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

Good luck, Poppy. Jim reps a couple of good friends and a critique partner, so I know he's top notch!

~Mandy

Anyone know what Jim's average response time on fulls is? I'm getting some conflicting info from lightning fast to months...

He had mine for months...or so I thought. When I sent a status query he was apologetic, as it seems he'd never received it. So I resent it, and he had a response to me within days.

Unfortunately, it was not the response I was hoping for, but he was very professional and courteous.

Another note: I'd read posts much earlier on in this thread about Jim's email filters seeming to cause regular glitches. If you've been left hanging for months, I strongly suggest you status query to confirm his having received your materials.

Oh wow, thanks for sharing your experience! He's had mine for just two weeks, so not long at all. And I did get an out-of-office reply right after I sent it. But since I heard he was fast, I wasn't sure just how "fast" people were suggesting. And it's like you try not to be pushy when they're a little slower than usual but faster than everyone else, you know?

He had my full for seven days and then rejected it.

Spring said:

He had my full for seven days and then rejected it.

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Uh...should I be worried...or patient?

JJPie, if it's only been 2 weeks and it seemed he got ur email then I'd wait.

If you're really worried if he got it, then maybe at 2 months you could do a status check, but I would still wait if I were you.

I agree. Otherwise you will risk seeming pushy and unprofessional.

Thanks everyone for all the good advice! I think I'm just getting paranoid. I had two full requests on the same day and both from agents who replied quickly but haven't heard anything yet. So I'm slowly and surely getting worried - especially when they have robust spam filters! I guess I'll wait a month or two before I do a status check.

JJPie - I queried Jim (e-mail) and got a request for a full about 3 weeks later. Sent the full and got a form letter rejection 3 days later :-(

So maybe his taking more time with your full is a good sign. Good luck!

I'm totally new here! I wanted to sift through these posts bc Jim McCarthy just requested my full. For some reason, I didnt send my first few pages with the query, so he may despise my writing once he sees the actual novel, lol.
Just trying to figure out how long I'll have to bite my nails for a response. At least it sounds like he gives feedback on a ms, which would be uber-helpful!

Houndrat - I didn't have any pages with my query either. I seem to remember if it was through e-mail he didn't want pages. He asked for the full the next morning. I'm just over 2 wks and will update on here when I hear back.

Thanks JJPie! I will definitely keep checking back in to see your updates. Hopefully it will be good news--for both of us.

Found an interview of Jim McCarthy of my RWA magazine the RWR. For everyone's information, Jim's response time on queries, partials, and fulls is 2-4 weeks, with a faster response time when communicating by e-mail.

Hope this is helpful!

Okay, I was just reading through my ms for one last edit before I send it off to Maya at WH, and I noticed that I somehow deleted an entire paragraph in chapter five. Crap, crap, crap! I wouldn't sweat it, only it's a pretty crucial paragraph and I just submitted my full with that error to Jim McCarthy on Friday.

Would it be totally lame to send him a note with the fixed ms, saying I made a little editing error and if he hasn't printed it out yet, this was the corrected version? Or should I just suck it up and hope he realizes it was just an editing error while reading? Again, I wouldn't freak so much if it wasn't a pretty crucial part of the story.

Sigh......

Houndrat - I would suggest to leave it at the risk of admitting that you're editing at the last minute (which we all do). If the story flows well despite this small deletion, he may not even notice. I have heard of people who have send newer versions and the agents were really nice about.

Of course, it's up to you. Especially if you think it changes the story a lot and hurts your chances.

If you do decide to shoot him an e-mail, mind asking if he got mine? Ha ha, just kidding!

JJPie said:

Jim's response time on queries, partials, and fulls is 2-4 weeks

Click to expand...

So I guess the best amount of time would be about six weeks before poking him? He's had mine for just over a week now. I'm not worried yet.

Thanks everyone for their stats and advice!!! (The other thread isn't answering my question...so I'm just going to assume it's the same.)

Does anyone know how this agency feels about querying another agent in the house if you've been rejected by one already? I know some agencies frown upon this, but with the bigger houses they sometimes don't mind.

I'm pretty sure it's fine to request multiple agents at D & G, as long as it's not at the same time.

Congrats on your requests for partials and fulls! That actually brings me to a question--do you keep querying when you have mutliple manuscripts being read, and if so, how do you word that in your query? I don't really want to sit around and possibly wait months while they're read without doing anything proactive, but at the same time, I didn't know if it would put off the agents you're currently querying.
Thanks!

houndrat said:

I'm pretty sure it's fine to request multiple agents at D & G, as long as it's not at the same time.

Congrats on your requests for partials and fulls! That actually brings me to a question--do you keep querying when you have mutliple manuscripts being read, and if so, how do you word that in your query? I don't really want to sit around and possibly wait months while they're read without doing anything proactive, but at the same time, I didn't know if it would put off the agents you're currently querying.
Thanks!

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Cool, thanks Houndrat. This was some "just in case" info I was seeking, just in case I don't get a favorable reponse from either one of the two agents who have my full. As it stands, I don't plan to query any new agents until I hear from the ones with fulls. Not to mention, if you look at the stats in my signature, you will see that I've probably queried every agent who handles either YA or fantasy so there's no one new left to query-lol.

I queried Michael Bourret on April 14, that's over 2 weeks ago; no reply so far.

Heard back this afternoon from Jim with a very detailed rejection letter and the chance to resubmit should I address some of his concerns - which you bet I will jump on.

Timing for those interested: Queried on 4/15, Full requested and sent out 4/16, Rejection 5/4

JJPie said:

Heard back this afternoon from Jim with a very detailed rejection letter and the chance to resubmit should I address some of his concerns - which you bet I will jump on.

Timing for those interested: Queried on 4/15, Full requested and sent out 4/16, Rejection 5/4

Click to expand...

Well, at least he gave you the option to resubmit, that's promising. And as fast as he got back to you, if you can address his concerns right away, he might be your agent before summer officially starts! Good luck!

Okay, so I need some advice:

If I want to make the changes, so I write back and say I'll be looking those over, making the changes and plan to resubmit by X day? Or do people not give themselves that sort of deadline?