Form Query: 04/03/2016

YA paranormal

EQ:6/13
PR:6/15

YA Thriller

Never heard anything back after a couple nudges. Closed in 2014. Won't submit here again.

Profile Update: Genres updated.

EQ 2-4-16 mystery/thriller

Does anyone know how long she usually takes to contact someone if the query was forwarded to her by Ali McDonald? And do I just sit & wait for her to contact me or should I email her some sort of greeting? (Ms. McDonald said if she was interested, Ogla would contact me directly, so I'm thinking I just wait?)

A terrific agent - friendly, polite and always quick to reply. I signed with her late last year and a matter of months later she scored me a very nice deal/advance with one of Canada's best presses (Anansi/Groundwood): http://stage.quillandquire.com/omni/deals-groundwood-acquires-middle-grade-illustrated-novel-by-rolli-foreign-rights-sold-for-neil-smiths-debut-novel-and-more/

Just an update: I went public with my experiences with Olga. She is now trying to silence me by threatening legal action.

http://kaia.booklikes.com/post/1018317/olga-filina-of-the-rights-factory-threatens-legal-action-to-silence-me

You really don't want to deal with these people.

Thanks for the warning, bt_sonderby. I'll pass them by. Being able to compare notes is one of the main values of this site. Sorry for your experience - I hope you find a better agent.

I spent a year as Olga Filina's client, and I'd like to warn everyone here to avoid her and The Rights Factory entirely. You may have seen criticisms about poor response times. You may have seen the criticisms from previous clients about long periods of silence from their agents and behavior like shotgun submissions. All of it is true.

They won't tell you this, of course. I was very specifically told that all such behavior was in the past, that things had changed, etc. etc. I cannot say this strongly enough: That was a lie!

What I've gone through has been horrific and stressful. At the moment, I am not taking the finer details public, while I gauge whether it's wise or safe to do so. However, please, PLEASE message me for further details if you're considering querying Olga or anyone else from The Rights Factory. The least I can do is make sure others go in fully informed.

I was referred by Ali McDonald, but never heard back. I sent a follow up email and still, nothing. Closed out.

No response to the full request sent March 2nd.
Closing this one out.

EQ 5/13 to Ali McDonald
Request for partial 5/14
Partial sent 5/14
Rejected less than an hour later with a kind personal note. As has happened to other Querytrackers, Ali said she would pass my sample pages on to Olga.
5/16 Send a letter of intro to Olga referencing the above.

It was nice to read the info below about other Querytrackers who have had this happen to them. Thank you. And I'll try to keep you posted on my interactions with Olga to add to the discussion.

Looks like she signed one of my twitter friends. At least someone has gotten a response from her. I've given up, personally.

slbynum: Ah! With all the info in hand, you being so upset makes way more sense. I'm so sorry it went down like that! :(

And yes, subbing to small presses and agents at the same time CAN be done, but it has to be done right, with openness about end goals, etc. So that small presses don't feel like they're being used as stepping stones to agents, and so agents don't feel they're wasting their time on potential clients who aren't potential clients at all. It's a complicated subject, and it's difficult to do both WELL. Sounds like you're doing it right though. :)

slbynum3 It's my impression, that once you have a book contract in hand, you can email the agents you've queried and say so. If you want an agent to negotiate the contract.
~But I'm still learning.

BTW, I think this is a huge year for no responses on queries. Just makes one feel lost, and all alone in cricketville. Good luck.