Cole Talent Agency was established by Cali Castillo and Yvonne Cole, mother of R&B singer, Keyshia Cole, in November of 2005. It is a talent agency in central California, which currently operates out of Tracy and Merced, dedicated to those with musical, literary, and theatrical gifts.


Cali Castillo, a twenty-four-year-old aspiring writer in Merced, CA, amicably parted with her New York literary agent in early November. Not wanting to go through a long and tiresome search for another agent, she made a phone call to her long-time “aunt”, Yvonne Cole, and asked her to be her agent, which Yvonne didn’t hesitate agreeing to.


Together, they created Cole Talent Agency and immediately began to submit Cali’s manuscript to major publishers. Within one week, they got the attention of a senior editor at Bantam Dell, who requested the entire manuscript.


While awaiting the news from Bantam Dell, Yvonne focused on other writers. Cali had received a rejection letter through e-mail from an agency that had been directed to a large group of writers instead of individually addressed and felt great sympathy for them all. Thus, she went to Yvonne and expressed how she felt about the situation. Yvonne wrote the writers individually, demonstrating there was an agency decent enough to take out the time to do so. She also encouraged them to submit.


Several writers did and Yvonne appointed Danni Johnson, an associate literary agent, to begin accepting submissions on the agency’s behalf. Danni gave thorough critiques of the submissions—something else most other agencies wouldn’t take out the time to do.


All writers who submitted were completely impressed with the critiques and pleased that someone had finally expressed, to them, what they were doing wrong. Most expressed they had never been subjected to such professionalism, courtesy, and kindness. And several writers are continuing to submit.


In knowing the toll rejection took on a writer’s soul, Cali convinced Yvonne to make it a company policy not to instantly or formally reject. Instead, Cole Talent Agency provides writers with the guidance they need, allows them to make the corrections, and encourages them to resubmit, hoping other agencies will incorporate this policy and bring back the empathy that’s been lost within the industry. Cole Talent Agency even places the writers who resubmit on a higher priority status than newcomers. For, they feel that's how all writers become great. They rewrite.


As far as Cali’s writing career is concerned…..they're still waiting for an answer from Bantam Dell. Yet, an editorial director at Warner has requested the manuscript as well and it's to be mailed off soon.


Yvonne is, now, launching the music department of the agency. She’s actively managing Cali’s brother, Timothy Tyler, a young producer, and Cali’s cousin, Alvin Kirton, a rap artist, intending to have the entire world listening to their music soon.


When asked about the success of her agency, she says, “I thank God everyday for Cali. Because if it wasn’t for her, I never would’ve broken into this business. I give her all the credit. Because I really didn’t do anything. I mean, who do you really think owns this agency? Trust me when I say it’s not me. I’m just the sponsor. Cali’s the true hero behind all of this. She's going places. And she’s a young woman you definitely want to have by your side. Truly special. Touched by God. And with a heart and generosity like I’ve never seen before.”


Yvonne expects nothing but good news regarding Cali's manuscript and intends to see her new business through. When asked how Keyshia feels about her new agency she says, "She's going to throw us a big party when we make our first deal."


Yvonne has no doubt about her agency becoming a top agency on the list and has, therefore, prepared a piece for none other than Jeff Herman's guide below:


COLE TALENT AGENCY
LITERARY DEPARTMENT
3334 Parsons Ave. Merced, CA 95340
(209) 726-0541 (January 17, 2006)
coletalent@sbcglobal.net (management)
coletalent2@sbcglobal.net (submissions)
http://www.geocities.com/coletalent2@sbcglobal.net/coletalent.html (temporary)


Agent: Yvonne Cole

Career History: Cole Talent Agency, 2005-Present; Personal Manager for daughter, R&B singer, Keyshia Cole, 2004-Present

Other Staff: Danni Johnson, Associate Literary Agent; Janice Tyler, Submissions Manager

Areas most interested in agenting: all sorts of commercial/mainstream fiction. Family sagas are my favorite. I also love novels with European settings (England, Ireland, Scotland, etc.)

Areas not interested in agenting: nonfiction, science fiction, fantasy, erotica, horror, literary fiction, action/adventure, supernatural, occult, children's, poetry

If not agenting, what would you be doing: Everything a housewife does.

Best way to initiate contact: E-query (coletalent2@sbcglobal.net) that indicates the writer’s name, title of manuscript, length of work, genre, and contact information. I’d also like writers to include one paragraph describing their book and a one-paragraph biography. Following that, I want to see the first five pages of their novel.

Response time: Anywhere from 1 day to 2 weeks. It simply depends. If I’m semi-interested, I’ll request more pages. If I’m interested, I’ll request a partial. If I’m very interested, I’ll request the entire manuscript.

Reading-fee policy: No reading fee.

Client representation by category: Fiction: 100%