[Agency] Writers House

She does say you can remind her after 3 weeks if you haven't heard back from her by then. But, she's awfully busy right now (a friend of mine is a client, so I know), so I'd give her a little extra time.

Spring said:

I sent a query to Maya Rock on Feb 11th and I've yet to hear anything. I'm assuming - after reading the thread here- that no news is bad news. *sigh* So what's the rule? Do I wait a full three months with her not replying before I can resubmit my query to another agent at Writer's House? Advice would be appreciated. Thanks!

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Sounds like she's busy. I queried her on 2/12 and she rejected me Friday 2/27. Maybe she's hanging onto to yours because she likes it! I'd ping her after 4 weeks or so since she's receptive to that.

As for querying other agents, I usually wait 3 months after a no response.

This site is fabulous! Thank you Erin, Tuuli, and Nakhlasmoke for yoru helpful and prompt replies!
I'll keep waiting (and wondering!).

Drat. I've tried to fix my typo above (your) but I can't figure out how to edit it.
Alas.

WORD COUNT

Hi everyone,

Just making sure -- How to indicate the word count on an ms - to the top right? Address, phone,email, etc on first page before beginning the text? There's lots on the net, but some of it is dated, maybe things have changed.

lavander said:

Hi everyone,

Just making sure -- How to indicate the word count on an ms - to the top right? Address, phone,email, etc on first page before beginning the text? There's lots on the net, but some of it is dated, maybe things have changed.

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Cover page (IMO):

Agent/Editor
Address, etc.

lavander said:

Hi everyone,

Just making sure -- How to indicate the word count on an ms - to the top right? Address, phone,email, etc on first page before beginning the text? There's lots on the net, but some of it is dated, maybe things have changed.

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Snail mail or email?

Full length novel or PB?

If this is a PB that you're pasting into an email, then there's not going to be a traditional cover letter. You mention the word count in the query portion.

Dear Agent:

I'm seeking represenation for [title], a Picture Book of [word count] words. (or some variation thereof)

Thanks, Cyia,

Snail mail. PB. So to be clear, the word count goes where? And name/address on first page of ms??

I really do appreciate your help on these basic questions. Hope to be able to contribute something more substantial one of these days.

Thank you, too, Leukman,
I hadn't noticed your answer. Much appreciated.

Erin said:

I use TNR12 on mine, after switching it from Courier last fall. Courier seems to be outdated now.

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Thank you Erin, redlady and Lovebug for your reply.

Spring said:

I sent a query to Maya Rock on Feb 11th and I've yet to hear anything. I'm assuming - after reading the thread here- that no news is bad news. *sigh* So what's the rule? Do I wait a full three months with her not replying before I can resubmit my query to another agent at Writer's House? Advice would be appreciated. Thanks!

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On Maya's agentquery posting (I think that's where I found it, maybe publisher's marketplace?), she said that after three weeks to send her a reminder email. So after the three week mark (maybe give it a few extra days), I'd nudge. She seems determined to answer everyone.

Thanks!
In a nudge, which I've never done before, do I merely remind her of the date I originally submitted my query or do I requery? I'd love to requery her since my query has vastly improved since my first version back on 2/11.
Ideas? Merci!

I think it's fine to requery - that saves her the trouble of finding your old query.

Here's what I've done in the past: I mention that I'd queried (date) but had not recieved a response. Then, I mention the place where I read about agent's determination to answer queries (i.e. their reminder policy or whatever). Then say that you've included the query for their consideration.

I still got rejected, but it was a very friendly rejection.

Thanks, Saltier. I love your advice and I'm gonna run with it!

Hopefully it turns out well!

Resend Manuscript?

Hi All -- Hoping to get some wiser advice.

I have a partial from query only (no sample pages) via Merrilee (my dream agent)'s assistant's request for close to three weeks. This isn't my first partial, and I've been getting form rejects. Thus, I've been studying plot and I confirmed a sinking feeling I had all along. My first 12 pages are fine, but the next 35 need the ax. Completely. There are great scenes in them, but the conflict doesn't move my main plot, and Act I is thus huge. Moreover, my mc ages a year between pg 12 and the 'new' chapter one, so early on you do not have a good feel for the voice of my uneducated-turned-educated YA character until the old version's page 50....the end of my partial.

