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Spieler Agency

CaoPaux

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Doesn't have a website yet, but lots of info here.

http://www.publishersmarketplace.com/members/spielerlit/

Looks solid. FWIW, here's a peek at his personality:

http://www.publishingtrends.com/copy/03/0301/0301trendspotting.html

Joe Spieler, The Spieler Agency:
Of course the sky is falling, of course retail sales of books are off (and for some titles punishingly so); yes, publishers seem to be tightening up; yes, there are fewer publishers, and their imprints nest like Russian dolls (even as I write this, I have a direct line-of-sight to Bertelsmann’s new American colonial HQ, finished in dark cladding that entirely fails to obscure its banal architecture). Yes, editors’ lunch budgets (I don’t concern myself with their travel funds) are being cut, though I still seem to be eating out quite decently on the cuffs of others; yes, editors collectively seem to be doing less editing and more ushering; yes, publishers are still cutting back on vital staff.

On the other hand: how wonderful that Pat Strachan is at Little, Brown; how extraordinary that Jack Shoemaker gets to live another of his nine publishing incarnations at Shoemaker & Hoard; how reassuring that most everyone I speak to is either publishing or has sold to a trade house an “obviously” uncommercial book that is dear to his or her heart (self-serving Spieler Agency pick: The Afterword by Mike Bryan, Pantheon, March 2003); how wondrous that young editors classified as “interns” can still somehow survive on $18,000 a year (without benefits) and that even if they don’t know the novels of Sir Walter Scott, they’re still onto stuff that most of us who are into their fourth decade (and beyond) are not. And don’t we continue to feel just a tad smug that we can say of our work with books that it involves the ideas, the imagination, the creativity, and the very lives of writers?
:D
 

DeadlyAccurate

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Anyone have any updated info on this agency? I tried to send a query to their submissions address and it came back with a "mailbox full" message. I then tried to send an email asking if they're still taking unsolicited queries to Katya Balter, but that came back with a "not found" message. I've sent an email to Joe Spieler, but I haven't heard anything yet, so I was just wondering if anyone else knew anything.
 

CaoPaux

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The PM page hasn't been updated recently, but they have a couple of books in Viking's Summer 2006 catalog (keeping in mind they'd've been sold 2004/5). If none of the email garner response within a week -- and you still want to pursue them -- go for snail mail.
 

DeadlyAccurate

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Update:

Received a rejection in the mail today from this agency. It was form, but Katya Balter handwrote my name in at the top and signed her name at the bottom (I thought that was rather sweet to take the time to scratch out "Dear Author" and write "Dear Ms. Accurate.") So, she's still with the company, and they're still accepting queries.
 

Popeyesays

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Eric Myers picked up my query within 24 hours and asked for two chapters, which I sent last night--all by e-mail. So he's quite responsive. Check out Agent Query for direct e-mail addresses which might help to contact specific agents at the agency more readily.

Regards,
Scott
 

Popeyesays

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Well he didn't take it:
11/22/06 (the next day)

"Dear Scott,



Thanks for sending this material. I don’t feel that I’m the right agent for it, but by all means keep searching, as one may well snatch it up.



Best of luck!



Sincerely,

Eric Myers

THE SPIELER AGENCY"

But I got a contract offer late Thursday from Champagne Books for Jars of Doom, so it will likely go there.

Regards,
Scott
 

CaoPaux

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Did you get through, CW? Which address are/were you using?
 

K-Mark

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He requested a partial of mine in the beginning of December. After the partial he requested the full right before the holidays. He got back to me last week with a rejection, but it was encouraging and offered suggestions. We had a few emails back and forth and he was very helpful. Nice guy.
 

KAP

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Eric seems like a nice guy.

I've queried him twice and each time received personal and helpful responses. The first time, in mid '06, he read chapters off my website, told me he'd love to take on my novel, but declined. He loves paranormal novels, but he hasn't been able to sell them to the big houses.

I tried with another novel in mid '07, hoping things had changed. I got the same personal encouragement about my writing. He continues to love paranormal, but continues to be very discouraging about the possibilities of selling one to a major house.

Still, he seems like a great guy. He gave me suggestions for smaller presses, offered to be my reresentative to negotiate a contract if I needed one, but unless things have changed since last year, he's not eager to represent paranormal.

Don't know if that relates to your novel or not, but there ya go.

Best of luck,
kap
 

ExposingCorruption

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He loves paranormal novels, but he hasn't been able to sell them to the big houses . . . He continues to love paranormal, but continues to be very discouraging about the possibilities of selling one to a major house . . . unless things have changed since last year, he's not eager to represent paranormal.


According to Publishers Marketplace, Eric's been a busy guy and he has made sales to big houses.

November 15, 2007
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Children's:
Middle grade Karl Wolf-Morgenlander's RAGTAG, about a young swallow who leads a band of birds against an empire of raptors that have invaded Boston, to Jennifer Wingertzahn at Clarion, for publication in spring 2009, by Eric Myers of The Spieler Agency.

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June 22, 2007
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Fiction:
Mystery/Crime Anthony Award-winner Chris Grabenstein's HELL HOLE, in which an ex-military policeman must investigate the alleged suicide of corporal who recently returned from Iraq, to Jason Pinter at Minotaur, in a two-book deal, by Eric Myers at The Spieler Agency (World).

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November 1, 2006
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Children's:
Middle grade Anthony Award winner for TILT-A-WHIRL Chris Grabenstein's ghost story about an 11-year-old boy who comes face-to-face with the spirit world when he moves with his family from Manhattan to suburban Connecticut, to Schuyler Hooke at Random House Children's, in a good deal, in a two-book deal, by Eric Myers at The Spieler Agency (World).

