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The Victress Literary Agency

Thedrellum

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Link here: http://www.victressliterary.com/

The Victress Literary Agency is a new agency some people on Twitter are tweeting about. There are three agents listed, though no real experience or history is given for them on the site: Shannon Orso, Christy Russ Hagenbaugh, and Melissa Gaines. The only one I can find any other information on (via quick Googling) is Orso, who used to be a junior agent for Eric Ruben at the Ruben Literary Agency. Based on the AW page for his agency, that gives me no real confidence in Orso's training.

They begin accepting submissions on May 1st. Since they have no track record and no footprint in the industry that I can see (I can't find any sales Orso has made, though that could certainly be my lack of research skills), I'm not certain why anyone would submit to them yet.
 
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CaoPaux

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Christy, their "on-staff PR consultant", just signed with them (presumably as an author, but if they're going the Promotional Agency route, who knows).

Agree with not finding anything to connect Ms. Gaines to agenting, publishing, or even books.
 
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Snitchcat

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Ms. Gaines, if I've found the right person, seems to be a graphic designer of some note. However, I didn't see anything specifically related to publishing, but she does have a range of experience.

Also, one of the photos on the site is Ms. Gaines's.

https://www.linkedin.com/in/melissa-gaines-2008/
 

Snitchcat

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Ms. Hagenbaugh seems to be quite the fundraiser. I haven't looked much into this lady's background, and also couldn't find a LinkedIn profile.

Granted, not everyone is on LinkedIn. But as a PR professional, would I be amiss in assuming that such a professional would maintain a presence on LinkedIn?

Search string used yields this list of links:

https://www.google.com/search?ie=UT...rce=android-browser&q=Christy+Russ+Hagenbaugh
 

gckatz

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Some major red flags here.

-They're open to everything--all genres, all age categories, fiction and nonfiction. Not wrong in and of itself, but suspiciously ambitious for a brand-new agency.

-They opened to queries on May 1 and began announcing clients on May 24. Apparently they received queries, read them, requested, read the full manuscripts, made offers, the offers were accepted, and did all the paperwork in just 3 weeks. And it wasn't just one client--it was at least four.

-They recently had a 10 Queries on Twitter and they requested full manuscripts for ALL TEN.

It seems obvious that they're not giving their clients a basic level of scrutiny. Whether they're scammers or just overenthusiastic newcomers who are way too eager to sign some clients I don't know. Either way I'd stay away.
 

zmethos

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Any new information on them? I received a response over a year after submitting--very apologetic and also very encouraging. But, having been burned before, I'm feeling gun shy.
 

Earthling

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Any new information on them? I received a response over a year after submitting--very apologetic and also very encouraging. But, having been burned before, I'm feeling gun shy.

There are no sales for this agency, or any of the three agents listed in the first post, on Publishers' Marketplace. Usual caveat that not all deals are reported on there.