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I'm a little confused about that, too. The website says that no response is a pass, but in this interview, Ms Sinsheimer says she prefers you to check in if you haven't heard back.
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Sarah Jane Freymann Literary Agency
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Thanks for the link, mayqueen! That was the interview that prompted me to query her, and probably why I was confused about her "nudge on queries" policy (I didn't remember where I'd read that -- and it was that interview!). I'm well past the 3-week mark -- actually just hit the 6-week mark today -- so I'll send her a nudge tomorrow morning and see if that helps.
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Sat Nam! (literally "Truth Name"--a Sikh greeting)
If you check her Twitter feed, it's obvious she's swamped with queries right now. I would hold off checking for a bit. You can nudge on queries if it's addressed to Jessica and you included the requested pages.
Blessings,
Siri Kirpal
If you check her Twitter feed, it's obvious she's swamped with queries right now. I would hold off checking for a bit. You can nudge on queries if it's addressed to Jessica and you included the requested pages.
Blessings,
Siri Kirpal
I got a partial and then a full request from Steve Schwartz last week. Glad to see that they're a legit agency. Fingers can stay optimistically crossed.
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Does anyone know about their genres that they are interested in? I had a favorite for one of my pitches during #pitmad, and I am a little uncertain about it, since my genre is Urban Fantasy. I mean, yes, I have looked at their website and have checked her blog and been reading this thread and looking all over the internet. But the Agency seems to be only interested in almost everything BUT Urban Fantasy, specializing in things like self help and gardening. Am I just not finding it anywhere? I am a little unsure about what to do. While I am thrilled of course, I can't help but want to ask if it was an accident. Jessica Sinsheimer sounds like a really excellent person to work with (I grew up a farm girl, so her reference to sheep in an interview is an easy win for me), I just can't help but wonder if it was a mistake. I hope this is the proper place to ask about this. I really hope my question isn't rude. I was not sure where else to ask.
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I have a feeling Jessica is interested in urban fantasy. Plus if she favorited it, I doubt it was a mistake. Check out her other PitMad favorites here if you wanna feel a little more certain about sending that query in. Good luck 
Does anyone know how backlogged Jessica is with her queries/partials/fulls? At one point she had over 600 queries in her inbox.
I doubt it was a mistake.
I sent a query less than an hour after getting a #pitmad request, and she requested a full from that query. She seems really nice, and was on my shortlist of agents to query anyhow. If you're 100% ready, why not go for it? Good luck!Lady MacBeth, I don't know if she's backlogged, but the autoreply to my query said that their turnaround time was approximately 2-3 months.
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I doubt it was a mistake.
Lady MacBeth, I don't know if she's backlogged, but the autoreply to my query said that their turnaround time was approximately 2-3 months.
Alright, thank you for your quick responses, I will believe it wasn't a mistake and am getting together my query and first ten pages. Of course I am super nervous about the quality of my query now.
She seems like a really nice person, and I hear nothing but good about her and the Agency.
So glad you asked this question!! I too write urban fantasy. Jessica's coming to my local conference and was considering pitching to her.
I queried on March 7th, got a request for a full and book proposal that afternoon. No word since. . .
So, interesting. In 2012, Jessica Sinsheimer favorited a pitch for one of my books in #pitmad. I sent it and she ended up rejecting the full with no reason given.
I have since revised the novel once for an agent, who eventually rejected it, and once for an editor, who asked for a second round of revisions. The book has changed a lot, although the pitch/query remains the same.
I pitched it a couple times on #SFFpit this Wednesday, with the intention of sending version 3 and letting any requesting agent read while I did the 2nd revision for the editor. The pitch is the same, yet Jessica Sinsheimer favorited it again.
So now I'm considering whether to send the query+10 anyway and just explain the situation to her.
I have since revised the novel once for an agent, who eventually rejected it, and once for an editor, who asked for a second round of revisions. The book has changed a lot, although the pitch/query remains the same.
I pitched it a couple times on #SFFpit this Wednesday, with the intention of sending version 3 and letting any requesting agent read while I did the 2nd revision for the editor. The pitch is the same, yet Jessica Sinsheimer favorited it again.
So now I'm considering whether to send the query+10 anyway and just explain the situation to her.
I sent a query to Sarah Jane and got a partial request from Jessica. I didn't expect it because her bio isn't even on the website. Though when I tweeted her about it, she said that it was? hmm...
You're right, pisceanreve. Her bio isn't listed on their Submission Guidelines page, though she does get a mention on the About Us page.
