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[Agency] Trident Media Group

Ghost Writer

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How long to respond to a query?

I sent Scott Miller an email query 12/1/07. Haven't heard a peep. It's now 3/11/08.

How long before I consider it a rejection and query a different agent at Trident? Or, do I pine away forever until Mr. Miller sends an email rejection? I suppose my query could have been lost in that great bit-bucket in the sky...
 

IceCreamEmpress

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I sent Scott Miller an email query 12/1/07. Haven't heard a peep. It's now 3/11/08.

How long before I consider it a rejection and query a different agent at Trident? Or, do I pine away forever until Mr. Miller sends an email rejection? I suppose my query could have been lost in that great bit-bucket in the sky...

Have you followed up at all?

I'd follow up, and if you don't hear back within two weeks, feel free to query another agent there.
 

Ghost Writer

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Have you followed up at all?

I'd follow up, and if you don't hear back within two weeks, feel free to query another agent there.

No, not exactly sure how I'd do that. Email Scott and put "I sent a query back in December..." as part of the 'new' query? I'm so confused. I'd hate to tick him off, but not sure how to handle it. Writing and editing is so much easier than the query process. It's nerve-wracking! LOL!
 

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No, not exactly sure how I'd do that. Email Scott and put "I sent a query back in December..." as part of the 'new' query? I'm so confused. I'd hate to tick him off, but not sure how to handle it. Writing and editing is so much easier than the query process. It's nerve-wracking! LOL!

Just go ahead and query someone else at Trident. Non-response is (sadly) the norm these days for rejected e-queries. There are plenty of agents out there--I wouldn't bother to follow up. Make Agent Query your friend!
 

IceCreamEmpress

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No, not exactly sure how I'd do that. Email Scott and put "I sent a query back in December..." as part of the 'new' query? I'm so confused. I'd hate to tick him off

That's not going to tick anybody off.

"I wanted to check in about the status of the query I emailed on {date}; I've copied it below in case it wasn't received on your end. Thanks so much!"

but not sure how to handle it. Writing and editing is so much easier than the query process. It's nerve-wracking! LOL!

"Status-querying" is an important part of the process, and it's perfectly acceptable. I wouldn't do it more than once or twice per query, but it seems absolutely appropriate for this situation.
 

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Waiting on Whalen...

I also have a full ms out to Kim Whalen at Trident. She's had it since end of August '07. I received the same (Sunday) email back in December from her assistant Stephanie Sun (Colby mentioned a while ago in this thread) asking if I was still in need of representation and that they'd be in touch after the new year. Around February, with no word from their end, I finally emailed for an update and got a response from Ms. Sun again that my ms is still being considered and Ms. Whalen will be in touch when she'd had the chance to read it.

At the risk of coming off as impatient (I sincerely hope not!), I emailed last month to let them know that I had completed a second ms and if they would like first look at it or for instructions on querying them again w/ new ms. No response. Should I start querying other agencies w/ my new ms? Should I query Trident w/ the new ms?

I know Trident has a great rep and would love to sign w/ them, but I'm going a little nuts here!! How much longer should I expect to wait before giving up? I know the process is long and slow and torturous, but is it so much to ask for a little timeframe info??
 

clara bow

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I also have a full ms out to Kim Whalen at Trident. She's had it since end of August '07.

Agents are busy people, but they have also been known just to sit on queries/partials/fulls until they know there's a strong possibility for a sale. So perhaps Whalen is doing a "wait and see what the market brings" before moving forward on some submissions.

We all should be querying widely no matter how slow or how quickly an agent responds. I'm not sure it's a good idea to submit another manuscript unless you want to withdraw the one she already requested. What if she already did read it, liked it, but isn't sure she can place it? It's not in her best interest to let you know she's just going to wait, or just needs more time to decide. Not fair to you, but them's the breaks.

Who knows why her assistant has not responded. Probably our status emails are the lowest priority, if any at all. Oversights do happen.

KW supposedly was considering one of my other manuscripts for a whole year. It got lost in the shuffle when she hired a new assistant. I finally got a form rejection after a year had passed. So the decision on how long to wait depends on what projects you have and what you want to pursue.

Don't hold your breath, but be strategic about the process, too.
 

andracill

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I've also heard here and there that TMG (among others) can really keep writers waiting. So definitely keep querying and widen your odds :)
 

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I sent my full ms to Trident yesterday and just wanted to say how helpful this thread has been. Their release form was scaring me a bit until I read this thread. :tongue I am upset however that the intro to my email has glitches. :rant: It wrapped some of the words together after I sent it. Thank Heavens the attachment looks like it sent fine.

Question: The Seymour Agency asked to see the first 50 pages of my ms about a month ago. I haven't heard back from them yet (which I expect for now), but IF they ever ask to see the full.... isn't it right that I can't send it b/c of Trident reading my full ms right now? Or is it that I just can't sign with anyone without contacting both parties?

It's okay to send partials still, right? Every single time I think I remember the answer to this question, I confuse myself even more. All I know is I am definitely going to print out your answers. Thanks in advance.
 

IceCreamEmpress

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The Seymour Agency asked to see the first 50 pages of my ms about a month ago. I haven't heard back from them yet (which I expect for now), but IF they ever ask to see the full.... isn't it right that I can't send it b/c of Trident reading my full ms right now?

Trident doesn't have an exclusive with you unless you promised them an an exclusive. There's no such thing as an 'automatic exclusive.'

Or is it that I just can't sign with anyone without contacting both parties?

It's okay to send partials still, right? Every single time I think I remember the answer to this question, I confuse myself even more. All I know is I am definitely going to print out your answers. Thanks in advance.

You can send whatever you want to whomever you want as long as you haven't committed to an exclusive arrangement with anyone.
 

