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[Agency] Writers House

flotsamarama

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Julie Worth said:
If you don’t mind saying...who is the agent, and what is the genre of your book? Looking back on my queries for my latest work, I sent one to Albert Zuckerman, and he responded in a week with a pass...and a flyer for one of his books, which was irritating as hell. (And ah! now I see why Dave at P&E doesn’t grade down for that kind of behavior—his own agency does it!)

The agent is Amy Berkower, and the book is young adult fiction.
 

smallthunder

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An answer from Maya (for Mr. Z)

Well, I guess I got my answer regarding retroactive/future exclusivity ... sorta ...

In other words, I received a letter signed by Maya that says: "I appreciate your talent but I'm afraid I didn't respond with the rare enthusiasm I believe is necessary to give you the kind of service your work deserves."

The text of the letter, although generic, shows someone trying to bend over backwards to frame rejection nicely -- which I appreciate. I just wish that I could know whether my inability (refusal?) to make Mr. Z's reading "exclusive" had anything to do with it.

Nah, that's not what I REALLY wish ...
 

spywriter

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Rejection letter

Just so you know....

I did give Maya 6 weeks of exclusivity and I got the SAME EXACT rejection letter from her that you did. Better luck next time...
 

MMo

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I've been with Writers House since 1982 and have been pleased with them. I started with Al Zuckerman, whom I met at a writers conference. I stayed with him for several years, before moving over to another agent in the house who more represented my goals and expectations at that time. My association with Writers House has always been a positive one.

If Al Zuckerman is enthusiastic about your work, he will work with you to hone it to the best you can present.

I know several authors who are represented by Writers House, and with the exception of one, who left before I went with the agency, to a person they all report the same experience I've had.

At one time, probably still, because this system seemed to work well, most agents with Writers House, unless they come from another agency or a position in publishing such as Karen Solem had before she joined the staff for the few years she was there, start out as assistants to the agents on staff (once they all started as assistants to Al Zuckerman, but that may have changed as the agency grew) before moving on to their own client list.

Albert Zuckerman was at one time president of the Society of Authors' Representatives (I think I have that name correct; the predecessor to AAR), and all his agents must adhere to the AAR code of ethics.

On the question of knowing whether your package has arrived or not, there are two ways now to track that. The USPS allows you to place a tracking number on certain packages. This does not require a signature at the other end and is basically unobtrusive to the recipient. The other is just to enclose a stamped addressed postcard with the submission. Mine usually say: "Received your proposal (name of work here) on this ___ day of ______, 20__. Signed ________________________, Writers House."

Even if it is not signed, though with WH my always were, the postmark will tell you when it got there.

I'm sorry I can't answer to the "exclusive" submission part of this discussion. Because of the length of time I've been with them and the nature of my association with them, _all_ my book-length work is exclusive to WH.

Good luck with your agent search.

Mo
 
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smallthunder

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MMo said:
On the question of knowing whether your package has arrived or not, there are two ways now to track that. The USPS allows you to place a tracking number on certain packages. This does not require a signature at the other end and is basically unobtrusive to the recipient. The other is just to enclose a stamped addressed postcard with the submission. Mine usually say: "Received your proposal (name of work here) on this ___ day of ______, 20__. Signed ________________________, Writers House."

Even if it is not signed, though with WH my always were, the postmark will tell you when it got there.
Mo

Thanks for this simple, ought-to-be-obvious-but-I-did-not-think-of-it method for learning if one's manuscript made it across the Pacific (for me).
 

MMo

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smallthunder said:
Thanks for this simple, ought-to-be-obvious-but-I-did-not-think-of-it method for learning if one's manuscript made it across the Pacific (for me).

You're welcome. I see you're in Taipei. You may have a problem with either or both of the techniques I mentioned. One is a United States Post Office tracking system, and the other requires U.S. Postage for the return card.

I have an acquaintance in London who has worked out a postage exchange with a writer in the U.S. so that neither of them has to wrestle with International Reply coupons. Perhaps you can do something similar.

Good luck,

Mo
 

smallthunder

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MMo said:
You're welcome. I see you're in Taipei. You may have a problem with either or both of the techniques I mentioned. One is a United States Post Office tracking system, and the other requires U.S. Postage for the return card.

I have an acquaintance in London who has worked out a postage exchange with a writer in the U.S. so that neither of them has to wrestle with International Reply coupons. Perhaps you can do something similar.

Good luck,

Mo

My individual situation is unusual in that I work in the de facto U.S. embassy here (the U.S. doesn't have official diplomatic relations with Taiwan because of the PRC) and thus have access to the U.S. postal system via the diplomatic pouch. The postage exchange method, though, is a good alternative for other overseas writers wishing to be published in the United States -- thanks for the follow-up, Mo.
 

brinkett

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You can buy US stamps on the internet. That's what I do. Google "usps" and away you go.
 

MMo

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Small Thunder:

Oh, good. I was hoping you had access to either military or diplomatic mail.

Mo
 

MMo

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brinkett said:
You can buy US stamps on the internet. That's what I do. Google "usps" and away you go.

Do they ship outside the country now? If so, I'll have to pass the word to my Brit and Aussie sister writers. Thanks!

Mo
 

brinkett

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Yes. They ship stamps to locations outside the US.
 

EllieV

Writer's House Query Submission?

I'm definitely confused. The Writer's Market tells you to address a query to Writer's House to Submissions. I called the agency to double check by asking if middle reader fantasy should be addressed to Susan Cohen or Jodi Reamer. I was told "Submissions."

Should I just ignore that and address the query to an agent instead?
 
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spywriter

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writer's house

When I did it, I wrote to Zuckerman specifically and received a reply from HIS people. A few months later, I queried another in the same office, and received an answer from HER people specifically. So...while I am sure it is wrong....address it to the person that you think will most like it.

