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[Agency] Dystel, Goderich & Bourret, LLC (formerly Dystel & Goderich Lit. Mgmt.)

HConn

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And never mention it?

Should I just take this agent's unprofessionalism without so much as a squeak? Am I not entitled to mention his behavior in public? Is it so unthinkable that I should do anything but slink away, assuming all fault and blame on myself, and take the shame to my grave?

I hope your book isn't this melodramatic.

And where does "shame" come in? You're lucky to have discovered that you don't want to work with him even if he did love your book. How is slinking involved?

(You don't have an email whitelist, do you?)
 

Yahzi

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other agents should do as well.
I got 5 requests out of some 40 queries, so that was pretty good. My first book was 1 out of 40+, so obviously I'm getting better. :D

but in publishing no one owes you anything.
Now that's just weird. I realize there are thousands and thousands of aspiring writers, most of whom can't write, and some of whom are stark raving mad; but still, that doesn't excuse asking someone for their work and then ignoring them.

Mr. Bourret does, in fact, owe us something. We are his next job; at least, one of us is. The least he can do is, well, the minimum. Because really that's all I'm asking for here: the minimum. If you realize you aren't going to get around to reading a manuscript, don't ignore the author's emails, just tell them, "I'm sorry, I'm not going to get around to your manuscript."

Agents owe us the same thing they owe every other person they meet: honesty. They don't have to be nice, or kind, or gentle, or helpful, but they are required to be honest.

I wouldn't do that until I had a definite offer from somewhere else,
I've already concluded this book won't sell (MB was the last agent it went to, actually), and I'm working on the next one.

But I won't be sending any more manuscripts to MB. Even if he asks for them. My standards for agent behavior is exceedingly low, but I do have some standards. :D
 

Yahzi

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I hope your book isn't this melodramatic.
If it was, I probably would have sold it. Have you read Twilight yet?

:D

And where does "shame" come in?
As in "self-blame." Coming here, to a public forum, and venting is the opposite of self-blame. If you read all of the responses to me, I think you can see some posters are more than willing to suck it up. I don't think people should let crappy behavior slide. It just breeds more crappy behavior. And it doesn't help get you out of the slush pile, either.

I think Mr. Bourret is a good agent - for his clients. But he was a dickwad to me, and I reserve the right to say, "That dude was a dickwad to me."

And then to make fun of the fanbois that worship the ground agents throw manuscripts on to walk on. That's my right, too.

:p
 

dragonjax

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I think Mr. Bourret is a good agent - for his clients. But he was a dickwad to me, and I reserve the right to say, "That dude was a dickwad to me."

FWIW, getting no answers on requested manuscripts is, unfortunately, par for the course -- and not just with agents. Ditto with many editors, when agents submit requested works to those editors. Waiting -- sometimes for a very, very long time -- is part of the process. It's not fun, and it's horribly frustrating. But it's how it goes -- especially since September, when everything in the economy started going kablooey. You've heard about the layoffs and restructuring at the big houses, yeah? S&S, Random House, HC... Editors are losing their jobs and their entire reporting structure (and, thus, acquisitions structure) has changed...and agents not only have to stay on top of who's now where and accepting what and making sure submissions are still under consideration, but they also have to calm down panicky clients who don't know what's going to happen now that their editor has been laid off.

So...yeah, no answer on a requested manuscript after 10 months stinks. But I think the waiting times are probably going to get even longer in 2009 -- and that's all around. Try to be patient, and absolutely don't wait on one agent to get back to you. Keep querying.

An example of horrible waiting times: I've had a project on submission with editors since January 2008. Yes, more than 13 months. A requested manuscript. With editors. Another editor had a requested partial -- given to her by another editor at her house -- since September 2007. Uh huh. Seriously.

But when it's the right project with the right editor (or right agent) at the right time, things move fast. One project had gone out last year, and after 3 months we had strong interest but no offers. And then the right editor read it and made an offer four days later.

Would it be better if agents (and editors) got back to authors (and agents) in a more timely fashion? Certainly, for us. Heck, I'd be a lot less high-strung if response time was faster all around. But it is what it is.

Meanwhile...keep querying. And start another project. Good luck
 

Irysangel

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I think Mr. Bourret is a good agent - for his clients. But he was a dickwad to me, and I reserve the right to say, "That dude was a dickwad to me."

And then to make fun of the fanbois that worship the ground agents throw manuscripts on to walk on. That's my right, too.

:p

You know, I think people are objecting to your tone more than anything else.

Neutral: Michael Bourret has had my requested full for 10 months and has not responded.

Childish: This agent is a dickwad because he has not responded in 10 months.

