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Dreisbach Literary Management

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Recent posting on Guide to Literary Agents:

"Verna Dreisbach Opens Dreisbach Literary
Posted by Chuck

Literary agent Verna Dreisbach, an agent at Andrea Hurst Literary in Sacramento, is branching off to form her own literary agency: Dreisbach Literary.

The happening is still in motion now (and her new website isn't even up and running yet), but take note if you were considering querying her. I would hold off on any submissions to The Vern until her transition is complete. In fact, I won't even paste her new contact info just yet because your query would be wasted right now.

Verna, who is a constant traveler to writers' conferences (much like me) is still headed to a lot of places - the Willamette Writers' Conference, for example, in Portland in August.

To learn more about Vern, check out the GLA blog announcement of her arrival as an agent, and then check out Robin Mizell's interview with her."


Agency website: http://www.dreisbachliterary.com/
 
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DerekJager

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Hi all:

I queried Verna by e-mail for my NF book on Sat 8/9 and received her response on 8/10, which is printed below.

BTW, I want to encourage all NF writers to really work on your "platform" -- who you know, how they can help you, and make certain your manuscript is in excellent shape and let the agent know you are working HARD for yourself.

The nature of my NF book is somewhat related to music, so I had the editor from Brian "Head" Welch's NY Times bestseller, SAVE MY FROM MYSELF, edit my book, and I mentioned that in the query. And my book has already been vetted by a lawyer.

And I had a very "infamous" person write the foreword to this book -- this person is in jail for life, BTW.

My point is, WE need to do EVERYTHING we can to sell our books to the agent--so I want to encourage everyone to think and do all you can before you send off your query.

Let the agent know that we have tremendous passion for our project and we've put time and money behind it--and we expect them to, too!

-------

Thank you for your query. Please send the original query letter, a complete proposal with a strong marketing plan and the first 2 chapters to:


Verna Dreisbach
Dreisbach Literary Management
P.O. Box 5379
El Dorado Hills, CA 95762

or

Print to my local Kinkos on White Rock Rd in El Dorado Hills, CA.
https://printonline.fedexkinkos.com/

Please do not send manuscripts certified or registered mail. Non-fiction manuscripts will not be reviewed without a proposal. Receiving manuscripts in this manner require that I stand in line at the post office. This is not a task that I particularly enjoy. If you HAVE to send your manuscript in such a manner, it may take longer for me to pick it up. Also, with the volume of manuscripts that I receive as well as e-mails, I will not reply to any e-mails asking me to confirm receipt of your manuscript.

Thank you,
Verna
 

Mr. Anonymous

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Queried her 12:55 A.M. She got back to me 1:17 A.M. with a request for the first five pages. I'll let you guys know how it goes.
 

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I'm lucky to have Verna as my agent. She has been professional, kept me in the loop at every stage of the process, and just been a joy to work with. I'll put it this way: I signed the writer-agent agreement just three weeks ago, and as of today, my novel is on the desks of editors at Berkley, Tor, and Grand Central. She's certainly been doing her job. Now it's up to my book.
 

FionnJameson

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Sent her an e-query a few minutes ago. Will update when/if I get a reply.
 

shameless

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I'm lucky to have Verna as my agent. She has been professional, kept me in the loop at every stage of the process, and just been a joy to work with. I'll put it this way: I signed the writer-agent agreement just three weeks ago, and as of today, my novel is on the desks of editors at Berkley, Tor, and Grand Central. She's certainly been doing her job. Now it's up to my book.


Do you know why she left Andrea Hurst's agency?
 

CTaft

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I gather it was mostly because Verna wants to do more fiction than Andrea Hurst does. The parting was so amicable that while she was reading my full, she e-mailed me to ask if I wanted to be represented by her, or if I prefered Andrea Hurst she would be glad to forward my manuscript to her, with a recommendation. Can't ask for more fair treatment than that.
 

shameless

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I gather it was mostly because Verna wants to do more fiction than Andrea Hurst does. The parting was so amicable that while she was reading my full, she e-mailed me to ask if I wanted to be represented by her, or if I prefered Andrea Hurst she would be glad to forward my manuscript to her, with a recommendation. Can't ask for more fair treatment than that.

Sounds like a class act on both sides of the equation. I know Andrea is accepting fiction, maybe just not enough to please Verna.
 

Branwyn

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I queried Miss Verna and received a request for a partial. Then the dreaded rejection letter. She did say I was a competent writer, it just wasn't for her.

I'm striving for exceptional.
 

Susan Bennett

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Verna Dreisbach Literary

Anyone heard of this one? I got her off Publisher's Marketplace, but she's not listed on P & E. The thing that's concerning me is that she states on her website she spent two years at a reputable literary agency, but doesn't say which one.
 

Nandi

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I queried her in mid-October, and she immediately requested my proposal. (Unfortunately, she rejected it.) She seemed to me to be a solid, reputable agent.
 

HippieGirl

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I queried her today and within an hour she requested the first five pages. But it's been a few hours now and I haven't heard back from her. I'm hoping she's just busy and had she not been interested, I would have thought she'd send a note.

Fingers crossed!!!
 

M.R.J. Le Blanc

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I queried her today and within an hour she requested the first five pages. But it's been a few hours now and I haven't heard back from her. I'm hoping she's just busy and had she not been interested, I would have thought she'd send a note.

Fingers crossed!!!

I'm sure it's just that she's busy. You may have caught her at an extremely lucky moment, from what I see around here that kind of fast response is more lucky timing than an indication of an agent's response time. Give her a bit of time, and good luck!
 

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i queried The Vern two-n-half weeks ago and no response. i was surprised because she has a reputation for being quick. it was only the query, short bio, and 5 pages.

i finally decided to re-query her yesterday (without pointing out that i had already sent something in).

her web site says to check her schedule to see when she's busy. doesn't look like anything is happening right now . . . has anyone heard anything on her. is she sometimes slow?
 

CarolSanDiego

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Does anyone have recent sales information on Verna Dreisbach, either with Andrea Hurst or on her own? Her Publisher's Marketplace Page lists nothing. Her Website lists a few books - mostly nonfiction, and a few "Idiot's Guides" which I've read elsewhere do not require representation.
 

CaoPaux

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Most recent sale I'm finding is a memoir to Jossey-Bass (a div. of Wiley and not needing an agent to submit).
 

CarolSanDiego

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Thanks, CaoPaux. Where did you find that info? I've looked on her webpage and Publisher's Marketplace page, plus Googled... are there other places to search that I'm not finding?
 

CaoPaux

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Uh, where did I find that...ah! If you Google "by Verna Dreisbach at" (with quotes) it hits deeper in PM. Subscribers can read the whole page, but the cached portion is enough for "she made a sale" purposes.
 

SirOtter

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I sent her a query about 2 AM this morning (I work nights), and when I woke up this afternoon, found a request for the first fifty pages of Smarter Than the Average Werewolf in my email box.