Dystel & Goderich Literary Management

[JamieFord]

I sent a partial to Miriam Goderich, who referred me to Lauren who requested the full. She read it and ultimately passed on it, but was very nice.

I looked Lauren up on Publishers Marketplace and she didn't have many sales (not always a true indicator since some agents don't post their deals).

I had other offers of representation so was happy to sign elsewhere, but Lauren read it quickly and always got back to me right away.

D&G is an extremely reputable agency, I'm sure they would take great care of you.

[rugcat]

Originally Posted by JamieFord;1419658I

looked Lauren up on Publishers Marketplace and she didn't have many sales (not always a true indicator since some agents don't post their deals)

According to PM, she just sold a two book deal to Ginjer Buchanan at Ace, an Urban Fantasy, Night Child, Jes Battis. Pitched as Buffy meets CSI.

[JamieFord]

That's great. D&G is a fine agency, but I felt like I was being relegated to a junior agent, so I was happy enough to sign elsewhere.

[clara bow]

Still no word from Jim on my paranormal romance, if anyone is still wondering. I can't believe it, but I'll probably be querying my next project within a month or so. I have to give serious thought as to whether I'll even send him a courtesy query. Well, I'll post the final result at some point, whatever it is.

It's been close to nine months since I initially queried, if anyone's counting. I'm not, er, counting, but if anyone else is, well, that's about the length of time that's passed.

I'm thinking about querying Miriam Goderich or Lauren Abramo. Has anyone had any contact with them? I read their blogs, but I'd love some further info. on what they've published.

Additionally, the narrator in my novel is a teen, but my writing group insists the book should not be sold as YA. I am hoping--as we all do--that it will be a literary crossover.

Can anyone suggest some agents who have dealt with YA narrators in adult fiction.

Thanks!
JR
jrwritingadvantage.com

[Giant Baby]

Wondering if anyone has had any dealings with Stacey Glick at Dystel & Goderich? I've just sent her a partial, and she's been lovely and very quick and responsive so far.

She's been with the agency for a number of years, but I don't find any posts from AW writers who's submitted to her. Just wondering if anyone has any history with her.

[Carrie R.]

Originally Posted by JRwriter

Additionally, the narrator in my novel is a teen, but my writing group insists the book should not be sold as YA. I am hoping--as we all do--that it will be a literary crossover.

Hey JR, just wanted to chime in here. I was in the same situation with my WIP -- the narrator is a teen and I had CPs suggesting that it might be adult or at the very least a crossover. When I started subbing it a few weeks ago I classified it as a YA for a few reasons. First, YA is selling well right now and, since mine can be a YA, I decided to take advantage of that upswing in the market. Second, I wasn't sure how to futher classify it if I were to pitch it as an adult -- I didn't know whether to pitch it as literary, fantasy, horror, etc. So I just went for the generic "YA" classification. I decided I'd let the agent figure out where to sub the book, I just wanted to position myself in the best possible way to get it read by the agent in the first place.

Almost all the agents that requested the full and offered representation said they'd probably start shopping it at YA houses and then move to adult houses because they almost all see it as being crossover material. One agent declined to represent it after reading the full because she only repped YA and felt the work might be too adult.

Just thought I'd share my experiences -- I had a lot of agents (including one at Dystel) interested in representation because they're trying to builld their YA lists.

Carrie:

Thank you so much for that information. It's definitely something to think about. I was hoping to start with the adult market first and then move on to YA if I didn't have any luck with those agents/pubs. But I am certainly willing to consider such a successful market. Who was the agent at Dystel? Rachel V.?

JR

[Kasey Mackenzie]

Originally Posted by JRwriter

Carrie:

Thank you so much for that information. It's definitely something to think about. I was hoping to start with the adult market first and then move on to YA if I didn't have any luck with those agents/pubs. But I am certainly willing to consider such a successful market. Who was the agent at Dystel? Rachel V.?

