Wait, that's all?

Friend of mine queried last summer, got multiple offers by October/November. Signed with agent awesome (great sales record - powerhouse in the category/genre) in December. After signing, communication was virtually non existent (3-4 emails total in six months). Author didn't mind. Figured it was just how this agent functions. After two rounds of edits with pretty limited editorial notes, agent says it might be best to step aside without much explanation at all.

Now that recently signed debut* author is again agentless with a book that never went on sub,

1) would protocol dictate that it's okay to reach back out to agents b or c who offered but weren't selected explaining the situation?

2) can author re-query or reach out to those who had partials/fulls who were interrupted by competing agents offer for rep and passed. Or

3) is author pretty much stuck writing a new debut and starting from square one (write new book, query, etc)?

(1) Yes
(2) Yes
(3) Nope

Your friend (who is NOT a *debut author because the book hasn't been sold, let alone published) missed one key element of the signing process: ask the agent offering representation how much work s/he thinks the novel needs before it can go on submission. It sounds like your pal thought s/he would sign with agent, and the ms would go on submision fairly soon thereafter.

This is almost never the case. I can think of only one author I sent out without revisions (Patrick Lee). Everyone else had at least some typos to fix and probably more than half had some major revisions.

My guess here is that your friend did not nail the revisions the agent was looking for. This happens more than any of us would like. It's actually one of the reasons I often ask for revisions BEFORE I sign someone. If they can't revise, it's a huge red flag. Editors will ask for revisions too. I can think of only a couple books that didn't have multiple-page editorial letters before the book was sent into production.

But back to your question: if the book has not been sent to editors, it's fine to query again. Your friend needs the "my former agent I parted ways amicably, before this was sent on submission" probably near the top of the letter for those agents being requeried.

Your friend should be prepared to talk about why s/he parted ways with the agent. When I see that in a query, I do not assume the agent is a dunderhead.

This novel seems very weak

I absolutely love the Harry Potter series. I've read it 15 times and I never get tired of it. I wish I could live in those worlds. So I'm not coming from a spot of jealousy — at least I don't think I am — but either way, it's not relevant to my question.

My question is actually related to the writing within however. I'm only going to use the first book, Philosopher's Stone, as an example. All throughout I notice many examples of what professors, teachers, and editors often call weak writing.

1) The use of filter words such as — seemed as an example:

As he sat in the usual morning traffic jam, he couldn't help noticing that there seemed to be a lot of strangely dressed people about.

It seemed to be a silver cigarette lighter.

It seemed that Professor McGonagall had reached the point she was most anxious to discuss, the real reason she had been waiting on a cold, hard wall all day...

It seemed to be coming from a large metal tub in the sink.

All in all, there are 72 instances of seemed used in book one, most of which "seem," to be acting as a filter word. That's without addressing any of the other common filter words.

2) The extensive use of adverbs: There are too many examples to cite, and I personally like adverbs anyways! When there is enough plot, they don't slow down the story for me, but editors generally hate them.

3) The overuse of exclamation marks and ellipses: Once again, a faux pas when taking writing classes and studying literature — I don't personally mind them and I think in a children's book they convey meaning easily.

4) Writing in passive vs. active voice: He bent his great, shaggy head over Harry and gave him what must have been a very scratchy, whiskery kiss.

There are many other examples of this in "he was, she was type sentences.

5) Use of weak words like very: Harry found their way into the house, rolled up and hidden inside each of the two dozen eggs that their very confused milkman had handed Aunt Petunia through the living room window.

It was very cold outside the car.

He was in a very good mood.

6) Show don't tell:

For a famous place, it was very dark and shabby

He pushed his trolley around and stared at the barrier. It looked very solid.


There are countless examples for telling instead of showing, above in this email, as well as all throughout the book.

Obviously JK Rowling does more things well than she does poorly; the plot all throughout is incredible, the underlying story, the world she creates, her characters and her conflicts are excellent.

My question is: As writers should we be more focused on the story, than on "good," writing? By good I mean technically sound writing that editors, agents and teachers often ask for.

How much credence should we give to the general rules about what constitutes good and bad writing?

Have you ever watched an episode of Law & Order with a lawyer? Or a cop? Or CSI with a forensic technician? Or The Proposal with an editor? Or The West Wing with anyone who's ever worked in DC?

Mostly they scream at the TV. There is often throwing of objects, stomping, and mass consumption of liquor to ease the pain.

Those TV shows get so much wrong it's really painful to watch for some folks. I loved The American President the first two times I saw it. Then I paid attention and I can barely watch it now. (Although "I'll be in the Roosevelt Room giving Lewis oxygen" remains one of my favorite movie lines of all time.)

My point is this: you're a writer so you look at things with an expert writing eye. Most readers don't even come close to seeing what you see.

James Patterson will never win an award for beautiful sentences or complex plotting but by god the man makes more money writing books than I'll ever see (and is very generous to libraries with it I might add.) While he hasn't sold more books than God, I think he might be second on the list.

We have this discussion in the office a LOT. If something is compelling but not great writing, do we take it on, hoping it will sell?


JK Rowling didn't sell despite "weak writing." I doubt most of her readers even noticed. She sold because she had, as you point out: incredible plot, compelling story, an enticing strange world, and characters we couldn't get enough of.  Give me that, and I'll spot you how ever many extra verys and seems you've got in your ms.

