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Fox Literary Agency (Diana Fox)
- Thread starter gingerwoman
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According to my email--which I never deleted because apparently I am just that ridiculous--I queried March 28, and got the request April 29. I sent the full on May 1st.
Diana update her blog:
http://dianafox.livejournal.com/4021.html
I'm quoting the most pertinent part for those of you waiting to hear back from her:
http://dianafox.livejournal.com/4021.html
I'm quoting the most pertinent part for those of you waiting to hear back from her:
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Hobbyist, sounds like. I'd rather have someone who'd starve if she didn't sell books.
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As long as she's still selling books - and I'm pretty sure she is - then I think it's just fine to be a part-time agency. You gotta pay the bills, right? Maybe she's gradually moving to full-time or maybe she has a super cool day job (like, she's a spy or an acrobat or something). 
But how many? Of the four she has listed on her PM page, two are from many years ago, and now out of print.
There are many reputable agents who also have a non-agenting day job / part-time job.
For example: Elaine English. She's a lawyer, and she practices law. That doesn't mean she's a shady agent or a hobbyist lawyer. (She's a great lawyer in case you're wondering )
Ultimately I think many agents strive to make enough money to agent full-time. But it's not the end of the world if they need a side job to pay their bills until then. Remember that they can't get paid until they sell someone. So agents work for their clients for free until that happens.
Besides if the rule is part-time = hobbyist, then almost every aspiring and/or new and/or midlist author is a hobbyist since they usually can't support themselves writing full-time, unless they inherited a ton of money or have a financially stable spouse.
For example: Elaine English. She's a lawyer, and she practices law. That doesn't mean she's a shady agent or a hobbyist lawyer. (She's a great lawyer in case you're wondering
)Ultimately I think many agents strive to make enough money to agent full-time. But it's not the end of the world if they need a side job to pay their bills until then. Remember that they can't get paid until they sell someone. So agents work for their clients for free until that happens.
Besides if the rule is part-time = hobbyist, then almost every aspiring and/or new and/or midlist author is a hobbyist since they usually can't support themselves writing full-time, unless they inherited a ton of money or have a financially stable spouse.
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There are many reputable agents who also have a non-agenting day job / part-time job.
For example: Elaine English. She's a lawyer, and she practices law. That doesn't mean she's a shady agent or a hobbyist lawyer. (She's a great lawyer in case you're wondering
Ultimately I think many agents strive to make enough money to agent full-time. But it's not the end of the world if they need a side job to pay their bills until then. Remember that they can't get paid until they sell someone. So agents work for their clients for free until that happens.
Besides if the rule is part-time = hobbyist, then almost every aspiring and/or new and/or midlist author is hobbyist since they usually can't support themselves writing full-time, unless they inherited a ton of money or have a financially stable spouse.
Of course you want to support your agent, and of course part timers can be successful. You brought up Elaine English, who is a member of AAR, and whose legal work is closely allied with agenting. But Diana Fox is not a member of AAR, and though she claims at least some passing acquaintance with agenting (Writer's House), we don't know in what capacity. We also don't know what her day job is. New agents have to be vetted more carefully than others, so if you can tell us any of these things, that would be helpful.
Wanting to support my agent has nothing to do with my post. I wouldn't have said anything in her defense if I considered her ineffective and/or incompetent.
I don't think her other job makes her ineffective and/or a hobbyist. Here's why:
1. AAR membership does not mean the agent is good, or lack of it bad.
2. She signed new clients and sold their projects while she was at Writers House.
3. And many of the above mentioned clients stayed with her when she left WH. If she were a bad agent, they wouldn't have since they could've stayed at WH.
4. She's always been very upfront, and I genuinely feel that she has my best interests at heart based on our conversations and the things she's encouraged me to do both before and after I signed with her.
5. I always receive timely responses from her via email or phone.
6. She reviews my projects promptly.
7. She makes herself available for brainstorming when I need to bounce ideas back and forth with someone.
I don't think her other job makes her ineffective and/or a hobbyist. Here's why:
1. AAR membership does not mean the agent is good, or lack of it bad.
2. She signed new clients and sold their projects while she was at Writers House.
3. And many of the above mentioned clients stayed with her when she left WH. If she were a bad agent, they wouldn't have since they could've stayed at WH.