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February 28, 2006
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Fiction:
Thriller TILT-A-WHIRL author Chris Grabenstein's SLAY RIDE, in which the driver of a Lincoln Town Car who picks up a young executive at the airport isn't just bad, but evil, to Don Weise to Carroll & Graf, by Eric Myers at The Spieler Agency (world).

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February 7, 2006
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Fiction:
Mystery/Crime Tilt a Whirl author Chris Grabenstein's WHACK A MOLE and HELL HOLE, the third and fourth in the John Ceepak/Danny Boyle series focusing on a veteran police detective and his rookie partner, to Don Weise at Carroll & Graf, by Eric Myers at The Spieler Agency (world).

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April 18, 2005
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Non-fiction:
Memoir Joan Kelly's DEVIANT: The Secret Memoir of a Professional Submissive Who Has Trouble Taking Orders, an erotic and often humorous glimpse into an unusual profession, reconciling it with her feminist credo, too, to Don Weise at Carroll & Graf, by Eric Myers at The Spieler Agency (world; excl. Japan).

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March 24, 2005
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Fiction:
General/Other Jaffe Cohen's TUSH, a gay, comic, romance novel about a loveless astrologer searching for love in Provincetown, to Don Weise at Carroll & Graf, in a nice deal, by Eric Myers of The Spieler Agency (world English).

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February 23, 2005
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Fiction:
Mystery/Crime Debut writer Chris Grabenstein's TILT-A-WHIRL and MAD MOUSE, launching a series of mystery thrillers set in a seaside tourist-trap resort town and centered on a veteran detective who lives by a strict code of ethics, to Don Weise at Carroll & Graf, for publication beginning in fall 2005, by Eric Myers at The Spieler Agency (world).

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August 27, 2004
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Non-fiction:
Biography Kelly Di Nardo's GILDED LILI: An Intimate Portrait of Lili St. Cyr and the Striptease Mystique, about the premiere stripteaser of the 1950s, whose elegant routines brought her superstar status, a string of sensational lawsuits, and a high-profile personal life that included six marriages, to Bob Nirkind at Billboard Books, by Eric Myers at The Spieler Agency (world).

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July 30, 2004
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Non-fiction:
Pop Culture NEWSDAY film critic John Anderson and Warner Independent Pictures marketing director Laura Kim's I WAKE UP SCREENING: WHAT TO DO AFTER YOU'VE MADE YOUR MOVIE, a guide for independent filmmakers on how to create the best buzz on a film -- getting it into festivals, finding a distributor, making sure it's seen by the right critics and tastemakers, to Bob Nirkind at Billboard Books, by Eric Myers at The Spieler Agency (world).

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July 23, 2004
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Non-fiction:
Pop Culture Meinhardt Raabe's MEMORIES OF A MUNCHKIN, written with Dan Kinske, an illustrated autobiography in which Raabe, now 89, recounts life on the set of the film classic The Wizard of Oz (he played the role of the Munchkin Coroner), to Mark Glubke at Backstage Books, in a nice deal, by Eric Myers at The Spieler Agency (world).

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July 6, 2004
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Non-fiction:
History/Politics/Current Affairs Social psychologist David Myers and evangelical writer Letha Dawson Scanzoni's THE SEX WAR SOLUTION, which draws on social science research to make a case to the faith-based market for same-sex marriage, to Eric Brandt at Harper San Francisco, for publication in 2005, by Susan Arellano at Susan Rabiner Literary Agency (world).

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March 1, 2004
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Non-fiction:
Biography John Anthony Gilvey's untitled bio of Gower Champion, the legendary stage director who made "Hello, Dolly!", "Mame", "42nd St." and others into Broadway hits, to Michael Flamini at St. Martin's, in a nice deal, by Eric Myers at The Spieler Agency (world).

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July 8, 2003
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Non-fiction Pam Tent's MIDNIGHT AT THE PALACE: My Life as a Fabulous Cockette, about her adventures as a member of San Francisco's legendary drag performance troupe of the hippie era, to Nick Street at Alyson Publications, in a nice deal, by Eric Myers at the Spieler Agency (world).

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May 22, 2003
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Non-fiction L.A.-based critic and journalist David Chute's TIGERS AND DRAGONS: An Explorer's Guide to Chinese Martial Arts Films, going from its genesis during the silent era through its newest incarnations in the hands of world-class directors like John Woo, Ang Lee, and Quentin Tarantino, to Linda Rosenberg at Faber and Faber, in a nice deal, by Eric Myers at the Spieler Agency (world English).
 

CaoPaux

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EC, please link to sales info rather than copying it wholesale. (And if it's from the subscription portion of PM, it shouldn't be copied at all.)
 

feu2057

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On PM it says they "accept electronic submissions ([email protected]), otherwise send query letter and sample pages to" and then the address. So, by sample pages, what do you think they mean? I'm sending by email, so should I even send pages with it (and should they be attached?)? I've never sent sample pages by email before.
 

ChaosTitan

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Copy the sample pages (usually the first five) into the body of the email, below the query. Check your formatting before you hit send, so it doesn't run together into one big blob.

Most agents will delete attachments unread.
 

Julie Worth

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Copy the sample pages (usually the first five) into the body of the email, below the query. Check your formatting before you hit send, so it doesn't run together into one big blob.

Most agents will delete attachments unread.

Even better for maintaining your formatting, just past your sample pages below your query letter, and email it directly from Word.
 

juneafternoon

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Anyone know if you can query two different agents (not overlapping--one rejects, you turn to another)? Both Joe and Eric rep YA.
 

CaoPaux

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You can query as many as you like; only partials and fulls trigger "simultaneous submissions" rules.