Betabaloo

What do you do when all of your beta readers have totally different advice?

I've traded beta reads on the first section (approx. 50 pages) of my manuscript with four other writers. I was expecting the beta read to unearth any overarching issues, but instead the feedback barely overlaps. A scene one person loved another hated. A line that gave someone an ah-ha moment is tagged by another person as unnecessary. There are a couple small overlapping points, but for the most part I'm having trouble finding patterns.

Obviously, to some degree this is how books are. A book I love might not be someone else's cup of tea. A scene that speaks to me might not speak to others.

But in the context of polishing a manuscript till it shines, how should I interpret this?If there's no consistency in feedback, how do I proceed with editing?

Do I just go with my gut, taking each piece of feedback individually?

Do I go solicit a few more betas to see if they add any consistency to the mix (or just continue to complicate it)?

Do I focus on the one or two consistent things (two of three people wanted to see more of one of the scenes - an easy fix) and assume a lack of overlap means there aren't any glaring red flags in those first 50 pages and it's time to get some full manuscript reads?

Or something else entirely?

This reminds me of a very old, but always painful comedy sketch in which a lady trying on her new hat says to her husband "I'm going to wear this to the Ladies auxiliary meeting today; what do you think?" and he replies "Shouldn't you put on a dress?"

Because of course, she was asking about the hat whilst wearing her only her slip.

Her failure to ask a specific question led to the very unsatisfactory answer.

So first: what are you asking your beta readers to do?

"Do you like this?"
"Do you think this works?" might be too general.

"Where did you stop reading?" or "where did you get confused?" are often what I ask my interns to tell me when they're reading something for me.

As to your question: beta readers are useful for pointing out problems, but not fixes. If there's no consistency in what they say, you've probably got a book that doesn't have big problems. Not every reader likes every book.

But only probably.
In  reading only a chunk, rather than the whole, you might not have all the info you need.  A lot of structural problems show up after page 50 and I've got the editorial notes to verify that on a lot of novels.

Time for some whole-novel reads.


I'm sure our coterie of enlightened commenters will also have contributions on this topic.

Have I run out of agents?

I've been querying a particular novel for some time now. At the beginning of the query track, I made a list of "dream agents". Blew through those. Revised the query letter, sent out the next batch, expanded my list.... all those things you do in an attempt to improve one's chances of getting a full request, and possibly an offer. But I think I've come to the end of my agent list.

My issue is that I tend to write in two specific genres, with projects often crossing over. (I am pleased at how many authors are writing crossover novels between my two genres, so I know this isn't an outlier idea, and I'm never at a loss for comp titles.)

My list was comprised of agents who said they repped these two genres. While most agents have been form rejects or NORMANs**, those few who have offered personal replies, either on my initial query, or on a full request, have had good things to say about my novel... just not that it's suitable to their list at this time. Alas.

Looking for agents who rep both my genres has limited the field somewhat, enough that I've now reached the end of agents who are open to queries and who rep my two genres.

My question is, should I risk querying agents who only rep one of my genres (and say they don't rep the other), knowing that they might not be interested in projects that skew towards another genre?

Or am I better off putting this novel aside and waiting six months until my next novel is ready for querying (again, another cross-genre project), and start from the top of my list once more? I'm not looking for an agent to rep a single project. I'm looking for a long-term relationship with an agent who wants to stick with me for my career (or significant part thereof).

You don't mention which genres you're working in, but it's not the genre that might be tripping you up; it might be category.

Some categories just don't lend themselves to blending: Amish romance and serial killers; zombies and police procedurals; dystopian chick lit.

My hunch is you're probably not testing those boundaries since you got some requests, but sometimes agents look at something and think "nawww" without even reading to see if you pulled off Bakers in Space: The Final Fondue Tier

That said, I'm firmly in the camp of query every agent you're willing to work with regardless of what they say about genre or category. Sometimes we don't know we're looking for you till we hear from you.

As an example,  I have a science fiction project on my list right now. If you were to ask me if I rep sf I'd say no, but this novel blew my sox off, and I will sell this thing if it requires I read the entire SF canon to be able to talk about it knowledgeably.

Thus: query everyone.

And, you might enter some of those Twitter manuscript cattle calls too. Those things are stalked by younger, less well known agents who are building their lists; agents you might not have heard of but work for agencies you have.

Junior agent stalking manuscript

**NO Response MeAns No agents 

(NORMAN is a coinage of this blog; don't feel foolish you didn't know what it meant.)

My book is late to the trend

I recently received a rejection from my dream agent, who after requesting the full manuscript, had only positive things to stay about my writing. She explained that she really wanted to take it on, but as a YA crossover, dystopian set novel, she doesn’t feel confident enough because the market is currently flooded with this genre.

I've received some other positive feedback from agents about my writing, but haven't had any more manuscript requests and I'm wondering where to go from here. I've been told before to never write to the trend, and dystopian/sci-fi is my passion. The agent expressed interest in any other novels I might have in the pipeline, but the one I'm working on now, also happens to be a science-fiction, slightly dystopian piece. Should I wait for the market to change, or switch to small presses and persevere with querying other agents? 