When I started querying months ago, I thought it was revised to being ready (aside from some turbulent feeling that I thought was normal--ahem, the 35 pages). So I'm really kicking myself now.

Should I send an email, explaining my realization, apologizing, and asking if she's read it yet and if not, please read this one instead? From what I've seen, opinions vary. Aka, looks unprofessional, it happens go ahead, usually they're going on voice anyway so don't, no if it's plot you should...I thought maybe Writer's House submitters/clients may have a better idea on the agency's take. Thanks a bunch for any advice.

Mt. Dew Addict said:

Hi All -- Hoping to get some wiser advice.


Should I send an email, explaining my realization, apologizing, and asking if she's read it yet and if not, please read this one instead? From what I've seen, opinions vary. Aka, looks unprofessional, it happens go ahead, usually they're going on voice anyway so don't, no if it's plot you should...I thought maybe Writer's House submitters/clients may have a better idea on the agency's take. Thanks a bunch for any advice.

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A few days after I received a partial request from an agent at Writers House, another agent who had my full got back to me with a rejection and some brilliant feedback. This advice effected my MC's voice as well as some other areas of my writing. This weakness hadn't existed in my sample pages, but the problem was easy to fix and the result was much better.

Because my dream agent had only had the partial for a week, and I was positive she hadn't read it yet, I e-mailed her assistant explaining that I had recently received feedback on the manuscript (I didn't mention it was another agent) and had done some serious editing to strengthen the writing. I then asked if it would be okay to resubmit the partial. The answer was 'absolutely'.

Natually I've tweaked it more since then, but at least now if the agent rejects it, it will be more than likely because she didn't fall in love with my two key characters.

Good luck!

Chances are that J or M haven't had a chance to read yet so maybe you're okay to resubmit. Make sure that when you're next asked for a partial, that those pages are dumped.

(and congrats on getting partial requests, that's great!)

If anyone's counting, I queried Daniel Lazar on March 9 and got a bounce just minutes ago. Mostly form, though it was addressed to me personally as opposed to "Dear Author"...or the more usual "Dear Douchebag, please don't query us in the future!"

Thanks Nakhlasmoke, Tuuli. I got all the changes typed in, and I finally have peace with this manuscript. Tuuli, what you said sounds good--every time I tried to draft the email, I sounded like a moron.

Thanks for your help, and best wishes with your careers!

Hi all,
I queried Maya Rock back in October and recieved a response in a few days requesting a partial. She replied to the partial in a week with a pass. So her reponse time used to be good (for me at least).

I stumbled onto someone's blog. They said they signed with Maya Rock in January and in March, she sent an e-mail saying she was too sick to rep them anymore. I'm wondering if this has anything to do with her delayed response time?

Anyway, here is the link:
http://nummyz.wordpress.com/category/literary-agents/

soulcascade said:

I stumbled onto someone's blog. They said they signed with Maya Rock in January and in March, she sent an e-mail saying she was too sick to rep them anymore. I'm wondering if this has anything to do with her delayed response time?

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Strange. I heard she just sighed two new clients (Verlakay Board).

soulcascade said:

I stumbled onto someone's blog. They said they signed with Maya Rock in January and in March, she sent an e-mail saying she was too sick to rep them anymore. I'm wondering if this has anything to do with her delayed response time?

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Everyplace I checked showed she was still accepting queries. Possibly this is just a (rather unprofessional) way of cutting loose a writer.

soulcascade said:

I stumbled onto someone's blog. They said they signed with Maya Rock in January and in March, she sent an e-mail saying she was too sick to rep them anymore. I'm wondering if this has anything to do with her delayed response time?

Anyway, here is the link:
http://nummyz.wordpress.com/category/literary-agents/

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Just wondering, where did it say that Maya rock signed her? I didn't see a name of her agent anywhere.

redlady1 said:

Just wondering, where did it say that Maya rock signed her? I didn't see a name of her agent anywhere.

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Check out the entry beneath the one mentioned on this thread. Maya's name is one of the tags. The entry is titled "I love my literary agent."