There's a way to get your point across without being unprofessional. And to be honest, there are D&G clients that troll this board, there are editors that troll this board, and there are probably even D&G agents that troll this board. There is also such a thing as Google alerts. You are never as anonymous as you think you are, so what makes you think that you will get an answer now?
 

dragonjax

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And to be honest, there are D&G clients that troll this board, there are editors that troll this board, and there are probably even D&G agents that troll this board. There is also such a thing as Google alerts. You are never as anonymous as you think you are, so what makes you think that you will get an answer now?

Jill makes an excellent point. More and more editors and agents I meet tell me one of the first things they do is Google authors whose work they're considering. Editors and agents tend to be fairly Web savvy.

It costs nothing to be professional, even when you think you're posting anonymously.
 

Blondchen

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Not that this adds anything to the discussion, but from personal experience, I found Michael to be professional, communicative and very nice.
 

Yahzi

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There's a way to get your point across without being unprofessional.
How... ironic.

All MB had to do was respond to my polite emails once every three or four months with a one-line reply - "sorry, still working on it." Is that really so unbelievably demanding? And it's not just me, you know: he's done the same to at least 3 other members of Absolute Write.

And yet, because I called him out on his thoughtless behavior, I'm the one with the attitude.



so what makes you think that you will get an answer now?
I don't want an answer. I never queried MB, and I never will.
 

Yahzi

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Not that this adds anything to the discussion, but from personal experience, I found Michael to be professional, communicative and very nice.
So did I - for the first 3 months. Right up until he decided that sending one-line emails to authors he requested manuscripts from 10 months ago was simply too much of an imposition on his valuable time.

We aspiring authors have to put up with a lot of rejection. That's part of the biz. But pretending to be interested in someone's work, and then ignoring them, is not part of the biz. It's just rude.
 

Wayne K

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Jane Dystel rejected my manuscript when I followed up, but if you can score her as an agent she's got the connects. Her father ran Bantam books and is considered a legend. I think she worked there too. I know she went to Georgetown Law, and that's nothing to sneeze at. If the question is about whether her agency has a good reputation, close it at Yes.
 

JenWriter

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Yahzi, if you didn't want an answer from him or want him to represent you, you should not have sent him your full manuscript when he requested it.
 

Tuuli

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I just want some clarification. If you're sending Michael an e-query, he just wants the letter and no sample pages, right?

Thanks
 

Cyia

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FWIW -- anyone querying this agency should know that Stacey Glick is out on maternity leave. I got an out of office reply from my query to her this week. I went ahead and queried another agent at the agency, so I'll have to wait and see what happens there.
 

dragonjax

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I just want some clarification. If you're sending Michael an e-query, he just wants the letter and no sample pages, right?

Thanks

Whatever the guidelines are, you should follow them. So if the guidelines state no sample pages, there you go.
 

Spring

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I just wanted to leave a comment on this agency's thread:

I queried Mr. McCarthy and he asked for my full MS after about a week's wait. He promised a quick return.

After only 7 days, he sent me a generic reply stating he wasn't interested. He referred to my novel by a different name, but I'm assuming he just didn't read the title carefully since it was close (ex. The Flight instead of The Fugitive).

Alas.
 

revolocard

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Okay, definitely don't want to stir up the pot again, so hopefully I can ask this question without bringing out any rants.

I'm considering querying Michael Bourret and Jim McCarthy. Both seem like great fits from what I've researched. I'm leaning toward Michael simply because I've read more interviews with him, but I'm seeing a lot of people having slow response times with requested material with him. Is it actually the case that Michael's gotten busy while Jim's getting back on partials and fulls pretty quickly? At the beginning of this thread it seemed Michael had lightning fast response times and I'm not sure if the later silence is the norm nowaday. It probably doesn't matter too much which one I query since they seem to pass what they like on to the agent it best suits, but if everything's equal, I'd rather query who I'm going to hear from sooner obviously.
 

claena

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Just wanted to let you all know that I queried Michael Bourret and he responded within 24 hours. So if he was backlogged for a while, it seems to have cleared up a bit.

It was a rejection form letter, but still.

I wouldn't hesitate to query him in the future.
 

Chanelley

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I've queried Michael twice with different novels since the beginning of the year and no response to either.
 

Blind Writer

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I heard Michael Bourret responds quickly, so I queried him over a week ago, but no response. NOw I'm nervous. I just hope it's a sign that he's looking over my sample pages--but I'm an optimist.
 

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Sorry if this is a stupid question but...

I just got a request for a "manuscript" but it doesn't specify full or partial...do I just assume it's a full?! People have always asked for partials first so I'm confused.
 

waylander

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Sounds like a full request. The partial requests are usually along the lines of 'send the first 3 chapters' or 'send the first 30 pages'
 
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JJPie

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Ugh....fabulous. He even wanted a "prompt" response. Thanks for the fast reply Waylander!