Not writing to trend generally means don't try to write something you think will be popular because today's trends were acquired several years back.

You have a different problem: you like to write what's currently very trendy. And yes, that seems like a good problem to have but it's not.

I'm seeing this with thrillers right now. The market is glutted with terrific writers. Finding what we call "space on the shelf" is increasingly difficult. (It doesn't help that authors who are dead continue to churn out books.)

Your challenge now is to twist the conventions of your category. I have no idea how to do this since I don't read enough dystopian/SF to know the tropes.  This is where your knowledge of the category is essential. If you've read the canon (ie the books that are considered classics of the category) and the books that are selling well, and the books that are winning prizes, you'll be able to see what's NOT there.  And that's what you write.

These are the books that everyone hears about and says "aw damn, why didn't I think of that!" and crawls off to the Tears of Writers Saloon and Synopsis Hall.

is it possible I'm a good writer and agents are still rejecting me?

 I've been in the writing game for a long time (specifically, I've written ten novels over the course of ten years) and, to be frank, I've had hardly any success out of hundreds of queries sent to literary agents (basically, only a few minuscule nibbles and a solitary full manuscript request, ending in a form rejection). At this point in my career I can't help but be confused, since I have an MFA in Writing Popular Fiction, have been meticulously mentored by small a press editor and several authors of big six publishers, and yet my success rate has been truly abysmal.


Over the years I've also heard many agents and editors say that based on my type of track record, that means my writing is just not at a high-enough level to gain the interest of agents. However, every once in a while I also hear about success stories in which an unagented writer who claimed to have almost zero agent interest in a novel submitted that novel during a large publisher's open-submission period and - viola - they not only got a deal but their book sold well.


So this makes me pause. Is it sometimes possible (perhaps albeit not so frequently) to actually be writing at a very high, publishable level, but still be hardly getting any agent requests or interest over the course of a few years and countless queries? Or would you say the writer is still not up to snuff and may not even be talented enough to make it in this insane, shark-infested business?

It's entirely possible to be a talented writer and not get any interest in the books you write.
In addition to talent, you need skill. Generally you'll build your skills with practice, but practice without coaching isn't useful.

The coaching you're getting though (the MFA, the help from other writers etc) might not be doing the job. I'd suggest you get some from the people you're querying: agents.

If you have some cash to invest, you might consider one of those "I'll critique your novel for a charitable donation" kind of thing that crop up periodically.

The other reason that well-written novels fail to catch an agent's interest is they're not books we want to read.

I see well-written books that are non-starters all the time. There are a couple reasons for this: the novel feels like something out a 70's TV show; the characters are people I wouldn't want to ride the subway with, let alone pay $25 to invite into my lair; the topic bores the sox off me.

On the other hand.

It's entirely possible that you're writing something agents don't want to read but other people might. To that end, open submissions at publishers are a great idea. Another good one is posting to platforms that get your book in front of readers (Wattpad etc.)

I have a client who is prolific and published. He thinks about one in eight of his novels are publishable. I'm not sure that's accurate but I do know I've read more of his novels than I've sold.

That means you need to pick which novel you think is your best work for this critique/open submission/Wattpad. If you don't know or can't decide you'd probably do well to choose the most recent one, given I hope you're improving with each new book.


And my best tip on how to assess your own work is to write out a novel you love.

If you love Jack Reacher novels, pick your favorite. You'll inhale his rhythm and syntax without thinking about it.  You'll see where he turns a reader's expectations upside down. You'll see where he surprises his readers.  (If you're not surprising your readers, you're going to start boring them.)

This is a really difficult problem and you should expect to spend some time and effort analyzing it. There's no quick solution.

Wait...who looked at this?

I recently received a rejection on a full.

Here’s the blow-by-blow on how reading that rejection went:

“Hi Robert,” 
Phew, good sign, she read my name!

"Thank you for sharing XXXX with me. I've had the chance to consider your manuscript,”
oh crap, this is a rejection.

“And discuss it with our editorial board.”
What??? I thought this was a rejection?

“There's a lot to admire here in your imaginative and musical novel, but,”
Crap, this really is a rejection.

“It just wasn't coming to life for me on the page.”

So I’m confused. First off, I thought editors and publishers were the ones with editorial boards. Why does an agent have an editorial board? And I know you are always telling us not to read to much into a rejection, but I can’t help it. Does this mean she read the MS, wanted to sign, but her management killed the idea? Does this mean she read the MS, didn’t like it, so sent this response to make sure I wouldn’t submit to other agents at the agency? Does this mean… I know, I have to stop this. But seriously, do you have any insight here?

As an aside, she then went on to say, “I'm afraid I just felt the writing was uneven and didn't always feel on point for YA.” At this stage in the query process I have the hide of a 50-year-old rhinoceros and am really thankful for any criticism, especially if it comes from an industry professional.

I politely emailed asking if she could share any additional notes or suggestions. I didn’t necessarily expect to hear back and I didn’t. As it stands, her criticisms are not helpful. Sometimes the writing is rhythmically uneven and there are abrupt tempo changes reflecting the pace of the action. At one point the content is a little edgy for YA. These are deliberate and aspects that other readers have really liked, but balanced against the opinion of an agent…

I’m torn between doing nothing (tossing her comments off as her subjective opinion) and ripping the novel to shreds trying to find a fix. I’m tempted to see a psychiatrist, but that can get expensive. Any sage advice?