"And that's all I'm gonna say about that."
-Forest Gump
 

Roger J Carlson

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You might want to try their junior agents:
Ginger Clark
Nadia Grooms
Rebecca Sherman
Emily Sylvan-Kim
Daniel Lazar

Try Googling their name to see what they represent.

I met Dan Lazar at a writer's conference. He asked to see my novel (which he ultimately turned down) but I found him very open and friendly. He is actively looking for clients, and I doubt if he has anyone vetting for him.

One word of advice about young agents: Get and read "The First Five Pages" by Noah T. Lukeman. In many ways it is less of a book for authors than a primer for agents on how to quickly recognize books that should be rejected. I think many young agents are reading and using the ideas in this book.

In my rejection from Dan, he virtually quoted Lukeman's book several times. I can't help wonder whether I would have been accepted if I'd read the book first.
 

EllieV

Daniel Lazar and e-mails

Any thoughts on e-mail query and submissions. Daniel Lazar accepts e-mail queries with the first five pages (though he does say no attachments!) So do you place the five pages following your query? Or do most agents just think the whole e-mail submission is really bad form?

It seems so easy to just tick someone off by not following the correct format...I just want to make sure I get it right.

Thanks again for any advice!
 

Roger J Carlson

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EllieV said:
Any thoughts on e-mail query and submissions. Daniel Lazar accepts e-mail queries with the first five pages (though he does say no attachments!) So do you place the five pages following your query? Or do most agents just think the whole e-mail submission is really bad form?

It seems so easy to just tick someone off by not following the correct format...I just want to make sure I get it right.

Thanks again for any advice!
If an agent accepts email queries, then he can hardly think it is bad form. In fact, Dan prefers email queries. I think many younger agents do. Start the email with your query followed by the text of your first five pages in the body of the email. Although the format isn't nearly as important as with a printed submission, you should still make it readable (double-spaced, large font, etc.)
 

EllieV

e-mails queries

Thanks very much.

I was going to ask you if Dan is interested in middle-grade fanasy, but I am going to assume yes? I went to to your web-site and read your very interesting synposis. (Though you might say it's YA sci fi-I'm not sure) But I really like it.
 

Roger J Carlson

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EllieV said:
Thanks very much.

I was going to ask you if Dan is interested in middle-grade fanasy, but I am going to assume yes?
Yes, Dan is very interested in middle-grade and YA sf and fantasy. He turned down my novel for structural reasons rather than anything to do with the genre.

EllieV said:
I went to to your web-site and read your very interesting synposis. (Though you might say it's YA sci fi-I'm not sure) But I really like it.
Thanks. I hope an agent or publisher will one day agree.
 

EllieV

Dan Lazar advice

Thanks again.

Your book really does sound very good! Are you doing any rewriting since meeting with Dan Lazar?

Oh, format for e-mail query should go query, title page, first five pages? (as he requests) I'm assuming they print out the e-mails so I should include a title page. It's so funny how completely unnerved I become that I will do something incorrectly!
 

Roger J Carlson

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EllieV said:
Thanks again.

Your book really does sound very good! Are you doing any rewriting since meeting with Dan Lazar?
Sure. Several times in fact. Just recently I wrote the a couple of MS Word utilities (Adverb Highlighter and Preposition Highlighter) and I ran them against my manuscript. Guess what? Right. I had unnecessary adverbs and strings of prepositional phrases. I'm going through it again to eliminate as many as I can.

EllieV said:
Oh, format for e-mail query should go query, title page, first five pages? (as he requests) I'm assuming they print out the e-mails so I should include a title page. It's so funny how completely unnerved I become that I will do something incorrectly!
I wouldn't worry about the format too much. This isn't a term paper. After all this is email and different email systems format messages differently. I'd say you'll be all right as long as he can read it easily. But make sure you don't have a lot of spelling and grammar errors, though. They won't forgive too much of that.

Good Luck.
 

Sparkle

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Writers House

I sent short stories to Writers House and they sent a letter back saying the stories were promising, but they were not taking new writers at this time. The letter stated that tastes among literay agencies vary widely and to stay positive. It was a personal letter and not one of those form letters. I just wish agents would say if the the stories were good or forget it. Any hints as to what this letter may mean besides they are not going to represent me.

Sparkle
 

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Sparkle, if you actually got a personal rejection that called your writing "promising" and encouraged you in your writing, treasure it. A personal rejection takes time to write--time the agent could be spending on other things--so it means the agent thought something about your work was worth encouraging, and the agent gave you the gift of his or her time to tell you so.

As for, "I just wish agents would say if the the stories were good or forget it," the agent said they were promising, didn't s/he? And also said, "tastes among literay agencies vary widely and to stay positive," which is true--your work may be beautifully written, but just not be the kind of work a certain agent handles. Whether or not an agent takes you on depends on more than just the quality of your work, it depends on its suitability for that agent.
 

MadScientistMatt

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Sparkle, very few agents are interested in representing short stories. They don't pay enough commission, and the places that buy short stories don't need agents. Usually you would do better selling them directly to magazines.

BTW, for another thread on Writers House -

<snip>
 
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Cathy C

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I'm with Writer's House and to my knowledge, they don't accept short stories, unless there are already enough of them to create a full anthology of 70K-100K words. But an anthology from an unknown writer (unless the stories were award winning, or previously published in print magazines) is a hard sell to publishers.

I hadn't heard they weren't accepting new writers. But perhaps the agent who received the query isn't acquiring new projects. There are a number of agents at Writer's House, and they normally pass along queries to the appropriate acquiring agent. So if that person said no, it's unlikely anyone else in the agency would look at it.

Sorry. But good luck with the next agent on your list.