iiinova — where your digital self keeps evolving

Maria Vicente @mariavicente.com · 30/09/2026

Making a grand return to Bluesky just to participate in #DVpit! If I like your pitch today, you can find special submission guidelines here: www.mariavicente.com/submission-g...

mariavicente.com

Submission Guidelines — Maria Vicente, Literary Agent

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Maria Vicente @mariavicente.com · 13/05/2025

Someone is impersonating me as a means to request material from writers in various online communities. All my requests are sent from a P.S. Literary email address (maria@psliterary or submissions@psliterary).

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Maria Vicente @mariavicente.com · 08/03/2026

There’s one coming up on March 22. Registration is live on my website now. www.mariavicente.com

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Reposted by Maria Vicente

P.S. Literary Agency @psliterary.bsky.social · 05/09/2025

We are delighted to share that senior agent @mariavicente.com will be expanding her impact by serving as a senior advisor, providing strategic consultation on the development of the agency. Please join us in congratulating her on this expanded role and in celebrating her 12 years of excellence!

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Maria Vicente @mariavicente.com · 17/05/2025

I have never used QueryManager, so unfortunately I can’t help with this!

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Maria Vicente @mariavicente.com · 13/05/2025

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

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Maria Vicente @mariavicente.com · 13/05/2025

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Maria Vicente @mariavicente.com · 03/05/2025

Nope! 3rd person is more common, but 1st person can work just as well. Really depends on the story.

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Maria Vicente @mariavicente.com · 30/04/2025

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.

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Maria Vicente @mariavicente.com · 26/04/2025

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/

psliterary.com

Submission Guidelines - P.S. Literary Agency

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Maria Vicente @mariavicente.com · 26/04/2025

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.

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Maria Vicente @mariavicente.com · 26/04/2025

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.

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Maria Vicente @mariavicente.com · 26/04/2025

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.

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Maria Vicente @mariavicente.com · 26/04/2025

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.

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Maria Vicente @mariavicente.com · 26/04/2025

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.

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Maria Vicente @mariavicente.com · 26/04/2025

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.

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Maria Vicente @mariavicente.com · 26/04/2025

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.

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Maria Vicente @mariavicente.com · 26/04/2025

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.

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Maria Vicente @mariavicente.com · 26/04/2025

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).

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Maria Vicente @mariavicente.com · 26/04/2025

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.

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Maria Vicente @mariavicente.com · 26/04/2025

It’s been a couple of months, so let’s do another #askagent. Have publishing questions? Reply to ask, and I’ll do my best to answer.

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Maria Vicente @mariavicente.com · 01/03/2025

What’s most common? A pass after you’ve sent requested material? Or not receiving requests at all? That should help decide between pages or query. If you’re sending to agents based on their current wish lists and guidelines, then bad timing shouldn’t be a thing to worry about.

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Maria Vicente @mariavicente.com · 28/02/2025

I’d assume you’re illustrating the picture book if you say you’re an author/illustrator. But you can add a line to your bio to say pretty much what you’ve said here to explain that you’re not illustrating this particular project.

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Maria Vicente @mariavicente.com · 27/02/2025

No, don't worry about that!

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Maria Vicente @mariavicente.com · 21/02/2025

Thank you for sharing! 🙏

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Maria Vicente @mariavicente.com · 21/02/2025

It’s expected a fiction manuscript will be complete before querying.

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Maria Vicente @mariavicente.com · 17/02/2025

lol yes! Publishing will throw many challenges your way, so a healthy amount of fear is probably a good thing. 🙃

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Maria Vicente @mariavicente.com · 16/02/2025

Before signing with an agent, you’ll have a chat with them about your other projects, future goals, etc. Having a shared vision for your career is important when deciding if an agent is a good fit.

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Maria Vicente @mariavicente.com · 16/02/2025

Novellas were really difficult to sell to publishers, but shorter books have become more popular in recent years (and I believe will continue to do so). I think more agents are open to them because there are more publishers publishing them.

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Maria Vicente @mariavicente.com · 15/02/2025

Having all that querying data must be stressful! My guess is they’re still considering, or maybe haven’t gotten around to reading the proposal yet. The other queries were probably an obvious no for the agent.

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Maria Vicente @mariavicente.com · 15/02/2025

I read in the order received, unless someone notifies me that they’ve received an offer, then I have to bump that one to the top of the list.

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Maria Vicente @mariavicente.com · 14/02/2025

Please don’t stress about this. Mistakes happen. A typo here and there won’t matter. There’s a reason books go through multiple rounds of edits with professionals!

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Maria Vicente @mariavicente.com · 14/02/2025

I’m quite picky with verse, but not opposed to it.

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Maria Vicente @mariavicente.com · 14/02/2025

I can’t know *for sure* until I finish the book, but if I’m being honest, more often than not I’m only a few pages in and know that I’m going to love it. I already know I like the premise based on the pitch, so it’s the writing style that really needs to win me over.

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Maria Vicente @mariavicente.com · 14/02/2025

What might those pages be lacking? A stronger sense of place? A catchier voice for the narrator? Maybe your book needs to start in a new place? I'd find someone who hasn't read the book before and ask them to critique only the first chapter, focusing on what they think would make it stronger.

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Maria Vicente @mariavicente.com · 14/02/2025

There's no way to know for sure, but it does sound like agents aren't connecting to the writing for whatever reason. I would make some adjustments to your opening pages and see if you get a different response next time.

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Maria Vicente @mariavicente.com · 14/02/2025

Yes, of course! This happens often enough. I wouldn’t send it immediately after receiving the pass on the first one, but I think it’s ok after a couple of weeks. I’m sure a lot of writers have multiple finished projects to choose from when pitching.

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Maria Vicente @mariavicente.com · 14/02/2025

If you’re not going against something outlined in their submission guidelines, then I don’t see a problem with pitching someone else. At PSLA, our guidelines say if we don’t request within 6 weeks then to consider it a pass, so some other agents/agencies might have similar info.

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Maria Vicente @mariavicente.com · 14/02/2025

Sure, that’s fine. Story collections can be difficult to sell, so I’d mention in your pitch that you’re also working on a novel. Ideally you’re going to find an agent who wants to work with you on all your projects.

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Maria Vicente @mariavicente.com · 14/02/2025

Query. Even if the writing is fantastic, I need to know I’m into the idea and think I could potentially sell it.

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Maria Vicente @mariavicente.com · 13/02/2025

I think 87k is still perfectly acceptable. Word counts are ranging quite a bit these days.

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Maria Vicente @mariavicente.com · 13/02/2025

Adult paranormal romance did seemingly disappear for a bit. I think we’re going to see a big resurgence though. There’s a lot of overlap with “romantasy” (paranormal things can be considered fantasy, after all) so I’d try agents looking for that genre.

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Laura Knetzger @lauraknetzger.bsky.social · 13/02/2025

Hey guys meta announced a new policy where they send a killer to get you so be sure to go to settings>my account > killer> disable killer to turn that off

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