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[Agency] Writers House

kaitie

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Good luck, Kitty! I just queried Dan Conaway, but it's snail so it'll be awhile on my end. Hope you get a request. :D
 

Kitty27

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Good luck, Kitty! I just queried Dan Conaway, but it's snail so it'll be awhile on my end. Hope you get a request. :D



Hey,Kaitie!


Thanks and I wish the same for you! So far,I've sent five queries out. I am looking for more agents right now.

How about you?
 
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kaitie

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I've sent about forty or so, but have only heard back from about half. I made a really long list. :D Honestly I'm not expecting much, but I'm still gonna try. :)
 

Kitty27

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I've sent about forty or so, but have only heard back from about half. I made a really long list. :D Honestly I'm not expecting much, but I'm still gonna try. :)

Go Kaitie!


I've got to step my game up. Between us,we should cover half the agents in the US!
 

Cathy C

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I'm going to try Merrilee soon too. I'm just confused though because it says on her agenquery profile she doesn't accept e-queries, but on querytracker someone (fairly recently) mentioned they DID send an equery and got a partial request via assistant. Should I just play it safe and use snail?

I just asked her (she's my agent.) She DOES accept equeries. They should be addressed to her assistant, Jennifer Escott, to: JEscott at writershouse dot com (obviously, replace the @ and .)

Good luck! :)
 

newbie2writing

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I have no idea what I'm doing...

One day I just sat down and started writing and didn't stop. I have never written ANYTHING before. I've never taken any writing classes, either. But somehow I wrote a book. I edited the entire thing four times.

After researching queries and synopsis ideas, I wrote one up and sent them plus my first chapter to Jodi Reamer. That was five weeks ago. It all feels so surreal. I have no idea if the book is even any good since I was too nervous to let anyone read it. Is that insane?

The only person who knows I've written a book is my husband, but I haven't told him I sent it to a real live book agent. Any thoughts as to how to find my confidence or does that come over time?
Plus, does anybody have an idea as to what Jodi's assistant's response time is running right now?
 
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augusto

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Welcome to AW and the "I have no idea what I'm doing" club. Yes, it is insane. Welcome to that club, too. You had the confidence to put in the time to write a book. Keep that fire and keep writing.
 

sciri

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The only person who knows I've written a book is my husband, But I haven't told him I sent it to a real live book agent. Any thoughts as to how to find my confidence or does that come over time?
Plus, does anybody have an idea as to what's Jodi's assistant's response time running at right now?

I think you should REALLY get out of your shell and have somebody else other than your husband read your work. It pays off.
I was like you. I thought, If I tell anybody they'll think I'm nuts. Or, worse, they'll think I'm another one of those people who think they are going to get published and famous, and they'll make fun of me.
It wasn't the case. It's amazing how many people told me, Good for you, I always wanted to write a book too! And they were happy to read. And their comments were EXTREMELY useful.
 

newbie2writing

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Thanks for the encouragement. I've started editing again, although every time I do I end up adding about 5,000 words! I have a couple of other ideas rattling around, but don't feel like I can even think about starting anything else until this one is "done".

My query was an exclusive, so I still have a few months to play with it before I move on. I am going to find a couple of people to give it to (deep breath), wait and see what they say. Fingers crossed.
 

Kitty27

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One day I just sat down and started writing and didn't stop. I have never written ANYTHING before. I've never taken any writing classes, either. But somehow I wrote a book. I edited the entire thing four times.

After researching queries and synopsis ideas, I wrote one up and sent them plus my first chapter to Jodi Reamer. That was five weeks ago. It all feels so surreal. I have no idea if the book is even any good since I was too nervous to let anyone read it. Is that insane?

The only person who knows I've written a book is my husband, but I haven't told him I sent it to a real live book agent. Any thoughts as to how to find my confidence or does that come over time?
Plus, does anybody have an idea as to what Jodi's assistant's response time is running right now?

This site saved my life. I was about to send my MS directly to the publisher and had no idea what a query letter was!

Thank tptb for AW!

Welcome!

I have loads of confidence. But then,I am an egomaniac! I think it comes with time as you learn the ins and outs of the publishing industry. Don't be afraid. Nothing ventured,nothing gained.
 

Rowan

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I just asked her (she's my agent.) She DOES accept equeries. They should be addressed to her assistant, Jennifer Escott, to: JEscott at writershouse dot com (obviously, replace the @ and .)

Good luck! :)

Thank you---you are the best! :)
 

1rb

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Josh Getzler requested a partial back in August... I gave him well over the 8 weeks he promised then gave a gentle nudge by email. Have probably sent a few gentle nudges since then as its been a few months. Was a bit worried about it being bad form, but see Dawnny Baby got a positive response after her nudge! I've just been ignored, though. Does anyone else have any similar experience? Should I just give up on this one...?
 

Giant Baby

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Josh Getzler requested a partial back in August... I gave him well over the 8 weeks he promised then gave a gentle nudge by email. Have probably sent a few gentle nudges since then as its been a few months. Was a bit worried about it being bad form, but see Dawnny Baby got a positive response after her nudge! I've just been ignored, though. Does anyone else have any similar experience? Should I just give up on this one...?

He's moved to Russell & Volkening, 1rb, and judging by your timeline, you may very well have nudged right around the time of his move. I'd contact him again (his new email address is listed on the website linked above).
 

agentpaper

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Hi there. Merilee has a partial of mine, but I've been offered representation by another agent. I've written to her to let her know, but haven't heard anything back and the deadline's coming up. Should I nudge her again or leave it be and hope she doesn't get back to me after I've accepted the other offer? All the others have responded except her and one other. And I've gotten great responses of "please send me the rest and give me a few days," so I'm not sure if she didn't get my email, or if that's my answer.
 