In my quest to torment writers in new and interesting ways, I may need to adopt some of this for my own (evil) use.

The first question - does an agent have an editorial board? - is easy to answer: she really doesn't. What she's got are other people in the agency reading the manuscript, or assessing what she's saying about the manuscript. She's getting what you've heard called second reads.

I also get second reads on manuscripts I'm considering,  particularly those that don't easily fit into a neat category; for manuscripts where I may not have read enough in the category; to see if I'm reading with rose-colored spectacles, and in fact this ms is dreck and what the hell is wrong with you SharqueForBrains.

And I also get reads from our foreign and film departments to see what they think of a manuscript's potential in those areas.

This is certainly not an editorial board because none of those people can say "nope, you can't sign this." Unless she is a very junior agent, my inclination is she doesn't need permission to sign something either.

So, my guess here is AgentTasteless got some second reads and the manuscript didn't resonate enough with them to overcome her hesitations.

What that probably means is you are toast for other agents at the agency BUT unless their website says one and done, there's no cost to you to query them. I don't think it's likely you'll get an offer, but yanno, I didn't think the current occupant of the Oval Office had a snowball's chance in Hades either, and look how wrong I was about that.

As to the other questions, there's no way to know if she's on point or not. Just cause she said it doesn't make it a fact. It's always and forevermore her opinion. Give it as much weight as you choose.

If you think she assessed your style accurately but you chose that style for a reason, well, you might want to think about changing up.  I've had that exact conversation with clients and it did make a difference (I was able to sell the revised novel, and then three more.)

This is where you can benefit from one of those critiques that are periodically offered by agents for charitable causes. Of course, you're just getting another opinion, but two is better than one.

Bottom line: keep querying. One agent's abrupt is another agent's tautly paced.



 MY editorial board has an opinion on your-too-edgy-for-YA stuff too:

Janet's Editorial Board

D&A(TE)

 My contract states that my advance is "payable upon the Publisher's acceptance for publication of the complete and final manuscript for the Work." We are now past all stages of editing (including copyediting) and the editor has stated that the book is ready for design. However, they've now pushed back the publication date significantly (I suspect it's because the press is struggling), and I still have not received my advance. Is there a standard definition of "final manuscript," or is this language as subjective as I fear? Until they formally accept THIS book, the 30-day window for my next book's "first look option" doesn't even begin. For that matter, neither does the 18-month publication window for my current book.

If they don't pay my advance in a timely manner, is this leverage for me to beg out of the contract? 

ah yes, the lovely D&A payment.

Delivery and Acceptance means you've delivered the manuscript and they've accepted it.
They've accepted it if they've sent it to production (ie sent off to be designed.)

However, absent language that says D&A is assumed 45 days after X event unless otherwise notified, it can be a chore to collect.

I'm assuming since you're writing to me that you do not have an agent.
(If you do have an agent, you should be discussing this with her not moi) 

What you do is write a firm, but polite, letter to the editor. You will say that since the manuscript has now been copyedited and put into production, you'd like to know when you'll receive your D&A payment.

Most likely this is NOT in the editor's hands, or under her control, so be gentle with her.

If she gives you a date, you confirm that date with her.
(Confirm means you email her back with "confirming that May 1, 2017 is the date to expect D&A payment.")

Most likely you'll hear "that's up to Accounting, I'll forward your email to them."

And that's when you say "I'd be glad to email directly, please let me know who to contact."
OR you scout around on their website, or in their catalog for a name.

You also need to check your contract for a clause that says if they don't pay you, rights revert to you. Most likely you'll know if it's there, cause it's one we always have to put in. Very few publishers start out offering that in their boilerplate.

If you hear nothing from the editor, there should be a name in your contract, and an address for legal notices.  Get in touch with the publisher. Again, polite but direct. Do NOT apologize for asking for your money.  This is a legal contract, and they owe you this money. 

If they can't pay their bills in a timely fashion, that's not your problem, and they shouldn't be balancing their books on your back.  You fulfilled your part of the contract. Time for them to fulfill theirs.

At some point you might need an attorney to write a sterner letter. Let me know if you need names. 

Signing with a more junior agent

So signing with a very new/ junior agent seems like a perfectly fine thing to do if that agent is embedded within a good agency and they are a good fit for your book. Do you think it matters if that particular agency as one (or, um, more than one) other agent/s who are more senior who already rejected your book? I ask because I know junior agents rely on the mentoring and connections of more senior agents as they start getting into the biz. But does this create an awkward or potentially bad situation for the author if other senior agents are familiar with the work and didn't like it? 

You have fallen prey to one of the worst (and totally wrong) assumptions in publishing: rejection means the agent didn't like it.

I reject good and publishable work Every Single Day.

Let me say that again this time with feeling: I pass on good and publishable work Every Single Day. Work that goes on to find an agent and get published and win prizes.

Repeat after me: rejection only means no, nothing else.

Thus, a more senior agent might have passed on your work for any number of reasons that have nothing to do with the caliber of the writing, let alone whether s/he liked it.

