[Agency] Curtis Brown, Ltd. (USA)

I tried googling Michele Beno and the only thing I came up with is that she went to Curtis Brown after a stint with HarperColins (not sure what that's about) and that she's been a guest on many panels at conferences.

Sorry.

Thanks, that's all I was able to come up with, too. I'm hoping Curtis will get their site up soon and maybe they'll have more information on her. Do you think it's odd I can't find a mention of sales anywhere, or any mention of her beyond conferences? I'm just wondering.

I'm not really experienced in that area, so I can't really say for sure if it's good or bad. The only thing I could suggest is that you write to Michele and ask her yourself about what sales she's made since she's been with Curtis Brown. Also, maybe ask a client of hers (if you can find one) and ask them what their experience has been. I'm sure others will be able to answer much better than I can, but good luck anyways!

Moon Daughter said:

I'm not really experienced in that area, so I can't really say for sure if it's good or bad. The only thing I could suggest is that you write to Michele and ask her yourself about what sales she's made since she's been with Curtis Brown. Also, maybe ask a client of hers (if you can find one) and ask them what their experience has been. I'm sure others will be able to answer much better than I can, but good luck anyways!

Click to expand...

Thanks so much, I think I'll do that.

NiennaC said:

Thanks, that's all I was able to come up with, too. I'm hoping Curtis will get their site up soon and maybe they'll have more information on her. Do you think it's odd I can't find a mention of sales anywhere, or any mention of her beyond conferences? I'm just wondering.

Click to expand...

You mention that she had a stint at HarperCollins. My guess is, she was a former editor who switched to the agency side. Curtis Brown is a highly reputable agency. I wouldn't worry too much about the agent's lack of sales. She may be in the process of negotiating a lot of contracts right now if she recently joined CB. Since she was on the publishing side, she no doubt has excellent contacts.

If she shows interest in your ms, definitely ask about her sales. And if she offers representation, definitely talk with some of her clients. But those are things you'd do with any agent.

mysterygrl said:

She may be in the process of negotiating a lot of contracts right now if she recently joined CB.

Click to expand...

You're right. Thanks. I hadn't thought about that.

Does anyone know Curtis Brown's policy on querying another agent there after one rejected you? It would be with a different manuscript.

reenkam said:

Does anyone know Curtis Brown's policy on querying another agent there after one rejected you? It would be with a different manuscript.

Click to expand...

I think with CB it's okay to query another agent, so long as the first has given you a rejection. I just think they don't like it when you have two queries out at the same time to two different agents. I also think it's especially okay if it's a different manuscript. I think you can even query the same agent you queried before if you send out a completely different manuscript.

Curtis Brown still doesn't have their website up and running. Anyone know what the submission guidlines are these days?
Thanks!
-Laura

Which agent at CB?
I suggest you go to Agentquery.com and put Curtis Brown into their search field. That brings up a lot of CB agents, most of them seem to want a std snail mail query.

It's really up to individual tastes at CB. Read agent query and their PM page for specifics on the agent.

Elizabeth Harding--Curtis Brown

Hi all--

I'm looking for info on Elizabeth Harding of Curtis Brown. She has at least a couple of big name clients, including Jane Yolen. I'm interested in finding a more comprehensive client list, particularly who she represents in PBs and MG. Also does anyone work with her, know someone who works with her, know about her personality, likes, peeves, etc.?

As a sidebar--is Curtis Brown ever going to get their website up and running? It still says summer 2007--oops! Maybe I should ask Mr. Bransford.

Elizabeth Harding is a wonderful person and a dream agent. She's a joy to work with and is incredibly professional.

Do anything you can to get her to sign you.

She's the best.

Jimmer

Check in the Bewares and Backgrounds thread here for more info on different agents and publishers. I've found it VERY helpful!

Excellent suggestion, JudScotKev! I'll port this over now to Bewares and Backgrounds so the OP can get more response.

Sorry about that--there wasn't a thread on her there yet, and this forum seems to get more traffic. Thanks for moving me .

Here's one of her authors quoting her comments:
[FONT=Verdana,Tahoma,Arial,Helvetica,Sans-serif][SIZE=-1]'The revised Shadow Seeker is simply marvellous, especially the mounting tension associated with the paper mill campaign. You've made it so exciting and dynamic and I think Tess is the stronger for it. I hope you are pleased.' [/SIZE][/FONT]
[FONT=Verdana,Tahoma,Arial,Helvetica,Sans-serif][SIZE=-1](Elizabeth Harding, my agent at, Curtis Brown in New York.)
**************
Which makes her sound fairly encouraging and positive.

And here's an excerpt from an article on Lee Bennett Hopkins, where she's quoted:
[/SIZE][/FONT] "Lee knows everyone in children's publishing," Elizabeth Harding said. Harding is the vice president for Curtis Brown, Ltd. in New York City and has been Hopkins' agent for several years.

"If you walk around conferences with him, it takes a long time to go anywhere because people are coming up to him to chat, and it is hard to miss the posse of teachers and librarians who are such fans of his work," she said. "I was lucky enough to be invited to Lee's gorgeous home when I was on vacation in Boca Grande this past spring, and when my younger sister, who is a fourth grade teacher, heard that she had been included to join me at lunch, she was thrilled to meet "the" Lee Bennett Hopkins. It was quite the celebrity spotting for her."

Harding said that Hopkins is "totally devoted to poetry - writing, teaching, publishing and inspiring children and adults to love poetry."

"He isn't afraid to give you his opinion, he loves to nurture new talent, he is exce ptionally loyal, and he also has the best laugh of anyone I know," she said.
[FONT=Verdana,Tahoma,Arial,Helvetica,Sans-serif][SIZE=-1]************
So she sounds nice, for what that's worth.
-Barbara
[/SIZE][/FONT]

Does anyone know, just in general, when that website of theirs is going to be up and running? I'm curious.

Confused??? Curtis Brown UK is up.

http://www.curtisbrown.co.uk/

Yes, but CurtisBrown.com still is not.

J. R. Tomlin said:

Yes, but CurtisBrown.com still is not.

Click to expand...

Yeah, that's the one I was talking about, the .com one.

Queried Ginger Clark at Curtis Brown, Ltd. and got a response (ahem *rejection*) in 23 days. Not a bad turnaround.

Nathan Bransford of Curtis Brown Ltd.

Anyone have any experience with Nathan Bransford of Curtis Brown Ltd.? Thanks a lot.