Jean V. Naggar Literary Agency

They seem to request a lot and reject a lot. Jessica asked me for my first three chapters today, along with an exclusive. I already have one sub out, but I let her know, sent them along anyway, and said I would hold off on further subs until I heard back from her.

I seem to recall getting requested from her on my previous book and then getting rejected. Hmm...

I've had two fulls with Jennifer Weltz (both eventual nos); one full and one partial with Jessica (both nos). I'd say they're open to finding new books, but also continue to have distinct tastes Good luck!

Thanks for the info.

JRwriter said:

Thanks for the info.

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It may not be "info" per se - I'm going off of what I've experienced and what maybe 4 other writers have experienced. Give it a shot, though, because what do you have to lose?

Spiny Norman said:

It may not be "info" per se - I'm going off of what I've experienced and what maybe 4 other writers have experienced. Give it a shot, though, because what do you have to lose?

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So, have you heard back from Jessica yet?

Mollie Glick signed me earlier this year. For what it's worth, she said she's looking for unique voices and that's what she liked best about my ms.

I wish you best of luck with JVN. My experience with them has been nothing but positive.

JRwriter said:

So, have you heard back from Jessica yet?

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I am also curious! She's had my partial just a little over a month.

Well, she had mine, but it was in Office 07 so I had to resend it. I sent her the Word 2003 version on 9/24.

Been checking my email daily. My other partial was rejected and I gots an exclusive here, so... Yeah.

reeeeeeeeeeeeeeejection!!!

I'm bumping this thread because I just realized that Mollie Glick has had my partial since November 8 - wouldn't be a big deal, but she's reputed to be like lightening in response.

Has anyone else had this experience? When would it be appropriate to follow up? She's not exclusive, she willingly waived it for me.

I have five agents with partials, and three with fulls and NO WORD. This is slowly draining the life from me...

Novel Idea said:

I'm bumping this thread because I just realized that Mollie Glick has had my partial since November 8 - wouldn't be a big deal, but she's reputed to be like lightening in response.

Has anyone else had this experience? When would it be appropriate to follow up? She's not exclusive, she willingly waived it for me.

I have five agents with partials, and three with fulls and NO WORD. This is slowly draining the life from me...

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I'm sending her a partial today, so I'll let you know.


Wow, that's a very impressive number of submissions.

Mollie Glick has had my full since November 5. It took her six weeks to request the full after asking for my partial, which is a pretty good response time given how busy she seems to be.

Novel Idea, congrats on all the requests. I hate the waiting too. But you should resist the urge to follow up yet. One month is way too soon. Given that November and December are chock full of holidays and family obligations and other stresses, I'm not expecting to hear from her before January.

Dang it, Mikeland - you're right! You know how it is - when you hear that someone responds quickly you get more impatient for that pending ejection, LOL.

I've sent about 22 queries. I had four full requests (one never sent since they want exclusive), and six partial requests (one rejected, the others pending). So I guess I'm doing fairly well, it just doesn't feel like it!

Jessica's had my partial for about two weeks. I was slightly wary at first--because she did ask for an exclusive on the partial (which I didn't grant, using that same stuff-with-other-agents email), advertised that the agent did not charge reading fees, and spelled my name wrong.

I'd never had a request with my name spelled wrong before...

After reading this thread, however, my confidence is reinstated and I look forward to hearing from her.

Shady Lane said:

...advertised that the agent did charge reading fees, and spelled my name wrong...

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Sorry, advertised that the agent at JVNLA charged reading fees? If I'm not misunderstanding, I think it's a mistake, no worries there!

I also went around a bit with Jessica, and I thought she was great. It didn't end up being a right match in the end, but I'd query her again in a heartbeat. Contratulations, and good luck with the partial!

I have twice now discovered that I misspelled an agent's name- I'm very careful and I was soliciting them. Aarg! I wouldn't worry about that too much. She was requesting material! Oh, and she always asks for an exclusive (I think the whole agency does).

I am sooo sorry.

That was supposed to say that they advertized that they did NOT charge reading fees.

What an awful typo...I'll fix that right now.

Shady Lane said:

...That was supposed to say that they advertized that they did NOT charge reading fees...

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Oh yeah- that took me some getting used to, too. I thought it was questionable (or at least... um... bush league?) to feel compelled to even bring reading fees up (Jessica was one of the first agents I queried and I hadn't seen that before).

It's not a given anymore, I guess, thanks to all the scammers. Now even venerables like Curtis Brown and Ethan Ellenberg have added mention to their sites that they don't do it. Bletch.

Just a note to add that Jessica's initial request for my first 50 pages turned into a request for the first 100 and a synopsis.

Shady Lane said:

Just a note to add that Jessica's initial request for my first 50 pages turned into a request for the first 100 and a synopsis.

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I'm wondering when to send an inquiry on the partial Jessica requested on 10/26. Seems like plenty of time to reject. I'm allowing for additional time because of holidays, but I've heard of others getting responses to partials after mine. Maybe that's a hopeful sign. On the other hand, Shady reports an additional request for materials and I've not gotten a word.

To inquire or not? That's the question.

As I said about a week ago (scroll down), I'm not expecting to hear anything before the New Year. No expectations will keep me sane during the holidays. And I can be pleasantly (or unpleasantly) surprised if something does come in during the next three weeks.

Marva, I'd say don't inquire yet. Six weeks is not that long for a partial. You really can't read anything into who gets a response when, as frustrating as that may be.

Marva said:

I'm wondering when to send an inquiry on the partial Jessica requested on 10/26. Seems like plenty of time to reject. I'm allowing for additional time because of holidays, but I've heard of others getting responses to partials after mine. Maybe that's a hopeful sign. On the other hand, Shady reports an additional request for materials and I've not gotten a word.

To inquire or not? That's the question.

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I think that's long enough to send an email.

My first partial was with her for about a week and a half.

Shady Lane said:

Just a note to add that Jessica's initial request for my first 50 pages turned into a request for the first 100 and a synopsis.

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Congratulations!

Shady Lane said:

I think that's long enough to send an email.

My first partial was with her for about a week and a half.

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I emailed an inquiry (did I miss your reply??). She emailed back with a 'whoops--got lost' and promised to read soon. I sure hope she likes the story. I'd love to get an agent. Dream come true and all that. I've already got a followup in final edit on the first one (same world, different set of characters) and another (different world) almost complete. Oh, yeah--these are all middle-grade fantasies. I suppose everyone and their puppy are writing mg fantasies.

Jessica Regel

I queried Jessica Regel 12.14.07 ; she responded by day's end with a request (exclusive) to read three chapters. I told her that queries were out to other agents but that I would not query further until the month had passed for her review. This was OK with her. Encouraging to read positive posts about her and to read that my experience re: exclusivity was similar to that of others.

Hope this helps.

On 01/01/08, I'm still waiting for Jessica's reply. Of course, I'll just write off the last week as not existing, but I'd really like to hear yay or nay. I'm considering whether to take a micro publisher's offer on the book instead. I'm kind of holding that off until I can see if this particular book doesn't appeal to agents. I have another two in the works that might be better. Still, a hit with this one would open the door to the others.