Some of the reasons I pass on good and publishable work EVERY SINGLE DAY:
1. I have a project that's similar
2. It's not one of my strongest categories
3. I've just signed a new client and I'm hesitant to take on more work just now (that happens a lot)

Some of the reasons I pass on work that other agents might take on:
4. It needs more editorial work than I want to spend time on



Thus, you should now intuit the answer to your question,

But does this create an awkward or potentially bad situation for the author if other senior agents are familiar with the work 

but in case your frozen intuition whiskers have not yet melted after all my hot air and arm-waving:

NO

How long do I wait when I'm already a client?

I spent a couple of months reading Query Shark posts, taking copious notes, and hammering out my own query letter. Thanks to your terrifyingly sharp advice, I learned enough about querying to land an agent.

Unfortunately, it turned out there was a reason I was getting positive responses but no offers from the dozens of other agents I queried. The agent I signed with managed to get my manuscript in the door of several big publishers, but all the agents who had rejected me turned out to be right: this was some really good, totally unmarketable writing.

I took the hint when my agent stopped sending me cheerful updates about which editors were reading my novel and started asking pointed questions about how my next novel was going. After pitching the premise to her and confirming that this novel wouldn't have any red flags, I wrote a YA Suspense/Thriller.

I sent this manuscript to my agent a little over a month ago. She replied enthusiastically that she couldn't wait to read it.

I sent a friendly nudge a few days ago, updating her on my current project (yes, I'm keeping busy!) and saying I was excited to hear what she thought of the finished manuscript.

I was hoping for a quick update – something like "I'm swamped, but I should be able to give you a reply in X days/weeks/months." I haven't heard anything back from her.

I need a reality check from someone in the field so I don't turn into That Writer. My agent's site says that querying authors should be prepared to wait up to four months to hear about a manuscript. But I'm a client – my name's on their site and everything.

I've spent plenty of time in the slush pile, and I can hang out there a little longer if that's what I have to do. I guess I thought signing with someone meant I'd worked my way a little closer to the middle of the desk.

There are really two questions here: (1) how long does it take for your agent to read your new work, and (2) how quickly should you expect status updates.

Let's answer the second one first: you should get a reply within a couple days if only to say she got your email and will be able to answer it soonishly. Soonishly is my word for I have no idea but I know it's important and you're not forgotten, really.

What gets in the way of this kind of quick email is guilt: I know I should have read this by now, but I haven't and maybe I can get to it in the next three days so I don't have to tell you I didn't read it and holyhell, where did those three days go, now this email is a week old, and this is just mortifying, and maybe I'll just pretend I'm dead.

We've all been there. It took me a long time to realize that "I got this, I'm a slacker, you should throw me to the wolves" replies were better than silence. I hate telling clients that I haven't done something. HATE IT.

That said, it happens.

So, to avoid being That Client you'll email her about once a month. "Hey, just checking in, hope you're doing well, I am being fitted for a straitjacket!"

If it goes beyond six months, let your agent know you're seriously having a hard time with this silence and let's figure out what we're doing here. In other words, she doesn't get to drag her heels for an indeterminate amount of time here, guilt or no guilt.

The first question is what you really need to know though: how long does it take an agent to read your work. And the answer is a whole lot longer than you think.  Remember that she's going to read your whole manuscript AND give you notes, or at least feedback. In other words, she's not just skimming along with "do I love this, can I sell this."  That kind of read takes time. (Read, not reading for my eagle-eyed proof readers out there)


Agents prioritize their reading. The rule of thumb is: the closer you are to the money, the faster you get read.

Thus, things I read right away are: contracts. Contracts trump everything.

Next: books on editorial deadline. Those books have contracts and production deadlines. I read those as close to instantly as I can. Often getting that book to the editor triggers a payment and we like that a lot.

Next: books/proposals ready or close to ready to go on submission. Revisions to books on submission are here too.

Everything else comes after those three categories.  Your book isn't under contract, and it's not on editorial deadline. It's not on submission. That means you're probably not going to be read as soon as you wish (or your agent wishes either--trust me, I'd love to have eight eyes and a robot brain most days.)

What will surprise you here is often I'll read queries and requested fulls before some client manuscripts. That's because I can often get them an answer pretty quickly. I don't have to do more than say yes/no and I don't have to read the entire manuscript on a request if by page X I know I'm not going to take it on.

It can feel good to get something done, and off the to do list at least once a day, even if it's not the most important thing on the list. Sometimes mental health requires that. (At least it does for me. Other agents might be more mentally balanced.)

And just to make sure everyone is having a good time here, there's the really fun moment when you're just about to read something that's eight weeks overdue, and a client pops in with a manuscript on editorial deadline. Or a contract for a short story they sold. Or an editor calls with an offer to be negotiated.

Sayonara reading plans.


With manuscripts like yours I have to respond in detail and that means time.
Blocks of time are increasingly hard to find. Any kind of schedule is a fervent hope at best.

Bottom line: don't get on the rodent wheel of panic. Don't assume your agent is a slacker nincompoop. Do not assume she's lost interest in you.  Stay in touch with her gently. Have patience. Keep writing.

more on waiting for laggardly agents to quit eating bonbons and watching telenovelas

I received a full MS request eight months ago today and received personal confirmation that it was received. This particular agent promises to respond to everyone, even when they are only querying. I'm concerned because I waited until the three month mark to politely nudge first then again at the six month mark, yet I never received a response either time.

