[Agency] Inkwell Management

I queried Catherine last Friday and haven't heard anything yet... let me know if y'all hear from her so I know if I have to send again.

I sent her a query almost a month ago and have heard nothing. I am wondering if she even got it. Should I resend?

Requested full from partial request. Mailed on 3/10/2010. Agent I queried was David Forrer. Person who responded was Allie Greenwald.

Anyone have recent dealings with Nathaniel Jacks?

Or Ethan Bassoff?

EB asked for my full, I e-mailed it as requested, and when he found out that I had another finished novel, he asked me to e-mail that one as well. I was most excited( he was the only one who asked to see both the books) and waited to hear back from him for nearly two months. I got a couple of offers in the meantime, and when I wrote to him asking for his feedback,he said he hadn't received either one of my novels (which may be the case, I just find it hard to believe especially since he had corresponded with me after he received my first full.)

Take home. If you send him a full, please verify that he has indeed received it.

Queried David Forrer in early February. Still no word. Putting him in the non-responder bin.

You've given up way too soon Traven. It took 3-1/2 months for someone to get back to me.

I queried David Forrer 10-30-09, rejected 1-19-10.

TerryRodgers said:

You've given up way too soon Traven. It took 3-1/2 months for someone to get back to me.

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All right, maybe I'll take him out of the bin for awhile, however, it's been my experience that if you haven't heard within a couple of weeks, the answer's gonna be "no" whenever it finally dribbles in.

I think for the most part that two week window is true, but I've also gotten some full requests after a month so I don't think it's an absolute. Querytracker's data explorer offers a pretty good gauge of who slides in that 2 week window and who hovers outside.

Posted an interview with Ms. Drayton on my blog today:

http://motherwrite.blogspot.com/2010/06/interview-with-agent-catherine-drayton.html

Best of luck to everyone waiting to hear back from her, or anyone else at InkWell!

Catherine Drayton has the unusual distinction of being the only agent to ever reject me twice on the same query. The first time she rejected me personally, and the second time a few weeks later must have been an assistant. I thought it was pretty funny, though.

Do you think four months is a long time to have a full? Charlie Olsen has had my full ms that long. I nudged him last month with no response. I know it can take six months sometimes ... maybe I should give it a couple more months?

Unfortunately yes it can take that long. Established agents spend maybe 5% of their time seeking new clients. The rest of their time is with their published authors. It's very frustrating, I know. Especially if you are waiting for feedback from each agent. That's why sometimes it takes years for that first novel to find an agent.

I have five fulls out right now and it's driving my bonkers. Mainly because I've spoken to two of the agents via phone and made some substantial edits. And I know through email that another of the agents has read my manuscript three times. Three times? I use to have hair.

Keep sending out queries and keep on writing.

Thanks, Terry. I'll hang in there then. Good luck with those agents. Sounds promising!

Roly said:

Anyone have recent dealings with Nathaniel Jacks?

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I queried him three months ago and he asked for a partial within a few days. I sent it but have not heard back from him since then. Am hoping he received it, but am afraid to be pushy. Just wondering what is the right amount of time to wait before sending the follow up... thoughts anybody?

Roly said:

Anyone have recent dealings with Nathaniel Jacks?

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I queried him on May. He replied within 24 hours requesting the first 100 pages of my manuscript. I sent it on May 24. I sent a query status on 7/12 but haven't heard anything.

For what it's worth, my first dealing with Nat was about two years ago when he read a short story I had published in Glimmer Train. I sent him the novel that I was shopping around at the time. Stylistically it was VERY different from the story, so I knew it probably wouldn't be a good fit but it was all I had to send him. He read the full manuscript pretty quickly--I'd have to go back to check but I think he read and responded within a month. He rejected it (it ended up getting published by a small press last year, so all's well that ends well). At the time (2007), I got the feeling that he was a newish agent looking to make his mark. He's clearly more established now.

<continues to wait>

I e-queried Catherine Drayton a couple of days ago, got a request for a partial the next day, sent off partial, got a note saying she had received my work, and now the waiting begins. From what I read, she tends to vary with response times but in both e-mails I received from her, she was very polite, which I like a lot.

I just sent in my query to Catherine. Fingers crossed! And good luck to everyone else querying agents from Inkwell!

I am happy to say, that Catherine has requested a full off the partial I sent her July 20th. As it would seem I am experiencing some very quick turn around times and am thankful.
The real nail-biting begins

AlishaS said:

I am happy to say, that Catherine has requested a full off the partial I sent her July 20th. As it would seem I am experiencing some very quick turn around times and am thankful.
The real nail-biting begins

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Congratulations!!! My fingers are crossed for you!

AlishaS said:

I am happy to say, that Catherine has requested a full off the partial I sent her July 20th. As it would seem I am experiencing some very quick turn around times and am thankful.
The real nail-biting begins

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That's awesome! Congratulations! And good luck!

At five months and one week, I sent Charlie Olsen a status query on my full. He responded promptly, apologizing and saying that he's had the busiest year of his career. He said he'd get back to me next week with some feedback.

I guess you can add me to the list of nail-biters.

Me too. I sent off requested proposal this morning.