As my clients know, and as many of you may have heard, I’m moving to Los Angeles at the end of this month to open up a West Coast office for DGLM. I’m really excited about starting something new, and I think it’s a wonderful opportunity for my clients, the agency and me.
I’ve had a few questions about how this will work, so I’ll try to address those here. First and foremost: I want to be very clear that I will continue to agent my amazing clients, and I remain on the lookout for exceptionally talented new authors. I’m a literary agent, and that’s not going to change.
Though I’ll be living and working in L.A., you can expect to see me in New York. Often. I’ll be back at the end of January for more than a week (I’ll be attending the SCBWI Winter conference to do the roundtables on January 29), meeting with editors, publishers and, of course, authors. There will be several trips like that throughout the year, so you New Yorkers can breathe easy (or not!).
I’ll be working New York hours, at my desk about 9:30 AM – 7 PM Eastern time, and I’ll be at my new phone number, 310-363-0252. That number is already live, so feel free to call me there any time (it’s forwarded to ring me wherever I am). My email remains the same: mbourret@dystel.com. I’ll still be on Twitter, where I’ll try to be more active--computer issues have kept me off a bit that past couple of weeks--and you’ll see me blogging more than before.
Speaking of Twitter, I asked my followers there for questions they wanted answered about the move. Either they’re all comedians or already knew everything, but here are a couple of questions and answers:
Question: Is it true that people sparkle in LA? :)
Answer: I don’t know, but I’ll find out and will let you know.
Question: Could you cover submission guidelines and how to submit, if that's changed?
Answer: Great question! I’m now only accepting email queries. Please do not mail queries to the New York office. (Though all other official mail should still go to the New York office.)
Question: Do you remember driving? I would love to see how that's treating you.
Answer: I actually drive several times a year, and I didn’t grow up in NYC, so driving isn’t going to be new. Getting a car, however, is a very bizarre notion. I’m going to have to bring a friend because I have no clue how it works!
-Michael
Thursday, November 05, 2009
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16 comments:
Congratulations! (again)
Are you taking any agents with you or going it alone?
Oooo... good luck!! LA is a jungle all it's own. :)
I've got family all over SoCal, and I've been through my fair share of cars, so if you need a hand buying one, I'd love the excuse to travel. Provo is too bloody cold this time of year.
Best of luck, Michael!
Parlez-vous francais? I hear they speak a whole different language out there. Oh, wait...maybe it's Spanish.
Lots of great places to eat in LA and the weather can't be beat. The beaches are lovely. The traffic sucks, but you can't have everything.
I'm glad someone asked, and that you chose to address, the issue of the sparkles. If I see you sparkling at SCBWI in NY this January, that's it, I'm moving to California.
Congrats, Michael! New York will miss you!
Does the film industry have anything to do with the move? Does that mean we'll see Wake and the Chronicles of Vlad Tod on the big screen soon??
All the best with the move.
I am so thrilled about this. I know I've only said it about 47 times, so I thought I'd mention it again.
I'm a lurker on this site, but you said you will be at the SCBWI Winter conference? I thought your agency did not handle PB/MG/YA. Am I just mistaken? If so, I will submit...
Thanks, PLJ
Anonymous 1: I'm the only agent headed out west. The rest of the staff will remain here in New York.
Anonymous 2: We handle a lot of YA! Please visit our website at www.dystel.com to find out more.
Jade - The film industry has a lot to do with the move, yes. We're looking to make better connections and provide more of a service for our authors. And you know I'd love to see both of those projects on the big screen! Or the small one. Any screen, really.
-Michael
I'm from Southern California. We don't sparkle, though some of us glow a little. Driving in California is hellish, but you get to make right turns on red lights -- a huge plus. And we tend to be insanely health conscious.
Question: Is it true that people sparkle in LA?
Only if they're vampires.
LOL to the previous 2 commenters. I'm a writer in the LA area and I'd like to say Welcome! There are a million nanowrimos eager to ambush you. ;-)
And thank you for your wonderful insights. I'm just getting to know your agency via this blog and am very impressed with what I've seen. Good luck with your car shopping!
Mary: I'll take glowing over sparkling any day. Also, I am very excited about right on red. They should have that everywhere.
Katrina: I'm glad you're enjoying the blog! Do let us know if there's anything you'd like to see more of.
- Michae
I'm selfishly thrilled you will now be in my neck of the woods... don't worry, you'll get used to the jungle that is LA driving. If it gets too much, come up to SF for a breather ;)
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