I honestly don't know if there's anything I can do besides what you said about nudging every six to eight weeks. Like every writer, I'm hesitant to "annoy" the agent. Does eight months sound ridiculous in the realm of full MS submissions, or do I need to just suck it up and deal? Any help would be much appreciated.

Your question prompted me to look at my pending full requests.

1. received July 1, 2015
2. received July 29, 2015
3. received August 10, 2015
4. received August 17, 2015
+ two more from Fall 2015
+ two more from January 2016

1-4  are six to seven months old. I'm sorry to say that's actually the BEST it's been in almost a year as well.

Generally I try to answer nudging emails cause I understand that writers are on rodent wheels of anxiety during this process, but some agents can't stand to reply "sorry, not there yet" and so take the path of least reply and don't say anything.

I know this  because when I've replied "hey, sorry, not there yet" it's all too common to get the reply "well, when WILL you get to it??" and the answer is "hell if I know."  That's just not something you ever want to say to a writer, let alone in any kind of written format.

I will say that nudging every six to eight weeks feels pushy. I'd do more like 90 days.

Only you can decide when enough is enough.

I will tell you this: I've signed clients who waited more than a year for a reply. I've signed clients who've waited more than two years.

You should MUST keep querying while you wait.

Well, that was quick

This fall I signed with a literary agent for a YA novel. When we discussed plans for submission, she said she would contact approximately 10 editors, we would examine the responses, and (if no offer was made) decide if any revisions were necessary before expanding the submission. Well, we did not receive any offers in response to the first 10 submissions and the agent has decided to step aside. She felt there might be issues with marketability (it's a historical novel, set in a somewhat unusual time period), but only one editor actually mentioned that as a reason for passing. To my eye, there wasn't a clear pattern in the editors' responses (they all liked different things and disliked different things). She has said I am free to seek other representation. So I am wondering:

1. How common or uncommon is this scenario?

2. As an agent, how many submissions would you expect to send out before getting an offer?

3. Is it worth seeking another agent or will these 10 submissions effectively kill my chances?

4. How much of this should be mentioned in the query?

While I'm reluctant to stick my long pointy nose into another agent's business practices, A couple things perplex me here.

1. The initial statement that she's only sending to ten editors. While I do not work in YA, I know some pretty successful agents who do. Their war stories often have ten editors coming to an auction. That means there are LOTS more than ten places to submit YA projects. Hell, I can think of more than ten myself.

This seems like an early warning sign that the editor isn't in this with you for the long haul. That's certainly one way to agent, but it sure leaves authors in a pickle more times than not.


2. She's ditching you rather than asking you to write something else.

3. If you signed with her in the fall, and it's now the last week of January, that's barely four months, and one of those months had a lot of "out of office" email replies cause we were all snogging Santa or his reindeer or both (Fifty Shades of Doe, Ray and Me)


Now for your questions:

1. I've seen this kind of thing before. I've blogged about it too.

I think it's becoming more common as agents need to sell big books and decide not to spend time on books that aren't going to go big.

2. My practice is to send out rounds of submissions. If you have ten first choice editors, and they say no, I send to ten second-choice. I've sold books to publishers who weren't my first or second choice, but the author and I discussed the submission and agreed on it. If I run out of places to submit, I generally have already asked the author to start on something new.

3. This book is dead. You need to write something new. I never take on "lightly shopped" let alone seriously shopped books.

4. None. You'll write a new book, and when your next agent calls to chat, you'll mention this and I hope it will become a hilarious story.


The lesson to be learned from this is: ASK what strategy an agent employs for a book they can't sell. If it's the WhamBamPartingGiftsPlan, you'll want to think long and hard about signing with that agent.

Almost without exception each client I've signed wrote a book I loved. If editors turned it down, I thought they were short-sighted and I wanted to make sure they'd live to rue that rejection.


When the client and I have parted ways over my inability to sell their work, it's absolutely not for lack of effort on my part. Yes, sometimes a fresh perspective is needed. Sometimes a new agent will know a category better than I do. When that happens, I am sorry to see the client leave, but I understand their thinking. I have some very successful former clients and I'm pleased as punch for them.

I can't think of a single instance where I sent a book to ten editors and four months later fired the client (even passively) unless there was something else going on. You've mentioned nothing that leads me to think that might be the case here and I hope it isn't.

Some of the things that can lead an agent to lose enthusiasm quickly:

1. Nagging. I don't mean follow up emails once a week, I mean "what are you doing" emails once a day.

2. Micro-managing: "I saw this editor bought Book X on Pub Lunch. Are you sending to them?"

3. Incessant over-analyzing "what does she mean "the book isn't big enough.""

4. Eeyore emails "oh, I'm so discouraged, woe is me, maybe I'll just self-publish" after each rejection.

If by some dreadful coincidence, you see yourself in this list, it's not the book and it's not the agent, it's you. (I hope it's not.)

In any case you now know three things:

1. Your agent has fired you.
2. You need to write a new book
3. You're never going to sign with someone who practices the WhamBamPartingGifts Submission plan again.

Wait, what?