4. She's always been very upfront, and I genuinely feel that she has my best interests at heart based on our conversations and the things she's encouraged me to do both before and after I signed with her.
5. I always receive timely responses from her via email or phone.
6. She reviews my projects promptly.
7. She makes herself available for brainstorming when I need to bounce ideas back and forth with someone.
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I thought I had posted in this thread a long time ago, but see now that I haven't, which is deeply embarrassing. Diana is my agent as well; she began repping me when she was at Writers House, and we are still together. I assure you she is actively selling books and taking care of other issues, like royalty accounting, etc. She is no sense a "hobbyist."
I'd assumed, since she didn't say what she was at Writers House, that she was an assistant or office manager. If she was an agent, that makes all the difference.
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Diana was an assistant at Writers House but had reached the level of taking on a few clients of her own, of which I was one. She sold a four-book series of mine on proposal -- fiction from an unpublished author, no less -- so I have a healthy regard for her instincts. She has been on her own for the past year and change.
Just piping in to say that though Diana is not my agent (sadly), I have found my dealings with her as a submitting would-be author to be the most professional I've encountered. Good communication, friendly, and up front. I'd also done my research when I submitted my first query, and continued to keep abreast of her sales via Publisher's Marketplace after she requested my full.
In addition to Claudia and Nadia above, she's sold Jo Graham's excellent historical debut, and quite recently, two as-yet-unreleased urban fantasy series by Seanan McGuire and Anna Katherine, respectively. These were both to major houses (TOR and DAW). Just about a week ago, another deal with her name came up, a historical fantasy by a new author.
She seems very active, successful, and it has never crossed my mind that her day job might make her anymore less effective an agent than mine makes me a less effective writer.
I haven't yet heard back on my full, but expect to soon. I can only hope to have her, or someone like her, as my agent at some point.
In addition to Claudia and Nadia above, she's sold Jo Graham's excellent historical debut, and quite recently, two as-yet-unreleased urban fantasy series by Seanan McGuire and Anna Katherine, respectively. These were both to major houses (TOR and DAW). Just about a week ago, another deal with her name came up, a historical fantasy by a new author.
She seems very active, successful, and it has never crossed my mind that her day job might make her anymore less effective an agent than mine makes me a less effective writer.
I haven't yet heard back on my full, but expect to soon. I can only hope to have her, or someone like her, as my agent at some point.
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Thank you, Colleen. It's always helpful for authors new to the submission process/industry to have an idea of what agents must do to survive--just like the rest of us.
JamieB
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I have! She responded last night with a request from an Aug. 30 query. Sounds like she's just been buried!
Back on the merry go round I jump with fingers crossed!
Back on the merry go round I jump with fingers crossed!
http://dianafox.livejournal.com/4789.html?style=mine
Apparently some guy faked a partial MS request from her to himself, and used it to send her chapters. ALMOST unbelievable.
Apparently some guy faked a partial MS request from her to himself, and used it to send her chapters. ALMOST unbelievable.
...and he seriously thought she'd not notice?! Sure she's probably busy, but that's an insult to her intelligence. Astounding.
I definitely have to second this sentiment. Every encounter I've had with Diana so far has been honest and open and she genuinely seemed to have an author's best interests at heart. My submission with her has been a roller coaster ride, but she's been very kind and I'm waiting on pins and needles to see if she's interested in my MS! I have to say that from all I've learned about her in the past eight months, I would love to have her as an agent.
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My feelings exactly. It sounds like she's had our submissions for about the same length of time - actually, mine's a little hard to judge, because she agreed to look at another manuscript of mine while waiting for me to finish the one she currently has, which is what she was really interested in seeing. She hadn't yet read the first manuscript by the time I sent her the one I'm waiting on now, so I told her I'd rather she read the one she's really interested in, and to please replace the first manuscript with the new one in her "queue".
I've had a manuscript with her since April. The "new" book since June. In a communication I had with her mid-November, it sounded as though she'd either started reading it, or was just about to.
In the meantime, I just keep writing and try not to think about it too much.
I queried her on 8/15 and got a full request a few days ago. If you queried her this fall it would seem patience is the key while she catches up.
She does appear to be worth the wait.
She does appear to be worth the wait.