Irene Goodman Literary Agency

[lweinberg18]

Originally Posted by MysteryScribe

Yay! That's awesome - I'll definitely say hi And thank you for the congrats!!!

I just queried Miriam Kriss for a fantasy novel...might not be up her alley, but I thought I'd try anyways.

Now your journey begins!

[MysteryScribe]

Originally Posted by lweinberg18

I just queried Miriam Kriss for a fantasy novel...might not be up her alley, but I thought I'd try anyways.

Now your journey begins!

I'm sending lots of good querying vibes your way!

[MysteryScribe]

Hey guys just wanted to give you the heads up (if you didn't already see this) Barbara is doing another Writers Digest Webinar on 4/12! http://www.writersdigestshop.com/pro...rnage-webinar/

[pavtbr]

Sent an email query to Barbara Poelle this morning. Got an automated response, so I know that it went through. Will post back when I hear something more.
Bryan

[c.e.lawson]

I know Irene Goodman lists historical fiction on her website. But I vaguely recall reading, some months ago when I was not yet ready to query, that she didn't want stories set in the ancient world. I've looked around again now that I'm going to start querying, and I can't seem to find where I read that. Does anyone have any information on that?

Thanks,

c.e.

[FruitTree]

The guidelines for this contest from last year http://agentqueryconnect.com/index.p...rical-fiction/ say:

"Irene will consider anything European, but especially England, Scotland, France, Italy, Spain, Portugal, and Ireland. Some American settings will be considered, but the market is not currently favoring those, so selectivity is essential. A few Asian subjects might work, but again, selectivity will be crucial. Irene is not looking for books set in ancient Egypt, Greece, or Rome. Historical means anything from the dawn of time to World War One."

[c.e.lawson]

Originally Posted by FruitTree

The guidelines for this contest from last year http://agentqueryconnect.com/index.p...rical-fiction/ say:

"Irene will consider anything European, but especially England, Scotland, France, Italy, Spain, Portugal, and Ireland. Some American settings will be considered, but the market is not currently favoring those, so selectivity is essential. A few Asian subjects might work, but again, selectivity will be crucial. Irene is not looking for books set in ancient Egypt, Greece, or Rome. Historical means anything from the dawn of time to World War One."

Thanks, FruitTree. That must be what I read months ago. I will assume she still doesn't want ancient Sparta. (Although I'm very curious as to why not. ) I appreciate your help!

[lorna_w]

FYI, Barbara Poelle is closed to submissions until Sept 2012 (but you Query Tracker people already knew that!)

[IrisFlower81]

I queried Miriam Kriss on July 13th and the auto responder says that if she's interested she'll respond in 12 weeks or so. Has anyone gotten a rejection from her recently on just the query and sample pages, or is the 'only if we're interested' reply basically the truth?

[MrsBrommers]

Good luck, Iris! Miriam's my agent, and I don't believe she sends rejections on queries with sample pages. However, don't close out the query until you've hit that twelve weeks. I cold queried her, and she requested my full MS after two months. I was honestly looking at her name on my query list and considering marking it as a non-responses the same day she emailed me that she wanted to read the full. It can definitely take some time as she is a very busy agent.

Also, I have a really good working relationship with Miriam. She is top-notch, knows her business, and is an incredible advocate for her authors.

[IrisFlower81]

Thanks very much for the info! That's exactly what I wanted to know. I know Miriam Kriss reps a couple authors I'm familiar with, and they--like you--speak highly of her.

[FCameron]

Originally Posted by pavtbr

Sent an email query to Barbara Poelle this morning. Got an automated response, so I know that it went through. Will post back when I hear something more.
Bryan

I've not gotten an auto-reply to my email back in early October, so I sent again tonight. Still no auto. Hmm...I don't want to spam them!

[lweinberg18]

Originally Posted by FCameron

I've not gotten an auto-reply to my email back in early October, so I sent again tonight. Still no auto. Hmm...I don't want to spam them!

My cousin is repped by this agency, so I queried them for Book #1...no auto-response and no response. Come Book #2...no auto-response and no response. After six months and major rewrites on Book #2, queried Miriam the other day...auto-response. SO, if you didn't get the auto-response, try sending from a different email?

Good luck!

[FCameron]

Originally Posted by lweinberg18

My cousin is repped by this agency, so I queried them for Book #1...no auto-response and no response. Come Book #2...no auto-response and no response. After six months and major rewrites on Book #2, queried Miriam the other day...auto-response. SO, if you didn't get the auto-response, try sending from a different email?

Good luck!

The email that I use for queries is different from my other email...but, that other email is the name of my blog and would likely fall right into a spam folder since it's not my name.

Trying to keep agent contacts separate and organized, but I'll create a new account if necessary. I have a full out with another agent right now. I'll just cool the send button for a week and send again with a new email.

