Renée Fountain, Agent at Gandolfo Helin & Fountain Literary Management

I couldn’t have asked for a better experience for the query and ten-pages review with Renee Fountain, Gondolpho, Helin & Fountain. Renee addressed several questions before I asked them. Along with positive feedback, she pointed out ways to polish my work that will affect the entire manuscript. These are concrete issues I can address and proceed to my next round of queries with a better product and more confidence.

Understands Story and Strengthens Pitch

Working with Renee was great. She was laid back and approachable and gave really good advice. Her tips about improving sentences made sense to me right away. She also pointed out some larger problems with slip ups in plot consistency that I am going to have to think about more deeply.

Her pinpoint accuracy was what I needed

Renée was the antidote to my illness. Her pinpoint accuracy in identifying problem areas in my query and first ten pages was the insight and course correction I needed to fix my writing. She was personable, perceptive, and pragmatic, and had a wonderful sense of humor. I’ve since started following her on social media—she is a wealth of information and has become a part of my “everything about writing” diet.

Feel much more focused

I had a great meeting with Renee on Sunday. Thank you! I began revising immediately after meeting with her. I feel like I was spinning a bit on where and what I needed to revise, and I feel much more focused now and am enjoying the revision process again.

Ms. Fountain was extremely helpful. Listened carefully to my questions and helped me think through issues I was having with my query letter. Her experience and knowledge showed, and she went above and beyond what I had hoped for.

Excellent!

Excellent!

Renee was kind, professional, knowledgeable and on-target.

Worth every penny.

Thanks!

Above and Beyond

Ms. Fountain was extremely helpful. Listened carefully to my questions and helped me think through issues I was having with my query letter. Her experience and knowledge showed, and she went above and beyond what I had hoped for.

I had a great meeting with Renee on Sunday. Thank you! I began revising immediately after meeting with her. I feel like I was spinning a bit on where and what I needed to revise, and I feel much more focused now and am enjoying the revision process again.

Provides Invaluable and Thorough Feedback

Such great and invaluable feedback! Punctual and thorough.
Renee went beyond what I expected and was so knowledgeable and helpful.
Highly recommended! 🙂

Reneeís expertise was invaluable in shaping my query letter for agents. Her feedback was precise, insightful, and encouraging, showing me where to enhance emotional impact and sharpen the pitch. Her guidance brought out the best in my query, leaving me confident and ready to approach agents. She went above and beyond expectations. Highly recommended!

Renee Fountain provided a critique of my query letter and the first ten pages of my manuscript. Her feedback was concise and insightful. She provided very specific examples of how to fix my work. She’s straightforward, professional and she’s not afraid to push you toward a better finished product. Cannot recommend her enough!

Renee Fountain is insightful and speaks with a kind but clear voice. She helped me see where I could improve my work, and gave me the confidence to make the needed changes. I left our consultation feeling hopeful, knowing I could and will improve my memoir. I definitely have received the best advice available. I haven’t had a bad consultation since I began with the Manuscript Academy, but Renee has been the best possible choice for me. Thank you.

Patient and Professional

Renee patiently read through three iterations of my book’s prologue and each time helped me to further fine tune what I needed to say, in fewer words. She was on time with her assessments and always professional.

Exceeds Expectations with Generous Feedback

Just a quick note to say that Rene far exceeded my expectations both in terms of her feedback and the generosity of her time. She went well beyond my hopes for the kind of actionable intelligence I was looking for, and I couldn’t be happier.

My consult with Renee was fantastic! It was clear from the moment I met her that I was not just another number in her queue. She was so kind and gave me *really* helpful feedback. I definitely plan on meeting with her again once I work out some of the kinks in my query/ms. Iíve loved all the consults Iíve had so far, but Renee is so on top of her work. I rate her 10/10.