JR

If by Rachel V. you mean Rachel Vater, she's with Folio Lit, not Dystel & Goderich. Just an FYI. =)

Yes, thanks. I was actually thinking of Lauren Abramo at Dystel.

[mikeland]

Originally Posted by clara bow

Still no word from Jim on my paranormal romance, if anyone is still wondering. I can't believe it, but I'll probably be querying my next project within a month or so. I have to give serious thought as to whether I'll even send him a courtesy query. Well, I'll post the final result at some point, whatever it is.

It's been close to nine months since I initially queried, if anyone's counting. I'm not, er, counting, but if anyone else is, well, that's about the length of time that's passed.

Clara Bow, any update on your Jim McCarthy saga?

He requested a full from me about a week ago. Anyone else had any recent dealings with Mr. McCarthy?

[Carrie R.]

Originally Posted by mikeland

He requested a full from me about a week ago. Anyone else had any recent dealings with Mr. McCarthy?

I've been talking to him about my manuscript and so far he seems great. I've also talked to a few of his clients and they all adore him. He's been very very prompt in all my dealings with him.

[Carrie R.]

Originally Posted by JRwriter

Who was the agent at Dystel?
JR

It was Jim McCarthy -- who, as of 5 minutes ago, is my agent!

[Moon Daughter]

Wow, congrats, Carrie!

[mikeland]

Thanks for the info, Carrie. And congrats on signing with Jim!

[Saundra Julian]

Congratulations!!

[clara bow]

Originally Posted by mikeland

Clara Bow, any update on your Jim McCarthy saga?

He requested a full from me about a week ago. Anyone else had any recent dealings with Mr. McCarthy?

Sigh. No. I have moved on. I last heard from him, after a status request, oh, back in the spring? can't remember. But I first queried him last November. I'm not going to withdraw my submission, though. It's in limbo in his office somewhere. Off of his radar again.

It's ironic, though, because one of his authors will be doing a panel at the next RT convention titled "Demons Are the New Black" and my book involves demons of exactly that kind. So I don't know what to think.

thanks for asking, though.

[clara bow]

Originally Posted by Carrie R.

It was Jim McCarthy -- who, as of 5 minutes ago, is my agent!

Congratulations! at least he's responding to *somebody*!!!! Seriously, tho, he seems great...best of luck to you!

How wonderful, Carrie! Good luck!

[tresshort]

Folks, just wondering about something.
On the Dystel agency website, all agents leave their email in plain text.
Since there's no procedure for querying, won't they lose queries in an ocean of spam?

[GeoffNelder]

No wonder they haven't responded to me!

They must be losing so many lucrative contracts like mine

New Year's resolution, you see, being positive to the point of insanity.

Geoff

[Carrie R.]

Tresshort -- here's their procedure for querying: http://dystel.com/submit.html

I sent mine to Jim snail mail because I wanted to include pages and got a response via email. I know of others who queried email. Whenever I queried email, I always put "Query: TITLE" in the subject so it wouldn't get lost.

Geoff -- they also say at that link that if you haven't received a response in 6-8 weeks that it's probably because they didn't get it and you should resend your submission (though whether you should add extra time because of the holidays, I don't know).

[GeoffNelder]

Thanks, Carrie,

Ah, I assumed that they didn't represent Science fiction authors - or so I thought after I queried - and so ignored my equery. Maybe I should try again, especially now I won an award for a different book, different genre.

Geoff

[Dollywagon]

I know somebody asked this question in an earlier post but I don't think they got an answer. Lisa McMan wrote that Michael Bourret reps children's picture books, but on his write up on the Dystel site it doesn't mention it - does anybody know which is correct? I've also tried searching for him on Publishers Marketplace but can't find him, so any info would be appreciated.
Thanks!

[Spiny Norman]

Hm, ironically I just send a snail mail query for Mr. McCarthy. Hopefully you all haven't taken up all of his slots!