It's true that perhaps literary consulting or management could also be suitable terms for what we do, but we are agents to the core. In spite of all of the consulting, grooming, training, brainstorming, coaching, and alike attention we give our authors, our goal is getting clients publishing deals. Yes, we work on every step of the process from idea inception, to editing, to pitching, to negotiating, to marketing and platform building, to embracing a growth mindset with our authors, but all of this is just the assistance and recourse part of our services. Each of these services being an integral part of our business model that prepares authors for success and puts them in a better position to grow as authors and as AuthorPreneurs in order to attain and sustain success in publishing. When all of their ducks are properly lined up, that is when we are in the best possible position to champion their work.
And so we will continue to call Corvisiero a boutique agency... and we will continue to grow. We have recently promoted Justin Wells to Jr. Agent, and Kaitlyn Johnson and Meg LaTorre Literary Agent Apprentices. We have also signed on a number of new interns and hired two experienced agents to join the ranks. One of the agents is Kortney Price (temporarily listed as Apprentice until she is Corvisiero Trained) and the other agent will be announced as soon as the ink is dry on the paperwork.If you're wondering what an Agent Apprentice is, you are on the right track. In short, Agent Apprentice is a position in the hierarchy of the agency that I created about five years ago in order to ensure that there is no gap in the training of a deserving candidate that wants to become an agent with us. Basically, when we find an intern or candidate that is skilled, hardworking, ambitious (in a motivated kind of way), and fits in well with our team, they become my apprentice for about a year and we do intensive hands on training. I work with them to build their list, we choose projects together, we pitch work together, we negotiate contracts together, etc. We do this until I feel that they are ready to do the work competently on their own. To read about our current staff and their submission guidelines, please take a look at our website.
Speaking of submissions is the perfect segue to talk about the improvements that I mentioned above. I have been closed to query submissions for a few months now, and made some wonderful progress in reviewing and responding to projects. While doing that, I thought a lot about how we could improve this process so that it is more practical and efficient, with an eye toward making it easy for authors to submit their work to us, and to know where they stand while they wait. My other focus was on decreasing the work and amount of time that it takes to sort and review submission projects, and working on efficiency by decreasing incomplete or duplicate submissions. After many conversations with my brilliant staff, Kelly Peterson sent me a text with a link to a QueryManager feature saying, "This could change our lives." So I checked it out... and checked it out some more... and after toying with the idea of going completely automated, I decided to set up an account and give it a try. Kelly was right. QM is super fantastically awesome. Long story made short, we have decided to switch over!
I will therefore now officially announce that Corvisiero Literary Agency is now using QueryManager to receive, sort, review, and respond to queries. This means that when authors submit their work to us, they will be able to track progress we've made on their submission package. This new system will allow us to spend more time actually reading work and responding much faster and efficiently. No more lost or misplaced queries!
With this new system, every Literary Agent page on our website now has a Submission Button that leads directly to the QueryManager form and upload page for that specific agent. All submissions will be electronically tracked and tallied by the system so we know exactly when something was sent and to whom, and what response was sent. This also allows me to better keep track of my staff's progress. It's a win all around. I'm sure this new process will help us find more gems in the query queue. Ultimately, the more gems we get to polish up and share with the world, the more we all get to shine.
We are also in the process of planning a Writer's Retreat. More to follow on that, but if you are interested in learning more about us or from us, and would like to join us for a FULL DAY WORKSHOP in North Carolina, please check out the program and logistics on our website. Be sure to register as soon as possible. This will be a small workshop, so space is limited! Stay tuned for more.
Here's to shining bright!
Marisa