Creates a Relaxed and Supportive Space

As I started my session with RenÈe Fountain, who looked at my query, I’d hoped for a couple of quick insights. Instead it was like we were seated in a virtual coffee shop, and nobody was eyeing our table. To say the meeting was unrushed would be an understatement. After discussing the query, RenÈe asked me about the novel itself, challenged a couple of plot points, and questioned certain details about my protagonist. All the while, she was encouraging, warm, funny, and really smart. Most heartening was eventually finishing the session with RenÈe and feeling like I’d just met a brilliant advocate for literature and writers. I walked out of my home office and into the kitchen, where my husband said, “So it mush have gone well. I kept hearing you laughing.”

Recognizes and Fixes Story Issues

The discussion I had with Ms. Fountain was extremely useful and informative. She helped me recognize an issue with my YA adventure novel that I need to address and I even had fun during her feedback and suggestions. I can tell she is passionate about her authors’ manuscripts and she would make a great agent for anyone who is lucky enough to sign with her. Thanks for having this service. It is worth the price of admission!

Renee Fountain really cares about helping aspiring authors! She was honest and provided good examples of how I can improve my first page as well as my query letter. Thank you, Manuscript Academy, for making the interaction with publishing professionals possible for dreamers like me!

Excellent feedback!

This was one of the best consultations/critiques I’ve had with Manuscript Academy. While I enjoy the face-to-face consultations, I found this written critique to be the most useful so far. Ms. Fountain provided me with great insight into areas I can improve my writing style, the flow of my novel, and create a more engaging storyline. Having notes and concrete examples to review is extremely helpful. I would (and most likely will!) book another critique with Ms. Fountain.

I had a fantastic session with Renee Fountain. My manuscript is way too long and Renee was extremely helpful going through some of my pages, helping me to understand how to condense and make my novel tighter and have more impact. This was exactly what I was looking for. I plan to have more sessions like this with Renee. I’m extremely grateful to have had this time with her.

Renee C. Fountain exceeded my expectations both as a person and as an agent. Because of my faulty memory, I got caught up in doing something else and was about 30 minutes late joining Renee online. I immediately apologized for keeping her waiting all that time. At first, she seemed a bit standoffish, but by the time our conversation was over, she had opened to a smiling, pleasant person who projected a sunny, caring personality. The fault was 100% mine, but she said nothing about it. We talked about my work, and though she said up front that the piece wasn’t right for her, she did point out a couple of things I could do to tighten the opening. She complimented my writing and said it had left her wanting more. Her suggestions were couched in a friendly way, with each one making a strong point. The funds were a good investment, and the experience was definitely worth it. Thanks both to the organizers and to Renee. TAG

Excellent 50-page critique

I got a 50-page critique from Renee Fountain. It was excellent. I feel like she told me exactly what was holding back my manuscript. Now I am redoing the whole thing from the ground up, and I think when I finish the plot will be much faster moving and the voice will be so much stronger.

Honest and encouraging

I had a fantastic ten-minute query consultation with Renee Fountain. She offered targeted, actionable feedback on my query, including ideas for making it more succinct and effective. She answered my questions honestly and provided words of encouragement about my efforts. Renee offers such a wealth of expertise and the ten minutes with her was absolutely worth it.

I always go to Manuscript Academy when I’ve done all I can on my own and want guaranteed expert help. Agents and editors are the trusted ones out in the cutthroat industry everyday so understanding their perspective is priceless. With my synopsis critique, Renee gave me insight that pointed me in the right direction not only for this activity but also for my manuscript in general. I had been struggling with confidence about if all the scenes / characters in my story really needed to be there, and her feedback addressed this without her knowing! Renee is patient and clear and a fantastic resource for any writer hoping to sharpen not only their writing skills but also their overall approach to the classic, three-act story structure. Look at her website for additional tools and services!

Requests Full Manuscript After Review

I sent Renee my first page of the novel that I will be ready to query this fall. She loved it and asked me to send her the full manuscript when it’s ready. I’m stoked!

Extremely helpful consultation

I truly appreciated Renée Fountain’s insightful and direct feedback. Whenever I go into consultations, I am always open to feedback about what’s working and what isn’t. I finally feel that my opening pages are where they need to be, after this extremely helpful consultation.

Helpful!

Renee’s advice made a lot of sense, and she answered all of my questions. Overall, she was patient, professional, and very approachable. My query is so much better because of her help.