Dearest Shark,
My last batch of queries resulted in two (count ‘em, TWO!) requests for full manuscripts. I’m six weeks in to the waiting period, and am trying to spend the waiting time developing a new project. Should I send out another batch of queries while the fulls are still out? It seems like the rational thing to do, but my pea brain is almost overwhelmed with the current possibilities.
Thank you!
Yes! Keep querying till you get an offer of rep.
Nothing's done till then.
I'm not suggesting you send 20 queries a day; just don't vest all your hopes in two requests.
I won't rain on your parade with the ratio of offers made to requested fulls here at the reef, but keep going till you actually cross the correct finish line.
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| This is not the correct finish line |
20 comments:
Fingers crossed. Good luck, OP!
Congratulations, OP! Wonderful news. You've made it to the "getting full requests" stage of your writing path, and that's big and worth celebrating!
Good luck, OP. I understand the feeling. However, keep querying until you get and accept offer signed in blood promising 15% of your children. Until then, keep dreaming. Keep writing. Keep querying. You can work on new material and keep querying all at once too.
YES! DO IT!
Sorry for the caps, but I am living proof that it works.
To make a loooong story short, I write nonfiction so I'd been querying and sending my proposal (as opposed to a completed manuscript). Previously, I had an agent who tried to sell it to the major houses, but it was generally deemed "too niche," so he sent me off to try the small publishers.
I'd had a few nibbles, then an editor at a reputable publisher expressed strong interest. Since she was the only one at the time who showed any interest, I stopped querying and started working on additional sample chapters, as she requested. After some extensive delays and a total rewrite of my main sample chapter, it turned out that she doesn't have decision-making power and her bosses didn't like/understand my book.
So instead of spending time doing research and interviews for yet another chapter on spec, I started querying again.
The revised chapter seems to have made the difference because I quickly got enthusiastic attention from a couple of reputable publishers (one a university press).
After a couple of email exchanges, one (who is a decisionmaker) wrote that she was going to put together contract info and send it to me late that week or the next. Two days later, the other excitedly emailed to tell me how much she likes this and is sharing with her colleagues.
Not surprisingly in this business, the first blew past the timeframe she gave and nothing further from the other. So, I sent out a few more queries and proposals. One went to a small newish publisher in Europe who wound up sending me a contract within two days.
Very nice, but not my ideal for publishing (for a variety of reasons). So I emailed the other two editors to let them know that I have an offer from a publisher and need to make a decision soon. One responded within an hour with terms for a contract that I now have a lawyer looking over for me. The other got back to me a day and a half later, letting me know that she'll be meeting with the editorial board and then wants to set up a phone call with me.
The point of all this? If I hadn't kept querying, I wouldn't have landed a contract that I was able to use to light a fire under the butts of the editors from whom I wanted offers.
Oh, and this is all happening right now.
For Leslie--just want to caution you about having a regular lawyer check a contract with an agent or a publisher. Unless they're specifically an entertainment lawyer,a "regular" lawyer is often horrified by such contracts and may give you improper guidance. Just be aware...
Leslie, congratulations and thanks for sharing your story!
OP, congrats as well. How many queries did you send before getting the full requests, if you're willing to share that info?
Congrats OP. Congrats Leslie.
Thanks, Jennifer!
Hi Les. Yes, I am using a lawyer who only does literary contracts, and does it all by email (and phone). I had her look over the contract with my agent, so I have experience with her. I send her the contract and a deposit (half her fee) via Paypal. She sends back an annotated (in Word) copy of the contract, then we have a phone call to discuss items of concern, etc. Her name is Denise Gibbon and her company is Above The Dotted Line.
Thank you for looking out for me!
After a few years of so very much wanting this, I'm so happy and nervous -- but not publicly talking about it until the contract is signed by both sides.
Thank you, BrendaLynn
And I can't thank all of you -- Janet and all the regulars -- enough for the good advice, etc., over the years. I've been an avid reader here and have learned so much. I really believe that things I've learned here from all of you have helped me get to this point.
OP, it's wonderful you have two requested fulls. WooHoo!
But, if you've been following this blog any length of time, you know in your heart the odds of either one resulting in an offer aren't exactly high.
Developing a new project is great, but that's no reason to stop querying. Keep querying. Keep writing. Keep moving forward. Don't let yourself stall out waiting for a response that might never come.
What they said!
Definitely feel free to celebrate and take a couple days/weeks off, but don't hold your breath.
Hearing back on a full can take longer than hearing back on a query, and sometimes, the answer is a form rejection, sometimes it's a R&R (revise and resubmit), and sometimes? It's just silence.
But, with this, you can KNOW that your query and first pages are working. Now, the rest of the book has to hold up and the plot has to work. Best of luck! The query trenches are tough.
Congrats!
Word to the wise - don't get so excited you lose your head. I know, it's hard not to do...
Last year I received 35 requests for more pages, 18 requests for full. No agent after 149 queries.
I wrote a second manuscript. 8 requests for more, 5 fulls. Still No agent after 35 queries. I'm still querying and still writing.
KEEP AT IT.
Congratulations, Leslie!
OP, you certainly deserve some celebratory time off, but then, yes, until you have that contract in hand, it's back to the query trenches.
OP Congratulations on the requests. Keep querying. I would pull stats, but my agent excel sheet poofed in the computer crash. Will says it is somewhere, but who knows where. I'll get him to search the rescued hard drive for it before I start querying.
Anyway, if I remember correctly, I had about a 39% request rate on Far Rider, my high fantasy. That's a pretty high request rate. At the end of my query process, an agent showed me what the fatal flaw was. Oops.
I did have several agents who asked me to remember them on my next project and I will.
Even so, I remain with hopes torn asunder and no agent. Alas!
Never stop querying until you have an agent or have a compelling reason to stop...like, "You realize what you have here is a YA, don't you?"
Congrats, Leslie!
And congratulations to you, too, OP. Two full requests is worth celebrating! It may come to nothing, so keep on querying but take the time to enjoy the little victories along the way.
OP, congrats on the full requests. I can just imagine the feeling.
Leslie, wow! Congrats on all the forward motion. You're almost there!
Kristin O. - yep, just keep at it. We're rooting for you:)
Gosh, I’d be doing a happy dance too, if I had two requested fulls out! Woohoo!!
But, yeah, keep on querying. Maybe even specifically target hungry new agents more likely to bite. Once you have one offer, you can use it as leverage on the other laggardly agents and create a total feeding frenzy!
Wow! Congrats OP and congrats Leslie!!
Bah, my brain. Congratulations, Leslie. That is awesome news. I'm sure you're thrilled and you should be.
Awesome news, Leslie. Congratulations.
OP, that is brilliant. I'd be celebrating with 2 full requests as well. But keep pushing forwards. You're getting close.
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