Beware_of_Italics

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Wonderful! That's what I thought, but still I wanted to be sure. Thanks for answering so quickly. :) I appreciate it.

One more thing: Is it common to have to sign a release form like Trident sends whenever they request a full?

Again, thanks in advance. I promise this is my last question to you all. ;)
 
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clara bow

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One more thing: Is it common to have to sign a release form like Trident sends whenever they request a full?

In my experience, having had the oh-so-fabulous experience of querying many agents (and i'm sure others here can attest as well), Trident is the only one who's requested a signed release form. What I mean to say is, I don't think it's very common.

But Trident will ask for you to sign the release form every time an agent there requests a full. Good luck with your submission!
 

ChelseaWriter

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Question: The Seymour Agency asked to see the first 50 pages of my ms about a month ago. I haven't heard back from them yet (which I expect for now), but IF they ever ask to see the full....

This probably isn't the right thread for my story, but since you brought up Seymour...

She asked for my full manuscript last year, and after 4 months, she sent it back, telling me to make changes to the first 2 pages, then re-submit. I thought it odd that she didn't just send me her minor suggestions by email, rather than send me back the entire manuscript. But, I was hopeful, so I made the changes and sent it again. Two weeks later, she sent the entire manuscript back again, with notes to change the 2nd chapter and re-submit. Rather than do that 36 more times for the 36 additional chapters I had, I decided to query other agents. I'm not making any conclusions here - I just wanted to share my experience and possibly prepare you...
 

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I've heard of that story before, and as 'cruel' as it may be, it's a tactic agents use to see how laid-back and personable you are. Just as we would want to work with agents that are open to suggestions and are easy to work with, agents also love writers that are easy to work with and are open to dialogue and such.

What it boils down to is 'how bad do you want representation?' Are you willing to revise? That's what they're testing. A few days ago, I had learned that Stephenie Meyer, the bestselling author of Twilight, had to go essentially through a ringer with her first book AFTER signing with an agent. Meaning, they actually changed the title and stuff. Stephenie originally had the book titled "Forks", but the agent thought that wouldn't fly.

It's a big deal if you as a writer are willing to revise a manuscript.
 

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Is everyone writing about the same Trident Media that is not recommended on Preditors and Editors? Just wondering!
 

Little Red Barn

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Is everyone writing about the same Trident Media that is not recommended on Preditors and Editors? Just wondering!
No. Different. Trident Media Group in NYC are super agents.

good luck!
 

ChelseaWriter

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Just as we would want to work with agents that are open to suggestions and are easy to work with, agents also love writers that are easy to work with and are open to dialogue and such.

What it boils down to is 'how bad do you want representation?' Are you willing to revise? That's what they're testing.

It's a big deal if you as a writer are willing to revise a manuscript.

Oh, I completely agree that an agent wants a flexible client, and am personally willing to make changes for an agent. In fact, I once changed my entire manuscript from first person to third person because of an agent's suggestion (and urging to re-submit). It didn't work out with that agent in the end, but I didn't regret the changes I'd made.

In Seymour's case, I just thought her tactics were...odd. It wasn't that she was asking for changes. It was that she was asking me to resubmit an entire manuscript, with SASE, by mail, more than twice, for what amounted to a few sentences of revision each time. I just couldn't afford it, frankly...
 

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In Seymour's case, I just thought her tactics were...odd. It wasn't that she was asking for changes. It was that she was asking me to resubmit an entire manuscript, with SASE, by mail, more than twice, for what amounted to a few sentences of revision each time. I just couldn't afford it, frankly...

Did you tell her that you couldn't afford to keep sending it to her in this manner? She might have been willing to have you go by email, or might have simply had you do everything at once. I know it's hard to tell someone that you can't afford something that looks really cheap to them, but sometimes you gotta do it.
 

Patrick L

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Scott Miller requested a full from me in February; I just received his rejection--form email--over three months later.

Fun.
 

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Is it common for Trident Media (or anyone) to send a form rejection letter after they've read the full ms? I'm pretty sure that's what I received. I'm more upset over that than the rejection itself. They're the very first people in the literary world to ever have read my story, and all I receive in response is a form rejection? Why couldn't they tell me what was lacking? Why couldn't they tell me what they liked? I expect form rejections for the most part, but not after they request a full. Here's what it said:

Thank you for sending me COME BACK TO ME, which I have now read. I think you are a good writer, but after careful consideration I did not feel enthusiastic enough about your book to represent it, and I am therefore unable to offer literary representation at this time.

Please understand that this is only one opinion, and what one agent thinks might be different than the views of other literary agents. With this in mind, I would recommend that you contact the Association of Author’s Representatives.........


After that it's just standard form stuff about the AAR. Does this sound like a form rejection to you as well? Has anyone here received the exact rejection from Trident? I know it doesn't matter. They don't want to reperesent me, and that's fine. I just need to know if others have received the same letter above. Thanks.

Kristin

Edit: Just saw Patrick's post above about this. I guess it does happen.
 
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clara bow

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After that it's just standard form stuff about the AAR. Does this sound like a form rejection to you as well? Has anyone here received the exact rejection from Trident? I know it doesn't matter. They don't want to reperesent me, and that's fine. I just need to know if others have received the same letter above. Thanks.

Kristin

Sorry to hear about the rejection. It's very frustrating after getting one's hopes up.

I also received a form rejection from an agent at Trident (after a year of waiting), and it sounded even more like a form than yours does. Yours reads like it has a little bit of personalized feedback thrown in.

I think it's somewhat common to get a form response to a full. Remember, too, it may just be that the assistant read it and conferred with the agent who then rejected on that basis. It stinks, I know.