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Waxman Literary Agency (formerly Waxman Leavell Literary Agency)

Kazul9

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Just dropping by to give a quick story on Fleetwood Robbins:

I was in the PitchWars contest this past round as an alternate, and got a full request from him. He said he'd get back to me in two weeks, and two weeks later I had an offer of rep.

Considering his history in the publishing field, and the fact that I had no other offers, and signed the contract on Dec. 1st. I went through a round of edits, sent it back, and waited. I heard back on Feb 4th with this e-mail:

Going through the manuscript for Summer Thunder, I have come to the conclusion that I can’t represent your work. My enthusiasm for the project is not where it should be. I am not the right agent for you. I am very sorry to write you with this news. My greatest hope is that you can resubmit Summer Thunder to agents that might be more dedicated to the task of finding you a good publisher.
You are a talented writer with a great imagination. I wish you the greatest future success.

So, back to the query trenches.
 

UglyDucksFly

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How unprofessional!!!! I can't believe an agent who calls themselves a professional would act that way. I am so so sorry that happened. I hope writers think twice before querying someone as flakey as that.

PLEASE TELL ME he didn't hold you to some contract line about waiting a month or six to query again????
 

Kazul9

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How unprofessional!!!! I can't believe an agent who calls themselves a professional would act that way. I am so so sorry that happened. I hope writers think twice before querying someone as flakey as that.

PLEASE TELL ME he didn't hold you to some contract line about waiting a month or six to query again????

Thank you, it's... been kinda rough to get over.

Oh yeah, first thing I did was ask him to waive that clause. Considering we didn't even go on sub, it wasn't that big a deal.
 

Krista G.

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Oh, wow, Kazul9, that's horrible. I never would have expected an agent at an agency as generally well-respected as Waxman Leavell to behave this way.

When he offered representation, did you sign a contract of some sort, either an agency agreement or a retainer? You weren't just working on a handshake basis? I mean, it's not like you want an agent who's not enthusiastic about your work, but ethically, I think it's wrong to offer someone a contract, then renege a few months later. If he wasn't sure about the manuscript, he should have asked for a revision. He can't offer representation, then willy-nilly change his mind.

I can't imagine how demoralizing this experience must have been, but please know that not all agents behave like this. Some actually earn their keep.
 

Kazul9

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Thanks Krista. Yeah, I'd signed a contract, and had a friend who happened to be a lawyer look over it. It seriously through me for a loop. I jumped back into querying, but every rejection's hitting me harder than it ever has before -- today I decided I'm just going to shelve this manuscript. Onto the next.
 

Krista G.

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Thanks Krista. Yeah, I'd signed a contract, and had a friend who happened to be a lawyer look over it. It seriously through me for a loop. I jumped back into querying, but every rejection's hitting me harder than it ever has before -- today I decided I'm just going to shelve this manuscript. Onto the next.

Is Mr. Waxman aware of the situation? If not, have you considered reaching out to him? I wouldn't want to work with Mr. Robbins ever again, but he needs to know that this behavior is unacceptable.

Update: I've also wondered if it would be worth mentioning to Victoria Strauss of Writer Beware (who frequents these parts). She'd probably know how common this practice is.
 
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Filigree

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This is troubling to hear, certainly. It's one thing for an agent to say 'no' at a query or a full. Another to back off, with that kind of vague statement, after offering rep.

When I was looking for an agent for an erotic romance space opera, I contacted the guy who had been my agent (unsuccessful, more on my part than his) for a fantasy novel 15 years previous. He made it professionally clear that he was uncomfortable even repping straight romance, let alone M/M. No problem, no hard feelings either way.

Agents are people, too. Their situation changes, along with their emotional thresholds and acceptable workloads. If I was still looking for an agent, I'd be hesitant about querying Waxman Leavell until I knew more about the agents' preferences.

As disappointing as this instance was, it's still better to have an enthusiastic agent than one going through the motions.
 
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moonwatch178

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I agree with Filigree, Kazul. Your situation is troubling to me, but it's definitely better to have an enthusiastic agent.
 

Kazul9

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Oh man, I feel like I'm taking over this thread. Sorry!

Is Mr. Waxman aware of the situation? If not, have you considered reaching out to him? I wouldn't want to work with Mr. Robbins ever again, but he needs to know that this behavior is unacceptable.

Update: I've also wondered if it would be worth mentioning to Victoria Strauss of Writer Beware (who frequents these parts). She'd probably know how common this practice is.

I haven't contacted either, no. On the former, I'm not even sure what I would say that would or could be productive -- assuming he doesn't already know. I'll think on talking to Victoria Strauss, though.

And thank you so much to everyone else! I know I'd much rather have an agent who's passionate about my work and career than one who's not. It's just doesn't seem to be something that seems to happen usually, and I can't help wondering what I did wrong -- even if I did do nothing. Ah, well.
 
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mayqueen

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That's a very common business practice. It even says on their website that no response = no.
 

Satchan

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Does anyone else have experience with Fleetwood Robbins? I was thinking of querying him, but that tale's made me a little wary...
 

Cel_Fleur

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Ditto on that question. It's not a great situation, but one would hope that it's a one-off for him.
 

Filigree

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Unfortunately in cases like this, one bad data point is enough to influence me. If I were querying right now, Robbins (and maybe the whole agency) would be off my list. I might even brazenly write directly to them and ask for clarification on business practices (knowing full well that would probably kill any personal rep chances, but at least they'd be alerted & have a chance to respond.)

I don't know if they read this thread.
 
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Dmbeucler

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Holly Root is leaving the agency to start her own agency on May 1. It will be called Root Literary and based in LA. Taylor Haggerty is joining her. (From Publishers Lunch 4/27/17)