Dawnny Baby

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Josh Getzler requested a partial back in August... I gave him well over the 8 weeks he promised then gave a gentle nudge by email. Have probably sent a few gentle nudges since then as its been a few months. Was a bit worried about it being bad form, but see Dawnny Baby got a positive response after her nudge! I've just been ignored, though. Does anyone else have any similar experience? Should I just give up on this one...?
Ditto what Giant Baby said! But you should also check out Josh's PM page. He said he took all requested materials (i.e. partials and fulls) with him in his move to R&V, but asked that everyone be patient with him. He promises he WILL get back to everyone.
 

sciri

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Josh Getzler requested a partial back in August... I gave him well over the 8 weeks he promised then gave a gentle nudge by email. Have probably sent a few gentle nudges since then as its been a few months. Was a bit worried about it being bad form, but see Dawnny Baby got a positive response after her nudge! I've just been ignored, though. Does anyone else have any similar experience? Should I just give up on this one...?

I guess it's time to come out of the closet, with apologies to Josh if he lurks around this forum.

This is my experience. I sent out my partial in August (two weeks before Dawnny Baby), then read that she had a full request, so at the 8 week mark I nudged. Nothing. In the meantime I got a full request and since on the Writer's House website they stated that they wanted exclusives on fulls, I nudged again and asked him if he usually requested an exclusive on fulls, but once again heard nothing. I happened to attend a book signing from a famous author and asked her for advice. She said to send a withdrawal email and then send out the full to the other agent. Her claim was that in NY agents talk constantly to one another and so better be "clean" than in an ambiguous situation. I followed her advice (thinking she knows better), although I admit that after reading Giant Baby's post I felt like a total idiot. However, Giant Baby later explained that it wasn't until she met Josh in person and told him that she had another offer for representation that Josh stepped up.
After reading about that, I came up with a theory of my own, which may be totally bogus, but it would explain why right now I have several fulls and partials out in limbo. It may be that some agents reply only when it's a clear R or a clear sale. If they are undecided, they just sit on it and wait whether or not the material solicits somebody else's interest. As I said, this is a theory I came up with, so take it with a grain of salt.

Sorry for the long ramble, and for waiting so long to share my experience. I have since debated whether or not it was wise to send that withdrawal email. At the time, I knew very little and totally trusted a published author to be more experienced in the field, so I went for the safe road. It would have been nice to get a line from Josh to clarify, but it never happened.
 
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Giant Baby

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I hear you, sciri. Believe it or not, Josh was not the offering agent who'd had the book the longest. A third agent had him beat by a few weeks. (I'm not much of a nudger. Not much of a waiter, either, so it's a conundrum, or something.)

Querying is so frustrating. I wouldn't worry too much about pulling that book. It seemed right for you at the time. *stifles bias toward her agent in the interest of stating an honest opinion* I pulled two books from an agent several months ago. I had what I felt (and still feel) was a compelling reason, but it damn if it didn't hurt to do it. I'm extremely glad now that I did, though.
 

sciri

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Thanks, Giant Baby. And you know what, I have heavily re-edited my book in the meantime, even added a prologue, so, even in the remote chance that Josh would have come back to it, he would have found quite a different ms. So there, it was meant to be! ;)
 

Rowan

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Am I reading this right? I don't believe anyone gives or gets exclusive queries. I hope you're not saying you won't query anyone else till you hear back from this one.

At first I thought the same thing. But then I went back and re-read the posts and now I'm wondering if he/she meant that it was the only query they'd submitted; thus the remark about having time to edit/clean it up before they go on... But I may be wrong. :)
 

1rb

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Thanks, everyone. In one of my nudges I did mention that a publisher had requested a full MS, but that didn't seem to spark a response from him! Will try the new address.
 

newbie2writing

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um, yeah...

Am I reading this right? I don't believe anyone gives or gets exclusive queries. I hope you're not saying you won't query anyone else till you hear back from this one.

Nope. You are right. Jodi Reamer is my first choice and since snail mail takes longer and a lot of the others on my top 10 take email, I wanted to get her response first before pursuing anyone else. I noted in my query it was an exclusive, so hopefully that might help and a response won't take as long as some of those that I've read on this site (8 months!).

On the flip side, I would have hated getting involved with another agent only to hear that she was interested, albeit too late. It may tie me up for a little while, but honestly I'm not in any hurry.

Does anyone know Jodi Reamer's response time? Also if the agents talk, as a lot of people suspect, then wouldn't sending out a query to a giant list of agents do more harm than good?
 

Rowan

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Nope. You are right. Jodi Reamer is my first choice and since snail mail takes longer and a lot of the others on my top 10 take email, I wanted to get her response first before pursuing anyone else. I noted in my query it was an exclusive, so hopefully that might help and a response won't take as long as some of those that I've read on this site (8 months!).

On the flip side, I would have hated getting involved with another agent only to hear that she was interested, albeit too late. It may tie me up for a little while, but honestly I'm not in any hurry.

Does anyone know Jodi Reamer's response time? Also if the agents talk, as a lot of people suspect, then wouldn't sending out a query to a giant list of agents do more harm than good?

Her response to a query can take up to six months (I believe she replied to mine in three or four months). Personally, I send out my query letters in batches of 5-7 to carefully researched agents (ie., I tailor my query according to each agent's preferences). That way if I don't get much interest I can edit the query before I burn all my bridges, so-to-speak.

You might want to consider querying other agents in the meantime...in fact most recommend that you "cast the net far and wide." Don't put all of your eggs in one basket, etc.

If not, good luck with that wait! :)