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[Agency] Clear Sailing Creatives (Beth Fleisher)

Erin

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I queried her last week on my new YA. She was very quick to reject! Like within an hour.

This actually gives us a new agent to query. At Goldblatt, you could only query one agent and rejection was from the whole agency.
 

Erin

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Wait a second, an hour? I queried her on 3/03 and haven't heard back yet. No fair!

Maybe she's savoring your query, mulling it over, getting ready to request more material! ;)

I think I caught her right after I saw the announcement (queried on 3/2) and she's probably been snowed since then.
 

lvae

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I queried her a little more than a year ago while she was still with BG Literary, with a novel I've sinced trunked... and my impression of her was that she was pretty awesome. She gave me a quick personalised reject on my query, and I know it was personalised because she commented on something I wrote in my query that wasn't actually related in my ms, regarding to someone she'd worked with in the past that I highly fangirled. :p

She's got loads of industry experience, and she sounds like a very cool lady to work with. Sadly, I don't think what I write is a good fit for her. Good luck to everyone else though!
 

A. R. Braun

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Does anybody else think it's disturbing how she isn't listed in Predators and Editors?
 

HorsebackWriter

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P & E might not have listed her new agency, yet. She left Barry Goldblatt Lit in January to strike out on her own.

As a client, I can assure you she's both reputable and a class act.

Em
 

ladyinpink

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Ms Fleisher replied to my query (w/first chapter and synopsis) with a request to speak to me on the phone tomorrow. I'm nervous--obviously this isn't about representation since she hasn't read my whole book. I'm trying to think what she might want to talk about, so I can prepare myself not to talk her ear off.
 

Beckstah

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Ooooh. Do let us know, ladyinpink - I'm super-curious!
 

rtrgirl

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Ms Fleisher replied to my query (w/first chapter and synopsis) with a request to speak to me on the phone tomorrow. I'm nervous--obviously this isn't about representation since she hasn't read my whole book. I'm trying to think what she might want to talk about, so I can prepare myself not to talk her ear off.

Oh wow, that's interesting. I've never heard of an agent calling someone to talk about a first chapter and query. Good luck with your conversation with her, it must have really caught her eye.
 

ladyinpink

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I just feel totally out of sorts about this. Let me count the ways...

1) I can't prepare, because I can't imagine what the phone conversation will even be about at this point.
2) I have some social-communication issues. To most people I seem normal, but I always feel like it's obvious how awkward I feel when talking to people face-to-face or on the phone.
3) When I'm nervous I talk to much. I have to try not to do this. I have a hard time expressing myself verbally. (If I can see my words I do much better, hence liking the written word).

A lot of this anxiety stems from having aspergers and then I worry no one will want to work with me because I won't have a good "normal" personality.

So I am a bit nervous. It's not like she's read my whole MS and loved it and I have that to fall back on. This phone call is probably about her getting a feel for ME.

She seems really nice, though.


The other issue is...
I found out that my emails were not going out and coming in on my old email, so I requeried agents who I hadn't heard back from. I put a note saying it was a requery and why. Well, after I heard from her, I checked out the comments section for her on query tracker and saw that I had noted a form rejection from her. (but I hadn't changed the status! STUPID ME!) So now I'm like--maybe she is calling me to tell her to stop querying her!

(But really, I was having email issues! Her email was one that had come through and I forgot to mark it. I feel like such an idiot now and I'm dying over here thinking I've upset her in some way!)

>>Clearly I have issues. I know this. I'm just trying to tell myself to chill the hell out.

I will keep you all posted. Thanks for the kind words and support. She seems like a really nice agent and I LOVE how she's had her hand in everything in this industry...she sounds like me in that regard (not that I have the experience, but I love everything about it--not just reading and writing, but spotting talent (which I do when I select writing partners...several have ended up published), editing (which people have offered to pay me for). I love writing most but sometimes I think--it'd be so neat to be an agent or publisher or editor.

Gosh, I'm rambling already.
 

Lauren W

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I feel I have a high functioning undiagnosed aspergers as well. I have many sensory problems and find myself talking too much out of nervousness also. Sometimes what helps me is I actually have to tell myself ahead of time to slow down and say as little as possible. Try my hardest to let the other person speak more and just follow their lead. Well this never completely works but it can slow me down a bit.

As far as the query resending, I did the same thing and just never received a form rejection from the agent. I doubt that an agent would take the time out to call to tell you to stop calling. I'm sure if they felt so annoyed by it they would at the most send you an email. How fantastic would it be if she only noticed yours the second time?

I would say prepare yourself for the best and the worst news, but this must be something other than a rejection and remember that you can always tell an agent that you need a day to think about what they said so your not unprepared for whatever they might offer.

Best of luck!
 

ladyinpink

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Thank you soooo much, Lauren.

And if you ever want to chat, please drop me a line. I have sensory issues as well and they really affect me in so many ways in my day to day life. It's hard because a lot of people don't understand. They think you are being ridiculous.

I will take your advice (planned on doing that--we'll see if it works out). I just find with spoken word that I have a hard time organizing my thoughts to communicate them clearly and concisely. I've always been a letter writer, even as a kid--I used to write letters to my mom because I felt it was the only way I could get clearly express myself without potential for conflict caused by misunderstandings and miscommunication.

Anyway, everyone here has been great. Thanks so much, and good luck to everyone querying this agent and querying in general.
 

ladyinpink

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PS Lauren -- I love historical fantasy! Good luck with querying!
 

Kmarshall

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Congratulations, Lady Pink. That is great and fascinating all at the same time. I'd take it as a great sign. Likely, she sees something special right off the bat. Fingers crossed. I sent a query to her last week.
 
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litgirl

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Good luck, ladyinpink! I suspect a lot of us writers are phone-phobes...surely it won't be the first time an agent talks with someone more comfortable in text. Let us know how it goes.