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[Agency] Writers House

Sparkle

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Aconite said:
Sparkle, if you actually got a personal rejection that called your writing "promising" and encouraged you in your writing, treasure it. A personal rejection takes time to write--time the agent could be spending on other things--so it means the agent thought something about your work was worth encouraging, and the agent gave you the gift of his or her time to tell you so.

As for, "I just wish agents would say if the the stories were good or forget it," the agent said they were promising, didn't s/he? And also said, "tastes among literay agencies vary widely and to stay positive," which is true--your work may be beautifully written, but just not be the kind of work a certain agent handles. Whether or not an agent takes you on depends on more than just the quality of your work, it depends on its suitability for that agent.


Hi,

The agent's name is Michael Mejias and I do appreciate his time in making a response to me. I will continue with my writing and see what happens.

Sparkle
 

Pencilone

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What's your opinion on this: if I decide to send a query to Writer's House should I send it to "Submissions" (letting them assign it to whom they want), or should I address it to a specific agent? (and yes, I'd like one who handles fantasy)

Thanks
 

aadams73

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I hate to break it to you but that is a form reply. I received the exact same one from the exact same agent.

Keep on trying, you'll get there!
 
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jerseykat

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Yeah, same here. "Your work seems quite promising, however do to our cramped client list we are being rather selective in regards to new writers."

I once cherished that rejection.
 

louisgodwin

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I think a year or more ago I sent my query directly to Albert Zuckerman at Writers House, but got a standard rejection letter that begins, "Dear Author,". There was nothing about "your work looks promising." Maybe I sent it to the wrong agent, or perhaps they just changed the verbiage in their rejection letters.
 

Sparkle

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Hey people,

I did not take the letter serious. I just added it to a few others. You have to keep a sense of humor in this business or your would go nuts. I have submitted to other agents and keep trying to improve on my writing skills. In the mean time, I get request from people wanting more stories, so they can read them and read them to their children.

If I ever am successful, I hope I keep a positive attitude towards people and not sound so cold to others.

Sparkle
 

Aconite

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Sparkle said:
You have to keep a sense of humor in this business or your would go nuts.
Is that ever the truth! You also get tougher skin over time, so efficiency doesn't seem like rudeness, and that helps with the humor part of it all.
 

J. Y. Moore

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aadams73 said:
I hate to break it to you but that is a form reply. I received the exact same one from the exact same agent.

Keep on trying, you'll get there!

Ditto. The letter was on nice beige letterhead with an original signature at the bottom but same wording, etc. Same agent. It certainly looks much nicer than most of the postcards, Xeroxed, etc. stuff I've gotten but must be in a word processor to be printed for all us rejects :Hammer: .

Ditto on the "Keep trying."
 

PurpleLady

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J. Y. Moore said:
Ditto. The letter was on nice beige letterhead with an original signature at the bottom but same wording, etc. Same agent. It certainly looks much nicer than most of the postcards, Xeroxed, etc. stuff I've gotten but must be in a word processor to be printed for all us rejects :Hammer: .

Ditto on the "Keep trying."
Yup! What can I say. I heard from the assistant of Amy Berkower. Nice three paragraph letter. It was definitely many cuts above the 2 x 4 inch slip of paper
cool.gif
I received from the Marcia Amsterdam Agency.

My friends wonder how I keep plugging. For one thing I'm a pilot, as well as a writer. If the weather turns bad you can't pull over to the curb and duck into the nearest cozy restaurant. You do whatever you have to reach a safe landing strip. There's no room for panic or "Oh, woe is me!"

I keep sending out queries and I've started an outline for Novel #2. Stay tuned . . .
 

Dark Sim

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EllieV said:
I'm definitely confused. The Writer's Market tells you to address a query to Writer's House to Submissions. I called the agency to double check by asking if middle reader fantasy should be addressed to Susan Cohen or Jodi Reamer. I was told "Submissions."

Should I just ignore that and address the query to an agent instead?

That's what I'm wondering. How do you pick one of their agents anyway? Just anyone which seems to deal with the relevant type of material or pick anyone full stop?

Is it wrong just to put "Submissions" if it says so? The only thing I'm hesitant about is that I would have to address the letter "Dear Sir or Madam" and that might sound a bit too impersonal.

What should I do?
 

Maprilynne

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"Ginger Clark Nadia Grooms Rebecca Sherman Emily Sylvan-Kim Daniel Lazar " Neither Ginger Clark nor Emily Sylvan-Kim are with Writers House anymore. Ginger Clark is with Curtis Brown now and Emily Sylvan-Kim has her own agency called Prospect. Just FYI. Maprilynne
 

SeanDSchaffer

The first thing I thought of when I saw this thread....

....Was "Oh, No! Please let them be legit."

I've actually submitted my work quite recently to them. They've been timely in their responses, and I think they operate with a great deal of professionalism.

I'm glad I'm not the only one who feels this way.
 
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Aconite

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Sean, we had database glitches yesterday. Try reformatting now.
 

Roger J Carlson

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stephblake24

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I will be meeting with him at the end of the month at a conference in Denver...I will let you know how it goes.
 

Laurie

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I met with Dan last August and as of then he was still taking on writers. Since then he has been named a full agent.

I found him very approachable as well and very quick to respond to his e-mail, something I appreciate. The day I met with him he was telling everyone he was being mean that day. If that was mean, then a smurf is a mean.

Stephanie, Dan did tell us flat out he responds well to flattery. If I may suggest, read beforehand some works he's been instrumental in publishing. The one I read was Broken for You.
 

aruna

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Roger J Carlson said:
I met Dan at a writer's conference. He seems very approachable. However, that was two years ago, and he was actively looking for clients. He may be full up by now.

Dan has requested a full from me after reading the partial. He is one of the promptest agents I've ever known; the first request came within a day of my query. He even replied to a mail of mine on July 4th, after Writers House sent an automatic response saying that the ofice was closed. My impression afte googling him is that he's a really up and coming agent, maybe a biggy of the future.
 
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scfirenice

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Writer's House is huge and chock full of A list clients. Landing an agent there is a hit out of the park! Good Luck!!! Merlilee Haifeiz (Sp) is taking new clients as well, unless something has changed.
 

Roger J Carlson

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Both Dan and Merrilee rejected my novel. (Two different incarnations at very separate times.) This speaks to their good judgement.
 

Alan Yee

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Cathy C said:
Merrilee Heifetz... ;)

She's my agent and I love her to pieces. :Sun:

If I do recall correctly, I think Neil Gaiman stated in "Everything you wanted to know about literary agents" that Merrilee Heifetz was his agent as well. One of the Writers House agents represented Christopher Paolini's Eragon. I'm not sure if it was her or not.

In my opinion, Writers House was unfortunately named because the name is vanity-sounding and is very similar to the name of the vanity press AuthorHouse. Writers House may have been named first, for all I know. I do know, however, is that its agents are top-notch and have made hundreds of legitimate sales to commercial publishers, so that's what really matters. I just think the name might turn other people away if they've been told to stay away from places with vanity-like names.

I would be flattered if I was represented by one of Writers House's agents someday. I wouldn't complain if I was.