I think Ms. Sinsheimer's legit, if inexperienced. She requests a lot of manuscripts (or at least she did when I was querying several years ago), but she doesn't have a ton of clients, so at least she isn't offering on everything in sight.
What are the category and genre of your manuscript? It looks like this agency does quite well in some areas, but there are others (like the children's market, which is the one I'm most familiar with) that they don't appear to be as entrenched in.
Sage, I'd send the query + 10 again. Surely she'll recognize the longer query and sample once she gets it, but the fact that your novel has gone through major revisions should keep her from rejecting it again out of hand.
Good luck!
Good luck!
Yep, I sent it to her last night, with a brief note in the e-mail explaining the revision situation. She might reject it or she might ask to wait until I'm done with the 2nd set of revisions for that editor, but since she expressed interest the 2nd time around, I don't think it hurts for me to send the query+10.
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I agree with this, Sage. Jessica seems very nice and approachable. (If you follow her on twitter, you'll see that.) She requested my full from a contest, was very professional and sent me a personal email saying she received it. And when she rejected it a few months later, again, she was very supportive.
I looked around the thread and didn't see this link, Jessica has a tumblr with FAQ's/Sub process broken down (and she does say she responds to all queries btw) It's here: http://jsinsheimtweetslonger.tumblr.com/
I am hoping to sub to her this summer, just doing some more edits on my MS. She seems very approachable and kind, which is encouraging/makes me less scared about being rejected.
I am hoping to sub to her this summer, just doing some more edits on my MS. She seems very approachable and kind, which is encouraging/makes me less scared about being rejected.
I just signed with Jessica. She is truly awesome!! I couldn't be more delighted. Such a class act.
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This came in handy, as Jessica had sent me a kind rejection for my polo murder mystery, but she had invited me to send other work. I responded with a thank you, but it went to the submissions email address, with a subsequent confirmation.
I then sent a proper query for my "other work" with an apology, and received no confirmation. So I am trying this method she describes in the link, with instructions to get a proper confirmation email. I got the response, so now I'm confident that my new query is in the queue.
Thanks!
Dec 14th: Sent query and three chapter from 2 #PitchMAS requests by JS.
Jan 13th: Lovely personalised R that she couldn't connect with the prose.
A great agent and I love everything she does for the community, so I am a little disappointed, but got to get on with life. Plus, a speedy reply, considering that I sent over Christmas and she's been tweeting that she's still got some queries from Nov to deal with.
Jan 13th: Lovely personalised R that she couldn't connect with the prose.
A great agent and I love everything she does for the community, so I am a little disappointed, but got to get on with life. Plus, a speedy reply, considering that I sent over Christmas and she's been tweeting that she's still got some queries from Nov to deal with.
EQ to Sarah Jane on Mar.11. Did not get an auto-response.
The next day, I followed the instructions on Jessica's tumblr for triggering the auto-reply system, and I did indeed get a confirmation. But the next day I began receiving "delivery delay" automated messages and finally, yesterday, a "delivery failure" message.
I'm wondering if I should a.) re-query b.) send a check-in email explaining the problem or c.) do nothing, hoping my query is in fact pinging around in their system somewhere. I really, really, really don't want to be pesty, because from Jessica's twitter it sounds like the agency is being inundated with writers checking repeatedly on their queries and generally being annoying. But I would hate to think I've missed my shot with this agency just because their email server is screwy. Thoughts?
The next day, I followed the instructions on Jessica's tumblr for triggering the auto-reply system, and I did indeed get a confirmation. But the next day I began receiving "delivery delay" automated messages and finally, yesterday, a "delivery failure" message.
I'm wondering if I should a.) re-query b.) send a check-in email explaining the problem or c.) do nothing, hoping my query is in fact pinging around in their system somewhere. I really, really, really don't want to be pesty, because from Jessica's twitter it sounds like the agency is being inundated with writers checking repeatedly on their queries and generally being annoying. But I would hate to think I've missed my shot with this agency just because their email server is screwy. Thoughts?
PirateCat, I don't think a brief, polite inquiry (or re-query with a note at the top about your delivery failure message) will be taken amiss. When I queried, I didn't need to do anything extra to trigger the auto-reply, but I don't know what's going on with the system now.
I haven't posted in this thread before, but I just wanted to note that I signed with Jessica last spring, she sold my book (YA) in the summer, and I've been extremely happy working with her. She's responsible, responsive, very astute with her editorial notes, and just a cool person.
I haven't posted in this thread before, but I just wanted to note that I signed with Jessica last spring, she sold my book (YA) in the summer, and I've been extremely happy working with her. She's responsible, responsive, very astute with her editorial notes, and just a cool person.