Corvisiero Literary Agency / Literary Powerhouse Consulting (Marisa Corvisiero)

Query sent, rejected nicely about ten days later.

Does anyone know anything about Kat Kerr? I'm having a hard time finding anything on her. She has my full at the moment. She's not on querytracker yet and all I can find is her bio, which I like. She's an apprentice (not sure to who?) and I can't figure out if she has any clients yet.

I had a big agent at another firm, and believe me, I was left with no doubts that he devoted most of his time and energy to the big clients he represented.

While this may not affect anyone's opinion of the overall agency, I do feel I have to warn others off one of the junior agents at Corvisiero. Justin Wells has been using his position to flirt with young female writers (like, HS/early college age) and DMing them with inappropriate messages. Asking where they live, if they're dating and enjoying social life at school, etc. The conversations start out with him messaging someone about their writing, and then he steers it toward the incredibly personal. It really creeped out one friend of mine, who felt like she was practically being stalked by him, and then she heard other accounts of similar behavior.

Yes, several of us are taking the issue straight to the head of the agency. And yes, I am 100% sure these girls are telling the truth.

So if you're a woman writer, especially if you're young, I would strongly advise NOT subbing to Justin.

If we hear anything back from the agency, I'll update.

Huh. Justin Wells does not appear to be listed on the agency's website. https://www.corvisieroagency.com/
He's still listed as being there on Query Tracker, however, and his Twitter feed https://twitter.com/Justin_941 still says he's a junior agent.

Edited to add: This morning QT noted "Profile Update: No longer listed on the agency website."

Per QT, he closed to queries as of yesterday.

Corvisiero have released one of those statements-in-picture-format on Twitter. For those with accessibility needs, it says they've dealt with it internally [it doesn't state how, but given Hester's post above he's hopefully been given the boot] and commends those who reached out.

Good job Corvisiero for dealing with it promptly. Bethanyr32, I hope they've also been in touch with you with an update.

And Good Job! to those who knew about this behaviour and spoke out to Corvisiero directly.
Who knows how many writers put up with this guy's crap because they were young, or because they were afraid to lose their agent.
This could easily have been one of those stories where 'everyone' knows there's a problem, but no-one speaks out.
Congratulations, for speaking out, and for getting a positive result.

frimble3 said:

And Good Job! to those who knew about this behaviour and spoke out to Corvisiero directly.
Who knows how many writers put up with this guy's crap because they were young, or because they were afraid to lose their agent.
This could easily have been one of those stories where 'everyone' knows there's a problem, but no-one speaks out.
Congratulations, for speaking out, and for getting a positive result.

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^ THIS x100. You folks who were brave and spoke out did brilliantly. I'm so happy you're here to make the world a better place. <3

Also, something worth noting: this isn't the first time Corvisiero have had problems related to agents behaving badly. I do think they handled this situation reasonably well (at least from an outsider's perspective) but any authors considering querying them would be well-served to read this thread from start to finish.

I have to commend the agency's handling of the matter, personally. I contacted Marisa shortly after I posted here, and afaik so did several others. She listened to our concerns, respected the privacy of the young women involved, and then the agency took appropriate action. Without victim blaming or trying to reframe Justin's actions in a better light.

Seeing a case where the victims were listened to and treated with respect is refreshing, these days.

https://twitter.com/RealJMcDonough/status/1082356733199204354

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No, because like any other business, they're just going to fire somebody without any evidence to support any sort of allegations.

This makes me really sad. I met Justin at a conference almost a year ago and he seemed like a very nice guy and an agent I would've liked to submit to.

I hope that the authors he represented are able to find other agents (or that someone else at Corvisiero is able to take them on.)

Awful to hear. It makes me wonder just how much oversight the junior agents are getting at Corvisiero.

