The Jennifer DeChiara Literary Agency

Awesome! Maybe I'll give up trying to make sense of the snail mail guidelines and with the equery. Were they quick to respond to your partial or is it still out there?

This only happened on Tuesday so it's till out there. I'll post an update when something happens!

Good luck!

RLB: For fiction, make sure to follow the fiction instructions in addition to the others. So yes, add the five pages with the original query. In the future, you can always call and ask for clarification. If you feel silly about it, just don't offer your name and they'll never be able to connect you to your query!

I'd love to know how things have turned out for people querying this agent. Anyone know anything about the reputation of agents here: what they're drawn to (not just what they accept but what they like: strong characters, quirky, dark?), how they are to work for, whether they tend to be more literary or commercial, etc. Any info would be great!

Just queried by e-mail.

Thanks for all of the info.

I sent a snail mail query on 6/26/08 and never heard anything back.

I've looked at their website (which btw is driving me nuts - I know it's not a mark against the agency but they should REALLY consider having it redone. There's a reason people tend not to use frames anymore), but they don't indicate what they rep and what they don't. Does anyone know? I'd hate to query them with work they don't represent.

Yeah, I thought the same thing when I went to their website. It's annoying.

I also have no clue what they rep. I just sent a query for my last book a few months ago and received a rejection. Now I don't know if it was because they don't rep paranormal or they just don't like vamps.

Thanks, Cao.

E-Query

What is it about e-queries? They're easy, green, and way too vulnerable to being ignored completely. I've sent out 4, not a single one of which has had a response. I can imagine the sound of a quick "delete" every time I send one.

Reponse time for partials?

Anyone have any recent experience with Jennifer DeChiara responding to partials?

She was so quick with responding to my snail mail query (about a week) that I thought she might be quick with the partial. But it hasn't even been a month yet, so I have no excuse for being antsy...

Response time to fulls?

I see no one shared their experience with partials (per the post above), but I wondered if anyone's had experience with fulls to Jennifer?

I haven't been waiting long or anything, just curious.

It took her less than an hour to request it from e-query, then I sent it hard copy.

Thanks to anyone who has info!

I sent my requested partial by snail mail towards the end of February, still haven't heard anything.

Sorry to bump this thread, but anyone have any recent experience with them? They redid, or seems like are in the process of redoing, their website.

But I just nudged on my partial sent in February. Still haven't heard anything...

It seems that they are only receiving e-queries now. I just queried.

JDLA accepts email queries only, despite what it might say elsewhere. Hard copies mailed to the agency will be tossed.

Since people have been asking for updates, I'll say that I sent an email query to Jennifer DeChiara recently, and she called to offer representation within 20 minutes! Admittedly, this was for a picture book - so the whole MS was included with the query, and we didn't need to do the "send chapters" dance.

I'd researched her agency online before querying, and was really hoping to become a client. Of course, I had to pinch myself when it happened so quickly!

Senora Verde said:

Sorry to bump this thread, but anyone have any recent experience with them? They redid, or seems like are in the process of redoing, their website.

But I just nudged on my partial sent in February. Still haven't heard anything...

Click to expand...

Thanks for posting your stats- it helps to know I'm not alone in my quest!

She responded to my e-query within two days asking for the first chapter, also to be sent my email. It's been almost a month and I haven't heard anything. I'm wondering if it is really taking her this long to review 18 pages or if silence = no interest.

Alas, MeriBeth, a month is nothing. Literary agents -- most of them, anyway -- move at a glacial pace. I think they do it just to annoy us.

Thank you Traven. Good to know.

Jennifer DeChiara

I know for a fact that she is extremely busy but she is well worth the wait. I met her at a conference back in May when she asked for my full. Subsequently, after receiving feedback from another agent, I reworked the book and she was kind enough to let me substitute the new manuscript for the old. This was in late July. This past Wednesday she offered me representation!!! Which I quickly accepted as she had been at the top of my dream list ever since I'd met her.

So, I now have an agent! It's surreal and exciting and wonderful.

Good luck to all and query Jennifer with confidence and a healthy dose of patience.

Jeffrey

By the way, my novel is literary fiction, so an extra boost to all you out there working in the no-man's land of literary fiction: it still gets representation in this day and age of the paranormal YA boom.

Congratulations Jeff!