[Agency] Writers House

Laurie,
Thanks for the advice on meeting Dan. I am actually attending his Query Letter Boot Camp and can't wait to meet him.

Laurie said:

Question - Is it bad form or a waste of time to query another agent at the same house if one has passed on it?

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Both a waste of time and bad form. Only query again with a new work.

James D. Macdonald said:

Both a waste of time and bad form. Only query again with a new work.

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Is this because if the agent you queried thought someone in the house might be interested they would recommend sending it to them or would forward it themselves?

In larger houses it seems the agents are working pretty independently, so I wondered....

I have found at Writer's House that it is fine to query another agent if one rejects you. I have been rejected by a couple of them only to have others request partials/full. It is a subjective business and I believe that they work independently. Just my 2 cents.

I have done this a couple of times and it got me my closest near miss with an agent. The first agent took a partial, the second the full.
I think it depends greatly on the agency.

Laurie said:

Question - Is it bad form or a waste of time to query another agent at the same house if one has passed on it?

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It is certainly bad form to submit to multiple agents at the same house simultaneously. But when I talked to Dan, I told him that Merrilee had already passed on it. He said that was OK. Writers House will accept serial submissions.

I've also heard other agents at workshops say that it OK to submit to another agent in their house as long as the author is up-front about it. I can't say this is true for all agencies, however.

On the other hand, blanketing an agency with serial submissions probably won't win you any friends either, especially if you submit to agents in a house that don't specialize in your genre. For instance, it would be permissible to submit serially a YA SF novel to Dan and Merrilee, but not to Simon Lipskar, who does not do YA.

Laurie said:

Is this because if the agent you queried thought someone in the house might be interested they would recommend sending it to them or would forward it themselves?

In larger houses it seems the agents are working pretty independently, so I wondered....

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If the agent thought it was a good book, but she didn't specialize in the genre, she might pass it along to another agent in the house. But if she didn't think it was publishable, then she wouldn't. However, one agent may see potential that another does not.

Writer's House--Steve Malk

Hi All,

I sent a query to Steve Malk of Writer's House (San Diego office) and received a rejection. It was a form letter stating, "your project sounds interesting, but I'm taking on very few new clients at the moment.."

Should I take Writer's House off my list altogether or query another agent in their agency? I don't know if Mr. Malk simply isn't taking new clients, the agency in general, or if this is just a nice way of saying "no thanks" on behalf of the whole agency...

What's the ettiquette on querying other agents in a firm? Is there any point to it?

I just took the pledge: 1/21
Rejections: 1/21

I don't know the answer to your question, but at least you GOT a response from him.

You can query the other agents in the house, but not at the same time.

In my experience, and for this particular agency, you can query another agent at Writers House after you have been rejected by one. They seem to work independently. I have been rejected by a couple, one to have others in that agency show interest.

Independent agents....

davidhburton said:

In my experience, and for this particular agency, you can query another agent at Writers House after you have been rejected by one. They seem to work independently. I have been rejected by a couple, one to have others in that agency show interest.

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Thanks for your response! This is sort of what I was thinking. On the Writers House website, Steve Malk is listed as almost another branch or agency of his own. So, maybe I'll go ahead and query one agent at the main location and if I get a rejection there, I'll move on.

Thanks!

What genre is your WIP? Daniel Lazar and Rebecca Sherman are taking on new clients. (at Writers House)

It's middle reader fiction. However, I queried Rebecca yesterday and already received a rejection. It's not a fit for her list...

Keep trying...and Good Luck with it.

What about Simon Lipskar at Writers House? Any word on him?
muggsie

Simon . . . Excellent, excellent, excellent. Be still my beating heart. BTW, as someone mentioned above, he is the agent who represents Christopher Paolini.

Maprilynne

Merrilee Heifetz is indeed Neil Gaiman's agent. She has an excellent client list.

I would LOVE if someone at Writer's House represented me. That's one of my goals...

Wow!

Brand Newbie here - I was just searching for info on WH agents - using my 2005 Writer's Digest and trying to follow up on who's still at Writers House. Any info on Amy Berkower or Robin Rue? My manuscript is a contemporary womens fiction, yet set in a rodeo setting, minimal on the romance, heavy on the gender/bending job factor. I have been told by two agents so far that it really doesn't fit into a genre!!! I am sending out as many as possible - the one letter at a time was so not working - (I could probably be dead and buried before I get a positive response!). Any suggestions out there?

PS. Love this place!! Lots of info - great stress buster!

voices --

Go here: http://www.writershouse.com/

Their website is current and discloses preferences for some of the agents. Best of luck with your project.

J.

Laurie said:

Question - Is it bad form or a waste of time to query another agent at the same house if one has passed on it?

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Depends on the agency. Some will get quite annoyed. Others--Writer's House and Donald Maass agency come to mind--have very independent client lists and have no problem with it.

The problem is that there is no a priori way to tell which is which short of asking (not always a good idea) or finding out via scuttlebutt at places like this.

A friend of mine who had submitted to one agent and been rejected but praised asked via e-mail if it were okay to send it on to another particular agent at that house. The first agent said, "Sure--her list is her list." But not all other agencies share this philosophy, and some may go ballistic on you.

Just another one of those "read my mind" aspects of this silly industry.

Ursus - I think you are correct.

Personally, I would not worry too much about agents getting angry. Since it is so hard (or impossible) to tell how the average agency is structured, it would take some hypocrisy to get mad at you for not knowing. Any agent who'd take you to task for that wouldn't be high on my wish list.

If it really matters to 'em, they can say "Don't!" on their website, Publishers Marketplace, etc.

Actually, I believe their website is quite clear. It states:

<i> Please do not query two agents within our agency simultaneously. </i>

That, to me, says that if one agent rejects you then you can query someone else BUT don't ever query two agents at the same time.

J.

UrsusMinor said:

A friend of mine who had submitted to one agent and been rejected but praised asked via e-mail if it were okay to send it on to another particular agent at that house. The first agent said, "Sure--her list is her list." But not all other agencies share this philosophy, and some may go ballistic on you.

Just another one of those "read my mind" aspects of this silly industry.

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PMA is an agency that makes a joint decision.... they pass the ms around and agree together to take it on or not. This is also stated clearly on their website. Personally, I prefer the "one agent chooses" model.