The assistant for a very good, old school New York agent requested a partial of my thriller, then requested the full. Two weeks later, the assistant wrote back to tell me that she hadn’t read the full herself, but she’d given it to her intern, who had written up an extensive report about it, and the assistant was giving me an R&R.

The problem is that the intern’s comments, criticisms, and suggestions were largely off-base (sometimes painfully so), showed a real lack of insight into my novel, and betrayed a palpable inexperience about people and the world at large.

So, I’m in a bind. It would be a dream to sign with this agent, but I can’t revise according to the intern’s comments, because they would wreck my novel. Should I let the assistant know about the intern’s mistakes and hope she’ll be sympathetic? Should I just chalk the whole thing up to experience and move on? Or is there a third option?

Thanks very much.

  

The third option is to simply say you don't agree with the intern's assessment and suggestions for revisions. If you can use some examples of the painfully off-base criticisms, put those in your reply. Of course you'll leave out any kind of comment on the intern's state of mind, experience etc. You'll keep it solely about the work.  Leave it in the assistant agent's hands about what to do next.

Be prepared for the assistant to say sayonara. 

Meanwhile you KEEP QUERYING.


You don't say how much time has elapsed between getting this intern critique and writing to me. Before responding to the critique, you'll want to make sure you've given it at least a week. I can always tell when someone is replying in the heat of outraged rejection and inevitably, they have a more temperate reply a week later. 

And make sure you're not shouting "off my lawn, whippersnapper" before you reply. Sometimes those inexperienced babes in the woods see things that us more seasoned folk have long since stopped noticing.

"Yea, so we're done now that I haven't sold your book"

 Although I’ve got one novel (with Publisher Good) and two non-fiction books (with Publisher More Good) to my credit, I lost my previous agent when she went into another line of work. So last January I jumped into the pool of unsoliciteds and started querying agents for my new novel.

When I query agents, I like to start at the top and work my way down. So imagine my delight when my very first letter hit home with one of New York’s most famous Superagents at one of the biggest agencies in the business. Woo-hoo! Time to start casting the movie and shopping for yachts.

Not so fast, Richard. Superagent warned me that he could only think of nine editors who would be interested in my somewhat offbeat manuscript. He also told me that he would be “co-agenting” it with his assistant, whom I shall call Assistant-to-Superagent. Given those two caveats, he gave me the opportunity to decline his offer. But I was so thrilled at the time I pooh-poohed his warnings and signed up.

Nine submissions and nine rejections later, my yacht is up the creek without a paddle. Assistant-to-Superagent has informed me that there will be no more submissions and we are officially kaputski. Goodbye and good luck.

Don’t get me wrong, I bear them no ill will. They warned me fair and square. Their only mistake, in my view, was sending it to the wrong nine editors. (By the way, the editors didn’t offer much advice—just the usual “we liked it but not quite right for us” rejection notes.)

My question for you, Ms. Reid, is what do you think I should do next? I know that finding another agent after the first one has shopped it around town is rather like trying to sell a used mattress with suspicious stains on it at a flea market.

Should I try anyway? (1)  Should I chalk it up to experience and write a better novel next time? (2) Should I drop down in class a bit and send it to one of these new indie publishers who accept un-agented manuscripts but seem to do a decent job of producing and distributing them? (3) Any other advice?(4)  Like where to unload a lightly-used yacht, for example? (5)

(1) No
(2) Sort of
(3) maybe
(4) lots
(5) I heard this guy is in the market:

But enough jocularity, back to your questions.

The first thing is next time you venture in to the shark pool you should remember to ask the question you didn't ask this time: what happens if you (the agent) can't sell the book?

I've seen very talented writers get hung out to dry, just like you did, by agents who practice the WhamBamThankYouPlan of submissions: send to a select few editors. If one of them coughs up big cash, yay. If not, kick the writer to the curb.

I understand this from a business perspective. I abhor it as a business practice. I can name probably ten writers on my list who are NOW PUBLISHED who did not get an offer on the book I signed them for.

That kind of hindsight doesn't do you much good though now.

Now you've got a lightly shopped novel and not much else. Sadly, you're probably done as far as agents are concerned for this particular novel. No matter how much I liked you or your writing, I would not sign you for a book that's already made the rounds.

And by the way: you don't know if this agent sent to the "wrong editors." You know s/he sent it to the editors s/he thought would buy it. That they did not does NOT mean they were wrong. Let go of that kind of thinking or you're going to be second guessing everything and you'll go nuts.

When you say try an indie publisher, I'm not sure what you mean. The term "indie" is used so fast and loose these days I think it's lost any kind of specific meaning. If by indie you mean small publishers that accept submissions from authors without agents, sure, go ahead. If you mean digital only, sure, why not.

However, if you sell this book to a small publisher, or a digital only publisher, you're going to end up with sales figures that are going to be VERY hard to overcome if you want to try for another agent on the next book.

An author with four books, the last of which sold only 3000 copies (because that's all the publisher would print) isn't as appetizing to sharks as writers without that disadvantage.

I can't tell you what to do here. I can only tell you there are risks and rewards for every choice. You have to decide what's most important: being published any way you can, or writing another book, applying what you learned here, and trying again.

Clearly you've got writing chops: you're published well with earlier books, and two agents liked your work.

Take some time and really think about what you want, cause you've got one more time at bat most likely.

