agency] Writers House

Daniel Lazar is lightning fast. Requested full on the same day I e-queried. He rejected five days later, but wrote something nice, and suggested which other agent might be interested to see the manuscript.

I envy every writer who is blessed enough to get him as an agent ;-)

Mt. Dew Addict said:

I cannot tell you about a full, but she responded (with a no) to my partial (50pgs) within two weeks. This was back in September.

I'm waiting on a full with someone at another agency, and it's now four months...people keep telling me it takes time, and not to write-off agents until about six months (esp if they don't respond to a status email at six months). In the meantime, keep sending out the queries, or you will never get your baby published. And I found starting a new novel really helps the jitters--I deal with the queries on Mondays, so I only have one mind-wracking day a week.

Good luck!

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Thanks so much, Mt. Dew! And great advice. Must cut back on the nail biting somehow...

I queried Ms. Reamer on October 23, and still haven't heard back, but I hear she was between assistants for awhile, and the holidays would slow things down as well, so I'm still patiently waiting!

jodi reamer

bocabum said:

I queried Ms. Reamer on October 23, and still haven't heard back, but I hear she was between assistants for awhile, and the holidays would slow things down as well, so I'm still patiently waiting!

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Thanks for the info, bocabum. I think I'll keep myself occupied while I wait by sending out some more queries. . .

Niki_G said:

Hi All,

I noticed that some of you queried Maya and she requested a full MS. I am currently in this boat and can attest to the lightning fast response time. I was wondering - does anybody know how long it takes for her to get back to you after the request? I know it must take a while to read a full MS when you're a busy agent, but I'm anxious/nervous/etc. and just thought I'd ask. Has anybody heard anything on a requested MS yet?

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Maya is very fast. One writer send a query in the morning. An hour later received a request for a full. Three hours after that she received an offer.

I sent my manscript Dec 15 and she got back to me early in the new year. Not bad considering the time of year.

Just a warning. Most of her rejections are form letters without a reason. I was lucky to get a reason. She really did like it, but there was too much romance for her so she finally decided to pass. Don't take it personally. It least you know your query and sample pages were compelling enough for a request.

So it's been 3 months since I queried Ms. Reamer, and I'm regretting it, b/c my query letter now is much stronger, and I've revised my first chapter, so I'm wishing I had waited until now to query her, but I'm wondering, she was between assistants for awhile, maybe things got lost, should I query her again, with my shiny new query letter and first chapter?? Or is that too obnoxious?!

bocabum said:

So it's been 3 months since I queried Ms. Reamer, and I'm regretting it, b/c my query letter now is much stronger, and I've revised my first chapter, so I'm wishing I had waited until now to query her, but I'm wondering, she was between assistants for awhile, maybe things got lost, should I query her again, with my shiny new query letter and first chapter?? Or is that too obnoxious?!

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Three months, huh? I guess I won't expect to hear back from Jodi for quite some time since I sent mine just last week.

Queries and first chapters always magically get better AFTER you query your dream agent. Sorry, I have no advice on this one. Yours might have been lost. Some agents (according to their blogs) get annoyed when an author re-queries a book the agent has already rejected. Your call.

I recently read that if an agent reads your ms and passes on it, some agents want to know this if you query them after their colleague just passed on you. Now I'm kicking myself for not asking Maya if it was okay to mention in my query to Jodi that she had read my ms, especially since she liked it. It was just too romantic for her taste. I wrote the query as if no one else had seen it. Too late now.

Tuuli said:

Maya is very fast. One writer send a query in the morning. An hour later received a request for a full. Three hours after that she received an offer.

I sent my manscript Dec 15 and she got back to me early in the new year. Not bad considering the time of year.

Just a warning. Most of her rejections are form letters without a reason. I was lucky to get a reason. She really did like it, but there was too much romance for her so she finally decided to pass. Don't take it personally. It least you know your query and sample pages were compelling enough for a request.

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Thanks, Tuuli. I did receive my rejection. She's a quick one for sure. After thinking long and hard about it, I'm not happy with my manuscript. I feel it's missing something and I don't know how to provide it. I'm going to play around with it a little more and see if I can fix it. If not, I'm going to put it away and start all over on a new one.

Niki_G said:

Thanks, Tuuli. I did receive my rejection. She's a quick one for sure. After thinking long and hard about it, I'm not happy with my manuscript. I feel it's missing something and I don't know how to provide it. I'm going to play around with it a little more and see if I can fix it. If not, I'm going to put it away and start all over on a new one.

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Nikki try forming a writer's group. Maya passed on my first novel a year ago because it was long (105,000 words) and a little slow. Obviously there must have been other reasons she didn't mention. My teen readers didn't agree with her, though.

For my new novel (the one she recently passed on), I formed a writer's group. I was lucky to get three talented writers to join. My novel was 88,000 words at the start, but the end of the three weeks (we worked fast!), it was down to 67,000 words and much faster paced. It was also a lot better than the original since the group challenged me to do better. They also had great suggestions and noticed when things weren't quite right.

