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Nelson Literary Agency, LLC (Kristin Nelson)

jtrylch13

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EQ Sara Megibow 10/1/14
YA Post-Apocalyptic
Requested 30 pages 10/3/14
Rejection 10/13/14 (I think it was form)
 

Winfred

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I doubt it.. A partial takes some time and committment to read. 1,500 is a huge number. No agent I've had could possibly read so many. Many agents have only one or two days per weeks to read queries, partials, and manuscripts. No agent I've had has ever requested more than a couple of hundred partials over the course of a year, tops.

I assume a new agent with no real stable, or a small agent with a small stable, would be able to request a large number of partials, but partials really do take a lot of time, and when you consider all else an agent has to do with her time, well.

The one thing I know for certain is that there were one heck of a lot more than 21,000 writers looking for agents last year. I mean, I wish the number was so small.

At any given time there are six million unpublished novels floating around out there. I doubt anyone knows how many of tehse writers are looking for an agent at any given time, but it's a sizeable percentage. Certianly in the high hundreds of thousands. There are some 1,500 agents out there, and most of them are swamped, many much more so than ths agency.

Simultaneous submissions make up a good percentage of what they see, but most of the slush doesn't overlap, and even what does overlaps with only a few other agencies.

If no more than 21,000 writers were looking for agents, then gettign an agent would be easy.

Hi Jamesaritchie!

Six million unpublished novels, wow! I was wondering if you might know how many novels are published at like Kindle a day or a year etc. I suppose those figures the big companies keep secret for whatever reason. Some day when time is right I hope to online publish my novella and post it somewhere. At times I imagine daunting numbers and being lost in it all, the needle in the haystack and wondering how big the wave is. Thanks for posting the facts to you and the author of this thread!

Kindest Regards,
Winfred
 

Silverrosess

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Got a really nice personalized rejection yesterday, only 3 days after querying. Or, I think it's personalized...

"Dear Kate:

Thank you so much for thinking of me for your project! I thought your query well-written with a strong concept but not quite what I’m looking for at the moment. Because I’m careful to keep my client list manageable, I’m being really selective about what I request. However, I think another agent is going to be intrigued enough to ask for sample pages and I’m sorry I can’t offer a referral.

Good luck with all your publishing endeavors.

Sincerely,
Kristin Nelson"
 

Chasing the Horizon

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Has anyone else had trouble with the online submission system for the Nelson agency? I've been trying for days to send a requested partial, but get an error message every time I try to log in. I finally had to email Kristin Nelson and ask what to do. *sigh*
 

PeteDutcher

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Have any guys here been taken on as a client? I notice that only 3 of 30 listed clients on their website are male. Wondering if I should even bother?
 

Filigree

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I can't find it right away, but there was a previous thread on this - was it from you, Pete?

Anyway...bother with it. She's a good agent. I have it from two of Kristin's clients that she has no problem working with guys, as long as they're writing work she likes and can sell.* Someone male in my extended family has had extensive contact with Kristin, and had no issues with her.

*This is really the dividing line with most agents.
 

LJD

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Have any guys here been taken on as a client? I notice that only 3 of 30 listed clients on their website are male. Wondering if I should even bother?

If you write something she reps, why not? She has a good reputation.

BTW, I see 6 men on her client list. I think Jamie Ford posts here on occasion. A large fraction of her list (40% or so) is romance, which is dominantly written by women, so it's not surprising her client list skews female. But she reps many other genres too...
 

Dhewco

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I was rejected by her almost a decade ago. I've changed the work since she saw the partial, but I've decided to self-publish it anyway. 4 years of rejected queries and partials can do that to a chap.

Nice form rejection, though. Still have it in my aol mail folder.
 

Krista G.

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Have any guys here been taken on as a client? I notice that only 3 of 30 listed clients on their website are male. Wondering if I should even bother?

I'd definitely query her. She admitted on her blog several years ago that, at least at that time, she was giving men's queries a softer read, since she was eager to add more men to her list.
 

CrastersBabies

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Not in regard to submissions, but I have met Kristen (and Sarah before she went off on her own) and both are solid agents. Very solid. I keep updated on Twitter and go to their websites and often see their authors in major stores and smaller chains too.
 

Dmbeucler

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Quressa Robinson has joined Nelson Literary Agency as an agent, based in New York. Previously she was editor at Thomas Dunne Books and agent at D4EO Agency. Her list will include literary, science fiction and fantasy, romance, nonfiction, and young adult literature.

Per Publisher's Lunch.
 

Vivairi

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Has anyone interacted with Danielle Burby or Joanna MacKenzie recently? I'm thinking about adding them to my query list. Also, is this a no-from-one-means-no-from-all agency, or can you query different agents with an appropriate length of time in between?

Update: It's a no-from-one-means-no-from all, yes, so if you're going to query this agency, I'd say choose your agent wisely ;)
 
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Girlsgottawrite

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Does anyone have any information on Quressa Robinson? I know she used to be an editor, but it looks like she's been an agent for a number of years now, and I don't see any sales. I'm asking because I think she'd be a good fit for my book and the agency is solid, but I'm not sure if she makes sales.
 

Treehouseman

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Does anyone have any information on Quressa Robinson? I know she used to be an editor, but it looks like she's been an agent for a number of years now, and I don't see any sales. I'm asking because I think she'd be a good fit for my book and the agency is solid, but I'm not sure if she makes sales.

She recently sold her first manuscript at Auction.
 

LStein

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Hi all,

I was wondering whether I should nudge Joanna Mackenzie who's had my query for about 6 weeks. In QM, it says to message either to withdraw the query or if you have an offer, so maybe they don't want nudges on queries? Even though it's way past their 1-3 week response time, should I just assume it hasn't been lost because they're using QM? I would love to get a request from her so I don't want to bug her but I also don't want the query forgotten.

Thanks.
 

Woollybear

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No good way to give advice. It does look like she responds with Rs within two weeks or so, usually, ... although at least one full request on QT took more than three weeks (3.5 weeks).

It looks like most of the form Rs (querytracker comments) were within the 1-3 weeks and the requests took longer. One request was after a nudge with offer of rep, which says to me that her 'to do' list is dynamic and she keeps a maybe pile.

I bet you are in a maybe pile. If you had an offer of rep, the nudge would be a good bet. Otherwise, I don't know.
 

LStein

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Yeah, I think you're right. I'll sit tight, at least for another week or two.
 
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Brigid Barry

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Just a thought, unless an agency says to nudge them after X, I wouldn't nudge. QM (to my knowledge) doesn't lose queries, and (while I hope this hasn't happened to you) it might be a no response means no.

If you have premium QT you can check out the agent's timeline and see where she is in her slush pile. Which, I've found, is pretty useless other than to know response rates and see how they process their slush.