[Agency] Zachary Shuster Harmsworth

ChrryBlssmGrrl said:

I just threw my hat into the ring with Mary Beth this morning - I will update again if/when I get a response for anyone tracking response times

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Mary Beth never replied to me and it has been 2 months. I don't know if she's a no answer means no thanks kind of agent or not, so I thought I'd email her today to double check she received the original query. Heck, the worst she can do is ignore me twice lol

Anyway, I got an auto-reply straight away. I didn't get this before so I wondered if the last time I emailed her something it hadn't gone through. Then I clicked on it and realised that it said:

'I will be out of the office on October 20th due to jury duty.'

So, I guess from the fact that she's still sending out that message on her emails nearly a month later, that Mary Beth hasn't been in the office for quite some time. Maybe it turned into a long trial? Or she's off ill? But just some info FWIW for anyone else out there waiting to hear from her or thinking of querying...

ChrryBlssmGrrl said:

Mary Beth never replied to me and it has been 2 months. I don't know if she's a no answer means no thanks kind of agent or not, so I thought I'd email her today to double check she received the original query. Heck, the worst she can do is ignore me twice lol

Anyway, I got an auto-reply straight away. I didn't get this before so I wondered if the last time I emailed her something it hadn't gone through. Then I clicked on it and realised that it said:

'I will be out of the office on October 20th due to jury duty.'

So, I guess from the fact that she's still sending out that message on her emails nearly a month later, that Mary Beth hasn't been in the office for quite some time. Maybe it turned into a long trial? Or she's off ill? But just some info FWIW for anyone else out there waiting to hear from her or thinking of querying...

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I hope you have a better experience with her than I did. (see my 8/19/09 post). To summarize, she requested a full and said that I could send as an attachment. Then she got back to me immediately and said she had a problem with what I sent, so I re-formatted and re-sent. (I'd send the same attachment to Beta Readers, agents and editors with no problem). When I didn't hear back from her, I assumed it went through. Then silence...

She never responded to my follow-up e-mails, and I deemed this a non-responsive rejection. Again, I hope you have better luck with her.

Doc

I just filled out the web form with a query to Ms. Chappell. Hopefully I'll have something to report soon.

--Dev

Dr. Johnson said:

I hope you have a better experience with her than I did. (see my 8/19/09 post). To summarize, she requested a full and said that I could send as an attachment. Then she got back to me immediately and said she had a problem with what I sent, so I re-formatted and re-sent. (I'd send the same attachment to Beta Readers, agents and editors with no problem). When I didn't hear back from her, I assumed it went through. Then silence...

She never responded to my follow-up e-mails, and I deemed this a non-responsive rejection. Again, I hope you have better luck with her.

Doc

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In the end, she never responded to my follow up query either - jury duty :-/

lol - looks like she's a no response means no thanks kind of agent

ChrryBlssmGrrl said:

In the end, she never responded to my follow up query either - jury duty :-/

lol - looks like she's a no response means no thanks kind of agent

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Sorry to hear that. And yes, it appears that no reponse = no thanks is her thing.

Anyway, good luck with your queries!

Doc

I posted an interview with Ms. Chappell on my blog this morning. Here's the link:

http://motherwrite.blogspot.com/2010/11/interview-with-agent-mary-beth-chappell.html

Queried Bridget Wagner Matzie at 6:14 today. She requested my full forty-three minutes later. All I sent was a short synopsis.

I'm ... speechless. Pinch me?

That must have been one heck of a synopsis, Richcapo.

WTG! Good luck!

Thanks, guys. I'll keep you posted.

Submitted a query through the web form to Mary Beth for my historical fiction. Hoping to hear a response. Will post back when I hear something.
Bryan

Can anyone here vouch for this agency? It offers paid services, which makes me a bit dubious, but it also has a strong client list as far as I can tell, so I don't know what to think.

Thanks.

Is it just me, or does this agency's website seem... not so friendly?

The entire contents of their "Policies" page is:
Thank you very much for your interest in Zachary Shuster Harmsworth. Unfortunately, we are no longer accepting unsolicited manuscripts. We thank you again for thinking of our agency and wish you much success in all your endeavors.

Can't find anything about what they are looking for, although much on what they have represented.

Also, Eve Bridberg is now an "agent-at-large" - this means she is no longer accepting queries directly? (what exactly is an agent-at-large?)

I'm surprised there aren't more people with experience dealing with this agency. I hear they're good, but I guess the whole confusion over whether or not they take submissions could put some people off. I just queried Natasha Alexis from this agency today.

Just queried Lana Popovic. Figured she's new, building her list and might be more willing to give an old scribe a chance.

I was going to query Lana Popovic after reading this thread, but....the fact that the website says "We regret that we cannot accept unsolicited submissions of any kind" right above the contact form made me really nervous. Wonderafterall and DPRichard, have you gotten any responses yet?

paralith said:

I was going to query Lana Popovic after reading this thread, but....the fact that the website says "We regret that we cannot accept unsolicited submissions of any kind" right above the contact form made me really nervous. Wonderafterall and DPRichard, have you gotten any responses yet?

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Hiya, check with her profile on QT and you'll see that I and several others have gotten requests from the online form. I assume they meant unsolicited submissions (like full mss) not queries. If I'm wrong, she's still requesting anyway, so.

Great!! Thanks! Just trying really hard not to be that author who never listens to instructions

Lana Popovic requested my full MS a day after I sent the query. I've been reading up and I guess she's trying to build her client list--a lot of people were asked for fulls mere days after the sent it.

paralith said:

I was going to query Lana Popovic after reading this thread, but....the fact that the website says "We regret that we cannot accept unsolicited submissions of any kind" right above the contact form made me really nervous. Wonderafterall and DPRichard, have you gotten any responses yet?

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Sorry for the delayed response, went into rewrite mode and lost track of a few threads.

To date, no response to my query. Sorry

richcapo said:

Queried Bridget Wagner Matzie at 6:14 today. She requested my full forty-three minutes later. All I sent was a short synopsis.

I'm ... speechless. Pinch me?

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mbowman said:

Lana Popovic requested my full MS a day after I sent the query. I've been reading up and I guess she's trying to build her client list--a lot of people were asked for fulls mere days after the sent it.

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I just got a full request from one of the newer agents at this agency as well, and responded last week. I was thrilled at the opportunity, of course, but now I'm at that difficult "waiting, and waiting...and waiting" place. Would either of you, or anyone else, be able to offer your experiences on how long it might take the newer agents to respond (good or bad) to full manuscripts? I'm hoping it takes less than 18 months...

The agent I've been working with didn't say how long it would take, just that he would get back to me "as soon as possible."

Thanks!

paralith said:

I was going to query Lana Popovic after reading this thread, but....the fact that the website says "We regret that we cannot accept unsolicited submissions of any kind" right above the contact form made me really nervous. Wonderafterall and DPRichard, have you gotten any responses yet?

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I never heard back, sorry.

Sent a query to Ms. Popovic (via the online form) on 6/15/13. Received a request for a full 6/16/13.

Aggy B. said:

Sent a query to Ms. Popovic (via the online form) on 6/15/13. Received a request for a full 6/16/13.

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Hey, congrats!

tylerjfrancke said:

Hey, congrats!

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Thanks!

And good luck on your full!