Maya was impressed enough to encourage me to query her with my next project....if I didn't find representation for my current novel. So you see, the right group can make a big difference. They might spot what the missing thing is and have suggestions. It's worth a try. Meanwhile, I'm waiting to hear back regarding a full and a partial with two other agents.

Niki, she also rejected my full in a week. Don't fret! Just keep working to make it better!

bocabum said:

So it's been 3 months since I queried Ms. Reamer, and I'm regretting it, b/c my query letter now is much stronger, and I've revised my first chapter, so I'm wishing I had waited until now to query her, but I'm wondering, she was between assistants for awhile, maybe things got lost, should I query her again, with my shiny new query letter and first chapter?? Or is that too obnoxious?!

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Ms. Reamer now has a new assistant. If she's interested in your query, she's fast. I sent mine Jan. 10 and received a request for the first 50 pages today. Fortunately you can send partials and fulls via e-mail.

Tuuli, did you snail mail your query??

bocabum said:

Tuuli, did you snail mail your query??

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Yes. The SASE envelope came in the mail today. I was surprised how quickly it came and was positive it was a rejection letter. I'd heard Jodi's assistant e-mails you if she's interested. The envelope was surprisingly thin considering I was expecting my first chapter to be mailed back to me, but even then I didn't want to get my hopes up. Glad I didn't toss it in the recycle without opening it first.

Steven Malk

Does anyone have response times on a full? He asked for two weeks exclusive but I'm sure it can take longer than that.

Thanks guys!

I'm beginning to think my query has gotten lost somewhere in the shuffle! I might re-query

bocabum said:

I'm beginning to think my query has gotten lost somewhere in the shuffle! I might re-query

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Bocabum, it might be a safe bet to re-query. Her guidelines say 6-8 week and you're well beyond that. BTW Where in Canada do you live? I reside in Calgary.

Hey Tuuli, I'm in Prince Edward Island! Although there are probably more Islanders in Alberta, than there are here! LOL!

bocabum said:

Hey Tuuli, I'm in Prince Edward Island! Although there are probably more Islanders in Alberta, than there are here! LOL!

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With all the dumps of snow you guys keep getting, bet you have plenty of time to write several novels this winter until someone can dig you out ;0)

And yes, there are a lot of you PEI'er and Nova Scotians over here enjoying our balmy (not!) winter.

Good luck with your re-query to Jodi. At least you know she doesn't exclude us Canadians, eh? (LOL, couldn't resist that stereotype)

I just can't wait until this snow goes away, eh?! LOL!

Yeah, I'll probably try re-querying Jodi! Fingers crossed for you on the partial request! Keep us updated!!

Thanks Tuuli and J! I am in an online writing group and I've only submitted up through chapter 5 as of right now. Maybe we can fix it. If not, back to the drawing board, I guess. We'll see... I'll never give up, though. Simply because I'll never be able to stop writing if for no other reason...

For those of you looking for info on Lindsay Davis, I sent an e-query on December 11th and was asked to send a full on December 15th. Sent the full on December 21st and she responded with a rejection on January 30th. Not a bad turnaround time especially considering the holidays. Her rejection was very polite but it was a form. I asked her if she could give specific comments but she said she’d rather not as she thought she wasn’t a good fit for the project and didn’t want to send me in a direction another agent might disagree with. Not too sure if she said this because she didn’t have time to comment further or if that was her honest opinion, but overall the experience (though very disappointing, I would’ve loved at least some personalized feedback) was positive.

soulcascade said:

I asked her if she could give specific comments but she said she’d rather not as she thought she wasn’t a good fit for the project and didn’t want to send me in a direction another agent might disagree with. Not too sure if she said this because she didn’t have time to comment further or if that was her honest opinion, but overall the experience (though very disappointing, I would’ve loved at least some personalized feedback) was positive.

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I think that was really good (and maybe responsible) of her. I would guess that she felt you had a great story, but it didn't click with her and that there was nothing wrong with the story itself. I've read a couple books in my time that had nothing wrong with them, they just weren't for me. Sounds like the same thing here.

Publishing is a very subjective business. What works for one agent may not work for another. You could have 4 agents reject the same ms, all with different reasons. There's nothing you can do about that. Same thing with publishers.

It's always tempting when you get feedback to immediately start rewriting the novel. That's what Lindsay was sparing you from doing.

Sorry if this has already been asked/answered, but what is Jodi Reamer's email address? I've looked all over for it at the agency's site, and on her Publisher's Marketplace page....*shrugs* I don't see it...

Thanks in advance!

ChelseaWriter said:

Sorry if this has already been asked/answered, but what is Jodi Reamer's email address? I've looked all over for it at the agency's site, and on her Publisher's Marketplace page....*shrugs* I don't see it...

Thanks in advance!

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Jodi only accept snail mail queries. Only if she wishes to see more will her assistant tell you his email address.