FQ: 4/4/21

Fantasy 78k

FQ: 4-4-21
Fantasy, 108k

I found the comments on here very enlightening, so thought I would contribute that according to publisher's marketplace her most recent sale was July 2019. I don't know if that's fully representative of her sucess, but I thought it was interesting.

Thank god for the comments, it seems like i've dodged a very ugly bullet.

@edacah, thanks for sharing your experience. I can't imagine how I'd feel in your shoes-- the extreme highs and lows completely based on one person's unprofessional behavior. i would never, ever do that to someone, especially in business where so much is hinged on hope. I'm glad it worked out, and it sounds like it's worked out for the best. Congratulations!

Full request. Got an offer from another agent, so I let her know. She emails back--essentially, we're reading and loving, don't make a decision yet. A few days later, a long and lovely email describing my book's merits, followed by an enthusiastic offer of representation--yes, the words "offer representation." Not a drill. I've been around long enough to know the difference.

Zoom meeting scheduled. Five minutes before the Zoom meeting, I receive an email--something came up, have to cancel, all the best with your first offering agent, look forward to seeing your book on the shelf.

That's it.

Friends, I wanted to believe that the litany of stories about her unprofessionalism were untrue, exaggerated, misunderstood, one-sided, etc. I sent my first query thirteen years ago. I've received hundreds of form rejects, endured radio silence from hundreds of others, gotten many dozens of requests, gone to conferences and pitch sessions, had *almost* calls and conversations with multiple agents. In all that time, I have never encountered something so wantonly disrespectul and unprofessional. There isn't even a second place.

Luckily, my first offering agent is an absolutely lovely and tenacious soul, and this juxtaposition only highlights what I didn't realize yet already knew. I won't say "steer clear" or anything like that. I'll let my experience tell you whatever you choose to hear. Cheers, friends. I'll see you on the other side.

@WhiteGardenia, Yes to all. Over the course of five manuscripts and hundreds of queries, I've never shared a negative comment/experience about an agent. But this was...well. If this were my first and only offer? And suddenly the rug were pulled out from under me--and I checked the timestamp, friends--literally five minutes before the meeting? With nary an explanation beyond "something came up"? I'm a pretty hardened writer at this point in my career, but I don't know if I would have recovered from that.

So @cadertot, what you’re saying is that she offered you representation, set up a zoom meeting, canceled 5-mins before meeting (via email no less)... and reneged her offer of rep with a read-between-the-lines good luck and God bless you???

I am shaking my head.

She requested my full and an intern sent me a form rejection. After reading about your experience, I think I shouldn’t be so disappointed about my rejection after all.

I’ve heard it’s worse to have a crappy agent than no agent at all. Best of luck with your original offer. Thanks for sharing.

EQ 11/2/20
ER 2/2/21

Withdrew my full manuscript 1st March 2021. I did not plan to accept an offer from this agent based on controversies discussed below, but I was waiting to see if I may get some useful feedback from a rejection or an offer that I could potentially wield in other queries ... but decided to withdraw because the chance of a form rejection is not something I want to risk getting after waiting for a full month (or longer). I want the ball to be in my park, so to speak.

Onwards and upwards! But thank you to the commenters of query tracker who so helpfully steer authors in the right direction. We all need to look out for one another!

Received a form rejection on a full request. Wow.

Is it a lot to expect feedback when they asked to read your full manuscript?

Getting a form rejection on a full is like receiving a double-dose of disappointment.

To be honest, I had a full out with this agent that I forgot about. I was rejected but honestly Im glad. As a person who values diversity and the increase of BIPOC people in publishing, and if you have the same values and beliefs, this is not the agent to work with.
A. she hardly has any BIPOC authors
B. During Black Lives matter protests she made ignorant comments and has a history of liking racist material.
C. She took on an author who is believed to have sexually assaulted someone
D. She fired her WHOLE staff because they didnt agree with what she did during BLM
E. I Spoke to former BIPOC author who was signed with her who said she didnt treat her equally and didnt have the right connections. She even said to avoid her agency.
These are major red flags and of couse, you will have people with bad morals who will look past this and query/accept offers, but again, if you believe in diversifying the industry, Maria Corviserio is not the way to go. Clearly her actions and morals are clear.

Requested a full after 43 days (71k suspense.) The request came from an intern at the agency, not from the agent I thought I had queried -- but I note that their website says a rejection from one is a rejection from all, so they must make some kind of group decision. I'm guessing that interns may do "first reads." They use QueryManager, which may help systematize manuscript consultations.

Same 'great qualities' rejection message as VictoriaJayne. I'm disappointed to discover that's a form letter.

1/4/21 - FQ
2/15/21 - CNR
2/17/21 - Form Rejection: " Unfortunately, we will not be requesting to read more of the work at this time. Even though I found great qualities within your work, I didn't connect with it as strongly as I had hoped to champion the project." - Tessa Shaffer

98K - Contemporary Romance - Outlaw Motorcycle Club Romance - 1st in Series