Inklings Literary Agency, LLC

Cel_Fleur · Apr 14, 2014

Anybody had any recent interaction with these ladies (particularly Jamie)? The website says the response time for queries varies, but I gather they do reply to all. The waiting continues...

~Fleur

Treehouseman · Apr 15, 2014

Had a rejection last month from Margaret Bail. According to Query Tracker Jamie responds pretty quickly, within a week.

jeseymour · Apr 15, 2014

I queried Margaret Bail on March 24, rejected April 14th.

Cel_Fleur · Apr 15, 2014

Treehouseman said:
According to Query Tracker, Jamie responds pretty quickly, within a week.

I got the acknowledgement on the 3rd, but have yet to hear from Jamie. Anyways, not complaining. *procrastinating from actual work*

Sedjet · Apr 15, 2014

I queried Jamie on the 16th of February and got a rejection the same day.

Cel_Fleur · May 1, 2014

Ah, got a rejection 29/4 from Jamie for the 3/3 query. Gently done, though, and personalised. "Thank you for giving me the opportunity to review your work. Unfortunately, it is not a story that I am seeking at this time." etc. I felt that, whilst the agency is professional, the rejection didn't have that air of stuffiness or restraint some agencies might give. Yes, it's pretty much form, but I get did get the air that she liked even if she didn't love the writing (sorry of my writing life, eh?).
I'd definitely send my other MS once it's polished.

Moonchild · May 5, 2014

Anyone knows anything at all about Whitley Abell at this agency? She appears to be brand new to agenting, and I can't find a single relevant thing about her on Google. I mean, she does pop up in searches, but mostly, anything with her name on it is some slight variation from her profile page on the Inklings website.

Also, I gather she's so new, even her Inklings page says she's not taking queries just yet, even though she's been requesting them through a Twitter pitch party today...

Anyway, I'm all for supporting new agents and whatnot--we've all got to start somewhere, right? And, assuming said new agents are working under the wing of their more experienced, senior colleagues, that's all fine and dandy... Still, it would be nice to know something about someone before approaching them, whether or not they've requested the query via a conference, Twitter or whatever....

So... Anyone know anything about Ms. Abell???

Thanks in advance!

parumpdragon · May 5, 2014

I'm also curious to know about Whitley Abel, as she has requested a query and 10 pages of my MS for consideration.

Anybody heard or know anything?

Did some looking around, and this is on Whitley Abell's blog this morning
(blog link: http://whitleyabell.wordpress.com/2...-ten-book-covers-id-frame-as-pieces-of-art/):

"As you may know, back in 2012, I decided that I wanted to be a literary agent. I’d long dreamt of the idea–pretty much ever since I found out there was such a thing from Mandy Hubbard–but being unpublished and having no experience or connections, I wasn’t sure how to go about making that happen. I pretty much lucked into a trial run remote internship with Carol Mann Agency, which turned out the be an amazing learning experience. After a year or so, however, I started to feel a little cramped–all those in-house interns were getting their dream jobs, but here in St. Louis, I was still interning at night with no advancement opportunities in sight–so I began reaching out to other agencies that had a presence outside of New York.

Not everything was a great fit. I overcommitted myself to two great agencies and I truly believe that that my months of flailing there almost cost me everything. Lesson Learned: it’s great to be ambitious, but it’s much more important to be realistic about what you can accomplish.

Thankfully, things worked out in the end. For the last several months, I’ve been working with Michelle Johnson and Jamie Bodnar Drowley of Inklings Literary Agency. I started out as an intern, building a MASSIVE database of editors for the agents to use while building their pitch lists. From there, I began to assist Michelle and Jamie in preparing manuscripts for pitching. I currently am an assistant agent (YAY!) with Inklings, and while I am still working closely with Michelle and Jamie, I am slowly starting to build my client list. I’m not accepting uninvited queries quite yet, but you’ll probably see me poking around pitch sessions on Twitter. I know some authors worry about fledgling agents, and I completely understand, but rest assured: I have my act together, I’m good at what I do, and I am under the wings of some AWESOME agents!

I’m still learning and growing as a publishing professional, both as an agent and in my “day job”, so it’s busy, busy, busy. But…"

BenPanced · May 26, 2014

I got a request for a full from Michelle at RT Booklovers Convention a couple weeks ago, and I looked at Inklings' website just now.

