Maria Vicente
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mariavicente.com
Maria Vicente
@mariavicente.com
senior literary agent & senior advisor | P.S. Literary
board member | Association of American Literary Agents
🜂 🜄 🜁 🜃

resources & workshops ⤵️
https://www.mariavicente.com

agency ⤵️
http://www.psliterary.com
I have never used QueryManager, so unfortunately I can’t help with this!
May 16, 2025 at 11:16 PM
Please confirm with me (visit my website’s contact page for verified contact options) that any request you receive outside of official channels is legitimate before sharing your work.

www.mariavicente.com/contact
May 13, 2025 at 12:05 PM
Nope! 3rd person is more common, but 1st person can work just as well. Really depends on the story.
May 3, 2025 at 1:37 PM
Thank you, Sage!
April 30, 2025 at 1:09 PM
My stance is that I will not consider any projects I see during a workshop as a submission for representation. If someone wants to send me an official query letter in the future, following my standard submission guidelines, that’s ok.
April 30, 2025 at 1:03 AM
We try to reply within 4-6 weeks if we’re interested in seeing more. Full guidelines are on this page. www.psliterary.com/submissions/
Submission Guidelines - P.S. Literary Agency
www.psliterary.com
April 26, 2025 at 9:39 PM
I just think they’re rare. It’s not often that we see a novel in verse on bestseller lists for example, so publishers don’t acquire very many, which makes them harder for agents to sell. And some people are just not into poetry.
April 26, 2025 at 8:25 PM
Don’t have the time or vision to edit as much as the project needs, editors not really asking for the type of project it is (not confident we can sell it), too similar to something a current client is working on.
April 26, 2025 at 8:23 PM
It mostly depends on my clients’ career goals. They might pursue self-publishing, or we might do a major revision, or (most common) we set it aside for the moment and consider re-submitting it in the future.
April 26, 2025 at 4:00 PM
Researching deals and agents is the big one. I believe there’s a writer-focused newsletter as well, but typically writers have accounts just to keep track of deals.
April 26, 2025 at 2:18 PM
When there are no imprints left to pitch that we (me + my client) believe would be a good fit for the project. Similar to querying agents—you make your list of people that fit whatever criteria you’re looking for, and if you run out, then you need to move on to the next project.
April 26, 2025 at 2:16 PM
If you’re not seeing what you’re writing on many manuscript wish lists & you’re not getting requests based on your query then the timing could be wrong.

If you are getting requests for pages and then receiving passes, it might be that the pages need revising and the concept is fine.
April 26, 2025 at 2:14 PM
They are both different scenarios. Debut is great because we’re starting from scratch and can build something together. Previously published can go either way: successful prev books could be an easy path to more deals. Books that haven’t sold well can make it difficult to sell future projects.
April 26, 2025 at 2:12 PM
No, sorry. I don’t often keep tabs on what other agents are looking for. And novellas aren’t typically in-demand at bigger traditional publishers, which is where my focus is.
April 26, 2025 at 2:09 PM
Yes, absolutely. Sometimes we can see that a manuscript has potential, but we may not be the right person to get it to where it needs to be (for various reasons, time being one of them).
April 26, 2025 at 2:08 PM
Unless you’re looking for an agent to help pursue subrights sales for your self-published books (audio, film, etc.), it’s best to query with something new. Generally an agent won’t be pitching your self-published books to a traditional publisher.
April 26, 2025 at 2:07 PM
Love the enthusiasm! 📝
March 7, 2025 at 8:24 PM