Personally, I would love to see the junior agents having more oversight on what they're using for their tweets, podcasts, blogs, etc. I have no interest in having my queries used as a "learning tool" or free content for podcasts or traffic drivers for blogs. I sent a professional email and therefore expect some degree of privacy. At the very least, agents who engage in "critiquing" (often slipping into snarky commentary) of queries should reveal this on their bios so those of us who have no interest in that can avoid them. A little off topic, yes, but it does speak to the apparent lack of oversight (maybe?) of the lower rung of lit agents. I realize reading slush every day must be soul crushing, but that is the job you signed up for.

Kudos to Corvisiero for dealing with this prompltly.

However, I do share concerns about the oversight or lack thereof for junior agents at this company. There apoears to be a repeated theme of dicey behavior.

I hope that his clients are able to find new representation quickly, either inside or outside the agency .

So.....I have a couple of questions about the Corvisiero Agency. I was invited to attend their conference in NJ as an author. They were offering me a good price for attending the conference. I have a manuscript (Medieval fiction/fantasy) that I'm about to start submitting to agencies. Question 1 - Is it worth attending the conference? Question 2 - Is this a legit agency. I've been burned before and just trying to keep from getting burned again. Thanks in advance for your help.

Corvisiero is definitely a legitimate agency. They have the sales over the years to back up their authenticity, although, as you can see from this thread, in recent times they had some trouble with one of their agents, but it was dealt with. As for whether it's worth attending the conference... it *might* be? This is one of those things you never know about.

I attended a seminar to pitch my book at which different agents, including Marisa Corvisiero herself, were attending and taking pitches from hopeful authors. I totally flamed out of it, though my wife, who had been there for moral support, ending up getting offered representation as an illustrator for picture books when she wasn't even looking for it, so clearly it worked for her, but not for me. If you have the right book, and the pitch is heard by the right person, at the right time, when they have the right hole in their list that they're looking to fill, a conference can be magic. If not, it might not be productive for you, so it's always a roll of the dice.

Does anyone know anything about this agency's sales in YA and MG? The few I've found among their clients all look like they're published through CreateSpace or a digital-only publisher that you don't even need an agent to submit to. Thanks in advance.

amoonalu said:

Does anyone know anything about this agency's sales in YA and MG? The few I've found among their clients all look like they're published through CreateSpace or a digital-only publisher that you don't even need an agent to submit to. Thanks in advance.

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I'm one of Saritza's clients. I just sold a two-book deal to Wednesday Books, which is part of St. Martin's/Macmillan. Her other client just sold to Blink, a YA imprint of HarperCollins.

There's a lot of YA sales to smaller presses, but recently the agency has been selling to the Big 5, Sourcebooks, etc.

pinkbowvintage said:

I'm one of Saritza's clients. I just sold a two-book deal to Wednesday Books, which is part of St. Martin's/Macmillan. Her other client just sold to Blink, a YA imprint of HarperCollins.

There's a lot of YA sales to smaller presses, but recently the agency has been selling to the Big 5, Sourcebooks, etc.

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Thanks! And Congratulations!

So - they recently unveiled a new website so I went to check it out, and it looks like all of the agents that were listed last year have moved to other agencies (verified through QueryTracker). I know agents move around a lot, but going down to one associate agent and three agent apprentices seems a bit...much? Esp. when a lot of other agencies I track have a number of the same people from time to time. Concerned more because of the history listed in this thread - ​Saritza seems like my idea agent, but at the same time it seems like there might still be a lot of turmoil? Or is that just a normal bump in an agency's road?

Marisa Corvisiero continues to be HIGHLY problematic. After recently signing James Dashner (who was summarily dismissed by Andrea Brown Lit. in 2018 because of accusations of sexual harassment, grooming, manipulation and gaslighting), she has today Tweeted and then deleted a post commenting on Black Lives Matter protests. Screen caps abound on Twitter. She has since made a fumbling apology, but when combined with myriad other issues with Marisa and her agency, I would think twice before trusting her with your work.