Agents 4 Horror/Dark Suspense

dgrintalis · Jan 25, 2010

Thank you, JR. I just chalk up all the interest to a really good query letter.

jr7110 · Jan 25, 2010

dgrintalis said:
Thank you, JR. I just chalk up all the interest to a really good query letter.

I am sure it is not just the letter. There has to be a great plot idea to hook them and a masterful writing style to get them interested in the first place. The letter is important, but it is what is behind the letter that generates the real interest!

dgrintalis · Jan 25, 2010

Well, I think it's a nifty tale, and my writing is not too shabby. Great? No. Good? I think so. Good enough? I'll let the agents make that decision. I just finished the first draft of another story, so if this MS doesn't pan out, I'll start the whole process again when the next one is edited and edited and edited some more.

jr7110 · Jan 25, 2010

dgrintalis said:
Well, I think it's a nifty tale, and my writing is not too shabby. Great? No. Good, I think so. Good enough? I'll let the agents make that decision. I just finished the first draft of another story, so if this MS doesn't pan out, I'll start the whole process again when the next one is edited and edited and edited some more.

Well, I have read some of your work since joining here and I venture to say that you are an excellent writer. No matter how great a manuscript is, sometimes it takes a while to fall into the right hands of an agent that will do the project justice. The others that passed will be kicking themselves after it becomes an international best seller!

dgrintalis · Jan 25, 2010

Thank you JR. I'm just keeping my fingers crossed that one of the agents likes the MS enough to offer representation. I did have one agent email me to tell me she was enjoying the story and another to tell me she was hooked after the first ten pages, so those are both good signs, I think. I'm just in 'wait and see' mode right now, and working on other projects in the interim.

Leukman · Jan 26, 2010

Finally updated the list with all your input, DG. Thanks again for sharing.

Leukman · Jan 26, 2010

I just added two more from my log that I realized weren't there yet: Irene Krass and Jennifer de la Fuente...

No gettin' jumpy. Both have since declined...

Noah Body · Jan 26, 2010

Sorry, amigo...

dgrintalis · Feb 19, 2010

Per the Monkeyboy's requests, here are some other agents who've requested either partials or fulls for my 'tale of dark suspense':

Peter Steinberg - The Steinberg Agency - Full
Eva Talmadge* - Emma Sweeney Agency - Full
Melissa Sarver - Elizabeth Kaplan Literary - Full
Elizabeth Pomada - Larsen Pomada Agency - Partial

*I sent the query to Emma Sweeney, she forwarded my query to Ms. Talmadge who made the full request.

Not sure if I mentioned this agent before, but Jack Byrne from Sternig and Byrne Literary Agency requested a partial, but he wanted an exclusive, which I couldn't grant.

dgrintalis · Feb 24, 2010

Two more who have requested partials:

Claire Gerus - Claire Gerus Literary
Kathleen Anderson - Anderson Literary Management, LLC

And another who has requested a full:
Jake Bauman - Rob Weisbach Creative Management

dgrintalis · Mar 2, 2010

Andrea Somberg - Harvey Klinger is another one. She's only requested the first five pages, but it's a request, nonetheless. Also, not sure if anyone saw it over in B&BC, but Marisa Corvisiero is now working at Lori Perkins Lit and she takes horror. She does not like blood and gore, but if you have a non-gory tale, she's someone to consider querying.

Some others to add to the list (all requested partials):
Susan Golomb - Susan Golomb Literary
Diana Finch - Diana Finch Literary
Mark McVeigh - The McVeigh Agency

Kitty27 · Mar 2, 2010

Wow,this thread is awesome. Thanks so much for the agents,dgrintalis!

louisgodwin · Mar 8, 2010

I can't believe I've never seen his thread before. I've been away from AW too damn long!

Leukman · Mar 18, 2010

dgrintalis said:
Two more who have requested partials:

Claire Gerus - Claire Gerus Literary
Kathleen Anderson - Anderson Literary Management, LLC

And another who has requested a full:
Jake Bauman - Rob Weisbach Creative Management

Just as a point of mention -- Claire has requested a partial of my "Dark Paranormal Thriller". And Jake has requested a full of the same...both with query responses on the same day.

dgrintalis · Mar 18, 2010

Monkeyboy, that is awesome! My fingers and toes are crossed for you!

EFCollins · Mar 18, 2010

Leukie, that's great! Good luck and good karma coming at ya and your manuscript.

Leukman · Mar 20, 2010

And I'll report another success from DL's contributions:

"Thank you for giving me the opportunity to review your query. Although I’m currently taking on very few new writers, I'm willing to examine a hard-copy partial with the first 20-30 pages, a detailed synopsis, total word count, author's writing credits and SASE (or an indication that the material is disposable and an email response is acceptable). If I like what I see, I'll request the full manuscript and then make a decision.
I look forward to reading your material.
Yours,
Jack Byrne
Sternig & Byrne Literary Agency"

DL, if any of these pan out, I will forever be indebted to you for the references. I will be in your servitude. You may use me as you like. Actually, you could do that now.

dgrintalis · Mar 23, 2010

And I have another for you (I didn't check back on the master list, so if she's already there, I apologize):

Jenny Bent - The Bent Agency

To be fair, I got a referral from someone else in the biz, but she's someone you might consider querying, if you haven't already.

Leukman · Mar 24, 2010

Thanks DG! Added to Teh List, and researching now...

Question -- I presume you mention her because she's requested some of your Dark Suspense ms? Partial? Full?

dgrintalis · Mar 24, 2010

You are correct. She requested a full.

I suspect my tale might be a bit too dark for her tastes, but we'll see.

dgrintalis · Apr 17, 2010

To my fellow writers of dark fiction: I know we have a much shorter list of agents (compared to other genres) who will even read our queries, and half the time, despite having horror listed as one of their genres of interest, we end up with the "sorry, I don't rep horror" query rejections.

To be honest, Mark McVeigh did not have horror listed as one of his repped genres, but I really liked his philosophy of "doing things others think can’t be done", plus he has tattoos, so I thought he might at least find Ink interesting.

I took a chance and it worked.

Would I send a horror query to someone who very clearly states they don't take horror? No, I wouldn't. It would simply be a waste of time. A few times along this journey, I said to my husband, "Horror is a tough, tough sell". His response? "A good book is a good book, no matter what the genre."

Write a good book, query, query, query, and above all: Don't give up! I am proof that it can happen. I wish everyone the best of luck on their path to publication.

ETA: Please keep your fingers crossed for me that an editor will have the same enthusiasm for my work as my agent does.

louisgodwin · Apr 19, 2010

dgrintalis said:
And another who has requested a full:
Jake Bauman - Rob Weisbach Creative Management

I got a request for my full manuscript from Jake today. My first ever!

And now it's time for the happy dance. :snoopy:

On a side note, I got a very nice rejection from Claire Gerus awhile back, stating she couldn't accept it because she was already representing another novel about a psychic boy.

Leukman · Apr 20, 2010

Congrats!

eta: I've still got a full with him too--we'll cross fingers and share good vibes.

dgrintalis · Apr 20, 2010

Congrats on your full request, Louis!

louisgodwin · Apr 20, 2010

Thanks, DG!

Leukman, good luck on yours too!

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