[Agency] Writers House

janetbellinger · Nov 18, 2006

Awesome, Aruna. I only wish agents were pursuing me like that. lol

Cathy C · Nov 18, 2006

That seems sort of odd to me, Aruna, based on my own dealings with WH. Usually, it's MY agent who contacts me with this sort of offer and the details are worked out in the WH office. Still, if your agent says it's okay to deal directly, then by all means do so and CONGRATS!

aruna · Nov 19, 2006

Aaah, Cathy, that's me not explaining fully! It was a misunderstanding,

there was some confusion in (her) writers list, and (she is) already in contact with all people concerned

.
Thanks to all for their good wishes, my breath is bated and my ears all agog- plus, coming soon (after six weeks or more of revision work!) it's at last going to be shopped in the US... fingernail biting time.

Matthew Warner · Nov 30, 2006

Natalie Siregar at Writers House has asked to see my complete horror novel manuscript, which I've mailed off. Does anyone have any experience with her?

Naturally, I'm excited by this development. This came after responding well to my one-page query and then responding well to my first three chapters--all within a month's time.

Thanks!

aruna · Nov 30, 2006

iSAM said:
Any agency's website that features:

1) An "elder statesman"-looking founder
2) A nice wood conference table, and
3) An attractive building

is legit. But then, I'm a rookie, so I'm easily impressed by nice conference tables.

Yes, that's what made me decide for them too! Nice, eh?
Ah. we authors are so easily seduced by appearances!

aruna · Nov 30, 2006

Matthew Warner said:
Natalie Siregar at Writers House has asked to see my complete horror novel manuscript, which I've mailed off. Does anyone have any experience with her?

Naturally, I'm excited by this development. This came after responding well to my one-page query and then responding well to my first three chapters--all within a month's time.

Thanks!

I've never heard of her and she isn't on their list of agents.
Google brought up this:

Natalie Siregar is a New York City writer with a passion for education, children's literature, and collage art.

How did you hear of her? Did you query another agent there and she replied? In that case she may be an agent's assistant about to go solo. That's a good thing; if she's building her list she'll be actively looking for new authors and will have more room for more of them, and more time to devote to them. At the same time you get the clout of the big agency behind her and the experience and contacts of the older agents. Good luck!

Matthew Warner · Dec 1, 2006

aruna said:
I've never heard of her and she isn't on their list of agents.
Google brought up this:

How did you hear of her? Did you query another agent there and she replied? In that case she may be an agent's assistant about to go solo. That's a good thing; if she's building her list she'll be actively looking for new authors and will have more room for more of them, and more time to devote to them. At the same time you get the clout of the big agency behind her and the experience and contacts of the older agents. Good luck!

I followed Writers House's submission GLs and didn't query anyone in particular, and she responded. I came to the same conclusions based on some Googling; if I could get in with a junior agent at a prestigious agency who's looking to build up her stable, then that wouldn't be too shabby at all! I'll let you all know how it turns out.

lostlore · Dec 27, 2006

jkorzenko said:
Actually, I believe their website is quite clear. It states:

<i> Please do not query two agents within our agency simultaneously. </i>

That, to me, says that if one agent rejects you then you can query someone else BUT don't ever query two agents at the same time.

J.

I queried Simon Lipskar there because he seemed most aligned with what I'm trying to do & I thought he'd be interested. The same query has gotten requests for partials elsewhere but with Writers House it got me a form letter within a week from Simon's assistant, unsigned -- and from the wording it implied that I shouldn't query Writers House as an agency again.

jkorzenko · Dec 28, 2006

Hmmm...interesting. What was the phrasing? I've queried two agents at Writers House on the same project and received nice professional rejections. Neither mentioned anything about the agency as a whole.

J.

lostlore · Dec 28, 2006

jkorzenko said:
Hmmm...interesting. What was the phrasing? I've queried two agents at Writers House on the same project and received nice professional rejections. Neither mentioned anything about the agency as a whole.

J.

It was undated, unsigned & sent on WH letterhead -- basically a quick form reject. In toto:

Dear Author,

Thanks for your query to Simon Lipskar at Writers House. Despite its obvious merit, however, your project does not seem like one we could successfully represent. Keep in mind that our clien list is quiet full, and we can only afford to offer representation to projects we are wildly passionate about.

Thanks for trying Writers House, and best of luck in your search for representation.

Sincerely,
Nikki Furrer
Assistant to Simon Lipskar

Dunno if I'm reading it wrong but it pretty clearly says "keep away from WH" to me ... but the phrase "wildly passionate" is most definitely not for me anyway so I figure it's good for both of us.

Roger J Carlson · Dec 28, 2006

lostlore said:
It was undated, unsigned & sent on WH letterhead -- basically a quick form reject. In toto:

Dear Author,

Thanks for your query to Simon Lipskar at Writers House. Despite its obvious merit, however, your project does not seem like one we could successfully represent. Keep in mind that our clien list is quiet full, and we can only afford to offer representation to projects we are wildly passionate about.