Michelle is listed as one of the clients AND one of the agents. And Margaret Ball, another one of the agents, is also a client as M.K.D. Ball, but I can't find her book online, unless it actually hasn't been released yet. I've poked around and found a couple of their clients' books have been released through e-publishers you can submit to yourself without an agent's representation and at least one through a Hachette imprint.

I'm not sure at this point.

Amberley · Aug 16, 2014

These agents sound like a decent crowd to sub to

mjjillian · Sep 17, 2014

mjjillian

I queried Whitley Abell on July 29th, after reading about her in Writers Digest. She just requested pages. She actually opened with Wow! I'm keeping my fingers crossed.
According to the website they are closed as of Sept 15th for unsolicited submissions.
Wow!
Right now I'm doing the snoopy happy dance...

As of today it's been 6 weeks and no response...

Seven weeks...just having something to dream about has been wonderful, still keeping my fingers crossed...

Seven weeks and a few days...Have I mentioned the wait is killing me?

Garretguy · Sep 25, 2014

mjjillian said:
According to the website they are closed as of Sept 15th for unsolicited submissions.

Sorry for being picky but to be entirely accurate the website says that all agents EXCEPT Margaret are closed to submissions (which is an important distinction for me, since (a) she takes SF&F and (b) that's what I've got).

Gave me a fright there for a moment - it's been a few days since I checked their sub guidelines! :poke:

K.L Hallam · Oct 29, 2014

Does anyone have any knowlegde, or experience with Naomi Davis at this agency? She requested a full back on August 8th, and I haven't heard a word. It's not quite the three-month-nudge-mark, and I'll nudge soon. I'm bewildered as to why she hasn't tweeted in a loooong time. She gave a great interview about "voice": http://www.adventuresinyapublishing.com/2014/07/interview-with-agent-naomi-davis-from.html
She must have a lot of reading to do.

Treehouseman · Oct 30, 2014

karen lee Hallam said:
She requested a full back on August 8th, and I haven't heard a word.

Yeah, I checked QT and she looks a bit on the late side with all the CNR responses. I'm sure you'll hear from her eventually.

K.L Hallam · Feb 13, 2015

She was a little on the late side, and it was a pass.

-- but ultimately didn't connect with the story as much as she'd hoped.

CaoPaux · Mar 29, 2015

Updating URL: http://www.inklingsliterary.com/

TalanaRay · Sep 29, 2015

Does anyone have any recent interaction with this agency? If you're a client, have they sold your book? Just looking for updates.

merlot143 · Nov 5, 2015

Inklings Literary Agency

Has anyone dealt with them? Naomi Davis is one of their agents.

Filigree · Nov 5, 2015

If it's this group, there's an existing thread. <link snipped>

Chumplet · Feb 9, 2016

Margaret did one of her "10 Queries" on Twitter and mentioned a mystery with a good premise that needed editing and polishing. I suspect that was mine, because the rejection landed in my inbox right around the same moment. Well, at least she responded!

UnbearableLight · Feb 11, 2016

Anyone queried/been repped by Alex Barba? I got a match with her today on #PitMatch.

Earthling · Feb 12, 2016

I queried Michelle last week and had a full request from her assistant within hours. Michelle then responded within another few hours to thank me for sending the MS. So a very quick turnaround at the moment, if anyone's thinking of querying.

UnbearableLight · Mar 15, 2016

Submitted materials to Alex Barba back in February, including a full (per her instruction). Waiting to hear back.

Filigree · Mar 15, 2016

I queried Naomi last month.

ETA: queried 2-21-16, email rejection which may or may not be a form on 3-15-2016. At least it was faster than the 3 months response time given on the agency website.

Earthling · Mar 16, 2016

I signed with Amanda and Michelle yesterday.

Amanda doesn't have a page on the website yet - she's been Michelle's assistant for a few years and is now taking on her own clients. While she gets up and running they're working closely together, so my agreement lists both of them as my agent and my phone call / emails have been with both.

We've only just got going but Amanda has been VERY proactive with getting everything set up. Both Amanda and Michelle are professional, warm, enthusiastic, and knowledgeable about the industry. I feel I'm in great hands.

The contract is very straightforward with no strange or unfair clauses.

They're totally on the ball with working with international clients - I'm in the UK, as are a couple of their other authors - and they've already sorted me out with the appropriate tax forms.

That's all I can really say at the moment. After researching Inklings I had no qualms about accepting the offer, and everything has been great so far.

Inklings Literary Agency, LLC

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