Q: I have recently sent out query letters to a lot of agents and got some helpful advice, though the book I wrote wasn't for them. Now I am writing a new book and following the advice these agents had given me. My question is: Since I queried these agents already with one book, is it OK to query them with this new book? I'm sure I know the answer to this question already, but I didn't want to query them again after this new book is finished and they think I am being pushy. The thought "oh no not this guy again" comes to mind.
      - Will

A: Resubmitting is a strange thing.  I get a lot of questions about resubmitting the same work to an agent after it's reworked, but this question is unique in asking about a different project.
      You should be A-OK in submitting your second project. Just evaluate your submissions.  If several agents turned down Project 1 because it didn't suit their needs or wasn't where it needed to be writing-wise, etc., is Project 2 different enough and good enough not to suffer the same fate?
      Now, on to the more common question: Can you resubmit the same work to an agent?  Usually, you wouldn't want to, naturally, because the agent has already passed on it.  But the exception is those rare circumstances where the agent has passed on some concrete reasons as to why the work was denied.  Perhaps the agent's comments match the comments from your critique group.  You take the criticism to heart and retool the ms.  At that point, you could submit - and make sure to mention to the agent that you have completely rewritten the work, taking into account her previous advice.
      Crazily enough, The Buried Editor blog just blogged today about this exact same subject, and gave a very upfront response about resubmissions (that basically disagrees with this post). (Read the whole thing here.) To summarize, the post said that when she rejects a manuscript, she won't consider it again, even if all the personal advice she offered with the rejection, if any, is taken into account when the writer completely retools the work. 
      So the moral is: It depends on the agent.  Some may consider resubmissions.  Others won't.

The mailing address for the Steve Laube Agency has changed.  It is now:

The Steve Laube Agency
5025 N. Central Ave.
No. 635
Phoenix, AZ 85012
krichards@stevelaube.com

The agency handles both fiction and nonfiction, and primarily serves the Christian/inspirational markets (CBA).

If you're planning on querying the Scribe Agency, do it over e-mail.  According to their new submission guidelines, they are only accepting queries via e-mail now.

For more information, check out Scribe's Web page and their submissions page. 

At the conference last weekend, an attendee raised a complaint to agents and editors when we were all sitting together on a panel. Rejections letters he received over time were usually impersonal - without any comments as to why the story was rejected; sometimes the letters were often xeroxed to the point that the text was barely legible, if at all. He felt insulted by these letters.

Various agents on the panel took turns addressing his concerns. The consensus was that agents do not have time to personalize rejections in almost any way. Occasionally, agents will have "checklists," where they will check a box saying why they rejected something (e.g. "POV confusion," "I don't handle this category of fiction," etc.).

Miriam Hees, publisher of Blooming Tree Press, said it like this: She was spending so much time trying to personalize rejections that her slush pile contained material more than a year old. She changed her policies, figuring that a cold, impersonal rejection was more compassionate to a writer than keeping their manuscript for a crazy amount of time. Makes sense to me.

That said, everyone agreed that rejections with the wrong book title pasted in, or rejections that were not readable, were not fair to writers. (To avoid the latter problem, use e-queries where possible!)

While we're talking about rejections, it's important to mention that more and more agents have adopted the policy of only responding to queries if interested. Usually, they are upfront about this policy and their reply timeframe. If they say "We will reply within 6 weeks, only if interested," you should probably wait eight to be certain. After that, consider it a "no" and move on.

Blooming Tree Press