About Waxman Agency
Founded by Scott Waxman, a former editor at HarperCollins Publishers, the Waxman Literary Agency is a full-service boutique literary agency with a hands-on, dynamic approach to literary representation. Due to the ever-shifting landscape of the publishing business, editors come and go, but WLA prides itself on building long-term relationships with its clients and remaining as a constant in a writer’s life. Proactive from the start, WLA offers a range of creative input from idea generation to project development, and proposal editing. WLA clients benefit from the personalized attention of an intimate, editorially driven office, and from more than a quarter century of publishing experience.
Agents:
- Scott Waxman
- Farley Chase
- Byrd Leavell
- Holly Root
More information at our website, including a form to submit your query.
How does one go about submitting a query letter to your agency?
Thanks for the question, Mark. I’ve updated this page with a link to our web site, which has a submissions form.
Dear Ms Root:
I am seeking representation of my 85,000-word novel The Pedestal. It’s a story about four New York diocesan priests, two women, a scandal and a cover-up.
Four musically-gifted Roman Catholic clerics are asked by a friend to perform in a Manhattan club- incognito. The favor escalates into three performances, capped by a sexual encounter with a female patron on the last night. The after-glow is dimmed by an ill-fated vehicle accident. The woman is driving her sex partner back to his car at 2AM when a homeless pedestrian steps in their path. There are no witnesses and she steps on the accelerator; he offers little resistance.
Days later, the woman hastens to bury evidence and discovers that she had a one-night-stand with a priest who is now busy absolving his failure to act with the delusion that he can right all wrongs without anyone’s knowledge. Ultimately, he unravels and confesses to the Bishop who sees a justification for maintaining the cover up.
The plot focuses on Father Ken Carr who is a good priest with a weakness for the opposite sex, including thoughts of his brother’s wife, Clare. He has battled this temptation for years, while living a ministry that has been genuine and effective. He enjoyed a positive self image until he abandoned an injured pedestrian in the dead of night to avoid being compromised. His subsequent lies introduced self loathing. And though he hid the truth from police investigators, lies opened the door to blackmail.
My exposure to Catholic clergy comes from nine years in the seminary. The Pedestal explores the human dimension of the men we hold to higher virtue.
This is Mainstream/Contemporary work and will send sample of work if intested.
Sincerely,
William P. Farrell
40 East Delaware Place – Apt. 1202
Chicago, IL 60611
bfarrell_60611@yahoo.com
312-255-9048
MS Theology; MBA Marketing. Completed three novels in the past ten years- none published.