Thanks for trying Writers House, and best of luck in your search for representation.

Sincerely,
Nikki Furrer
Assistant to Simon Lipskar

Dunno if I'm reading it wrong but it pretty clearly says "keep away from WH" to me ... but the phrase "wildly passionate" is most definitely not for me anyway so I figure it's good for both of us.

I wouldn't take it personally. I got exactly the same form rejection. I don't see anything that precludes sending something else to them or even resending it to a different agent at Writer's House. Writer's House is one of those agencies who don't mind if you submit to several agents there as long as you don't submit simultaneously. However, it might be better to try other agencies first.

jkorzenko · Dec 28, 2006

That's a standard form rejection. I agree with Roger. If there's another agent w/in Writers House that you want to try, go right ahead. "wildly passionate" is a catch-all phrase used by many agencies in their rejects. And, imho, you DO want an agent who is WILDLY PASSIONATE...in the book sense, I mean.

J.

Noddy Rider · Dec 28, 2006

Dan Lazar at Writers House

Hi all, total newbie here.

I e-queried Dan Lazar at Writers House for a nonfiction book and got a rejection ("thanks, but not right for me") the same day. A few minutes later, he emailed back and said he had reconsidered and wanted to see the proposal. Got the rejection back the same day.

This biz is quite the roller coaster! The thrill of victory and the agony of defeat ...

Noddy

janetbellinger · Dec 28, 2006

I e-queried Writers House about my novel about a month ago but haven't heard back.

aruna · Dec 28, 2006

jkorzenko said:
That's a standard form rejection. I agree with Roger. If there's another agent w/in Writers House that you want to try, go right ahead. "wildly passionate" is a catch-all phrase used by many agencies in their rejects. And, imho, you DO want an agent who is WILDLY PASSIONATE...in the book sense, I mean.

J.

I agree with the above. It's a standard rejection and coesn't mean you should keep away from WH, or even from other agents with this very project Good Luck!

stormie · Feb 15, 2007

Dan Lazar from Writer's House

Hey all!
On Verla Kay's message boards, Writing for Children, Dan Lazur from Writer's House stepped in and posted this: (Mind you, he's looking for middle grade and young adult) http://www.verlakay.com/boards/index.php?topic=17426.0;topicseen

Provrb1810meggy · Feb 15, 2007

Ah, sorry. I have to correct you. It's Dan Lazar. Okay, I'm done now.

jvc · Feb 15, 2007

Provrb1810meggy said:
Ah, sorry. I have to correct you. It's Dan Lazar. Okay, I'm done now.

There's always one.

stormie · Feb 16, 2007

Sorry about the misspelling. Poor Dave. I mean Dan. Lazer. I mean...oh forget it!

Anyway, when someone reads that post on Verla Kay, they'll see the correct spelling.

Moon Daughter · Feb 22, 2007

I sent a query to Daniel Lazar today. Within only a few hours I got an e-mail back from him. Unfortunately, he rejected my manuscript.

I'm sad about it, but hey, can't take it personally, right?

Prawn · May 4, 2007

Moon Daughter said:
I sent a query to Daniel Lazar today. Within only a few hours I got an e-mail back from him. Unfortunately, he rejected my manuscript. I'm sad about it, but hey, can't take it personally, right?

Ditto Moon Daughter's experience. I find the speed of his response impressive. He's on top of things. I sent him my Query at 3:13, got a rejection back at 5:41, saying "Thanks, but I'm afraid this isn't right for me."

RoccoMom · May 4, 2007

I've gotten rejections and requests for partials back in record time from Dan.

Mark A · May 4, 2007

Ginger Clark

Hey, folks, I don't see Ginger Clark's name listed on Writers House's web site where they list senior agents and junior agents.
Does anyone know what gives? Perhaps she's out on her own?

andracill · May 4, 2007

I thought she was with Curtis Brown?

Rolling Thunder · May 4, 2007

Yeah, Curtis Brown. I have a query out to her there right now.

[Agency] Writers House

janetbellinger

Cathy C

Ooo! Shiny new cover!

aruna

On a wing and a prayer

Matthew Warner

aruna

On a wing and a prayer

aruna

On a wing and a prayer

Matthew Warner

lostlore

jkorzenko

lostlore

Roger J Carlson

Moderator In Name Only

jkorzenko

Noddy Rider

janetbellinger

aruna

On a wing and a prayer

stormie

storm central

Provrb1810meggy

jvc

Fearsome Dragon Mod

stormie

storm central

Moon Daughter

Prawn

Writing is finite,revising infinite

RoccoMom

Mark A

andracill

Rolling Thunder