Thanks

[lweinberg18]

Originally Posted by FCameron

The email that I use for queries is different from my other email...but, that other email is the name of my blog and would likely fall right into a spam folder since it's not my name.

Trying to keep agent contacts separate and organized, but I'll create a new account if necessary. I have a full out with another agent right now. I'll just cool the send button for a week and send again with a new email.

Thanks

Yay! I hope it all works out for you!

[Guinea]

Originally Posted by FCameron

I've not gotten an auto-reply to my email back in early October, so I sent again tonight. Still no auto. Hmm...I don't want to spam them!

I see the auto response not being received is not just me. I subbed in Nov and didn't receive an auto, but have subbed this month and did receive one. Can only assume previous submission wasn't received and have resent.

[rnpudel]

I pitched to Rachel Ekstrom at a conference Oct. 2012. She said my YA story sounded more paranormal than fantasy, and paranormal is a hard sale right now. I pitched it as fantasy because another agent who I had pitched to before Rachel, suggested it was more fantasy. Ha!

Rachel asked me to send her the first ten pages and a synopsis so she can determine if it feels more paranormal or fantasy and she'd get back to me.

I sent it Oct. 30th. I didn't hear back, so I sent it again Nov. 12, just in case she had lost her internet due to Sandy. I have heard nothing back. Today I sat down to nudge her and realized I had sent it to the wrong address. I think. So I sent it to the address on their website and am waiting for the auto-response.

At the conference she seems very courteous and eager to find great talent. Not sure what my next step should be.

[Guinea]

Originally Posted by rnpudel

I pitched to Rachel Ekstrom at a conference Oct. 2012. She said my YA story sounded more paranormal than fantasy, and paranormal is a hard sale right now. I pitched it as fantasy because another agent who I had pitched to before Rachel, suggested it was more fantasy. Ha!

Rachel asked me to send her the first ten pages and a synopsis so she can determine if it feels more paranormal or fantasy and she'd get back to me.

I sent it Oct. 30th. I didn't hear back, so I sent it again Nov. 12, just in case she had lost her internet due to Sandy. I have heard nothing back. Today I sat down to nudge her and realized I had sent it to the wrong address. I think. So I sent it to the address on their website and am waiting for the auto-response.

At the conference she seems very courteous and eager to find great talent. Not sure what my next step should be.

I am still waiting for a response (if any) from Miriam Kriss, but I had to resent after not receiving the auto-response the first time round. In the response it says she will respond within 12 weeks if interested. I would definitely send it again if you didn't receive the auto-response.

[rnpudel]

Originally Posted by Guinea

I am still waiting for a response (if any) from Miriam Kriss, but I had to resent after not receiving the auto-response the first time round. In the response it says she will respond within 12 weeks if interested. I would definitely send it again if you didn't receive the auto-response.

Thanks for the advice.

I received an auto-response that last time I sent it. Said she'd respond in 8 weeks if interested. I'm assuming that's for queries, so not sure how long to wait, but it'll be more than 8 weeks.

[Guinea]

Originally Posted by rnpudel

Thanks for the advice.

I received an auto-response that last time I sent it. Said she'd respond in 8 weeks if interested. I'm assuming that's for queries, so not sure how long to wait, but it'll be more than 8 weeks.

I would wait twelve weeks, if no response then it's a no. It sucks, but there it is.

[Chaoscat]

Originally Posted by Guinea

I would wait twelve weeks, if no response then it's a no. It sucks, but there it is.

Does that go for a full MS under consideration? It's my first time querying an agent. They asked to see the full and I sent it in 3/8. Just wondering if they send rejection letters for fulls or after a certain amount of waiting you just consider it rejected.

[rnpudel]

Congrats on the full request!

[Guinea]

Originally Posted by Chaoscat

Does that go for a full MS under consideration? It's my first time querying an agent. They asked to see the full and I sent it in 3/8. Just wondering if they send rejection letters for fulls or after a certain amount of waiting you just consider it rejected.

Normally agents will send a rejection letter, but as you only sent your full a couple of weeks ago I would wait at least two months before giving them a nudge. According to the Irene Goodman agency their waiting time can be anything from 8-12 weeks on a query so you still have a way to go yet. However, if you haven't heard anything by then, even with a nudge then you may have to write them off, but some agents want 6 months before they respond on a full, although they will usually tell you this when they request.

[Chaoscat]

Guinea - Good to know and thanks for the info.

And Dog-Hugger thanks! I know the odds are slim, but you never know. ;-)

[MrsBrommers]

Yay, Chaoscat! The length of time you'll wait to hear varies between agents and depends on the requesting agent's current reading queue, what client manuscripts are waiting to be read, which have to be prioritized. I can only speak to my experiences with Miriam, but she's pretty good about taking only a few weeks to get back to me after I turn in a project. I do believe she tries to respond to requested material. If for some reason you don't hear anything, wait about six months to nudge. Good luck!