At what point does expecting someone to be patient become rude?

CarolynnWith2Ns asked this in the comment trail of the blog post about timing:

At what point does expecting someone to be patient become rude? 

That's a really good question.

I saw the comment 34 minutes after hanging up from a telephone call with a client; a phone call that was about a proposal we've been working on for more than a year, and has had some serious setbacks in terms of my available time.

I'm very fortunate to have clients who have not lost patience with me.
On the other hand I've have more than a few former clients because they DID lose patience with me.

Patience is an individual sensibility.
[Just like eating peas with honey is a gross breach of table manners to some, and the only way to keep peas on a knife, thus practical, to others.]

I try to set realistic expectations for people who query and people who are waiting for me to read full manuscripts.  I tell them how long it should take, and say it's ok to touch base with me if they get worried, and certainly if they haven't heard from me in the time frame I've set.

That has helped diminish the level of writer anxiety in the prospect pool a lot.

Expecing someone to be endlessly patient without paremeters or permission to be in touch is rude.


I try to communicate with clients in a timely manner. Most of the time it works. Some times I fall VERY short. When that happens, the client moves to the top of the priority list. (In the prioritizaion on Tuesday's blog post, they become important AND urgent.)

We set a time for a telephone call and get caught up.

Expecting someone to wait patiently with no end in sight is rude.

In the normal woop and warf of client communication, appointments for phone calls are made, deadlines agreed to and expectations that To Do will Get  Done are set.

A LOT of times, those things get pushed back. A phone call needs to be rescheduled, a project doesn't get finished, a deadline gets missed.

I think a general rule of thumb here is that you can push/move/change an agreement three time before it's rude.

Absent some life changing situation three times is about the max.

If there is a life changing situation, then all bets are off, and you wait it out.

I've had colleagues lose clients when they've been upfront about personal situations they've had to deal with.  One in particular sent out an email that said she'd be dealing with a personal family emergency and was fired in a return email by a client who said s/he really wanted an agent who was available. (I had to be physically restrained from visiting that former client's place of abode. Fortunately we all realized that any client with that atttitude was better off being a former client and as soon as humanly possible, so bullet dodged, thank you.)

Help! My publisher is declaring bankruptcy!

OMG. I just learned that my publisher is filing bankruptcy. The owner is in the process of returning rights to us but is there anything else I need to do? I was positive you answered this question before but in my current state of disappointment and fear I couldn't find it.

I'm assuming this is a small publisher, maybe one or two owners. If they are filing for dissolution of the business, secured creditors will get first dibs.

If the publisher owes you money, you're an unsecured creditor. You're in line with everyone else to get paid from the proceeds of the dissolution.

But, where this gets tricky is that the publishing contract the publisher has with you is an ASSET, not a liability. It's worth money.

In most bankruptcies, a business can't simply return assets before the bankruptcy is resolved.

What they can do is sell, transfer or assign assets to another company who takes on the debt as well as the assets. (When Skyhorse bought Nightshade, this is what they did.)

The first thing you're going to do is make sure that any rights reversion is in writing. Real writing, on paper, not email.

The second thing you're going to do is have your books removed from sale at once.

If you're not going to get paid from these guys, it's smart to make sure they don't get to keep the proceeds from sales any more.

Third: Check Victoria Straus's blog for information about the publisher. If there isn't any, make her aware of this.

Fourth: beware of online hysteria about this. Writers can work themselves into a frenzy over very small things, so you won't be surprised to hear that it's frenzy to the nth power when something like this which really does matter. A lot of terminology gets thrown around by people who are well-meaning, worried, and badly informed. Take most of what you hear with more than a grain of salt.

Depending on where you are in the publishing process you now have a book that has been published but can no longer be offered for sale, or a book that has NOT been published, and the rights have returned to you.

It's easier to resell the second. If you query, you say "this was accepted for publication by SinkSankSuck Publisher who have recently declared bankruptcy and all rights returned to me." You put that at the bottom of the query along with your bio and writing credits. In other words, don't lead with it. It's not a selling point.

If you have actual books for sale, and the rights have been returned, you're better off querying a second book, and then discussing the first (or previous) books with the agent or publisher who is interested in the New Book.

Most important: this will not kill you. It might not make you stronger (god knows I'd be Serena Williams if setbacks really made you stronger) but it's not a death knell for your career or for your books.

Get everything in writing from the publisher. Save EVERYTHING. Be calm in your communications. The publisher is probably hysterical at this point with fear and shame, not to mention in a panic over money. They're not going to be calm about anything most likely. That doesn't mean you respond in kind.

You WILL get through this, and if my experience with publisher's bankruptcies is any indicator, you'll be better off in a year than you are now.

Any questions?

Author/agent question: Time

I recently had an agent email me, "Love your writing, want to talk. What's a good time?" I emailed back some suggestions. Haven't heard back yet (several days later). What should I do, if anything? Needless to say, this is causing some suffering.

Was it me?

This kind of thing happens to me more than either of us wish.

It's not that I don't care, or I'm not interested. It's that things just pile up, and good intentions, much like my flask, get buried under incoming stuff.

Today for example, I had a list of 16 things to do. I got through eight of them because six NEW things popped up that were both urgent and important.***

So, yes, I didn't get to an email to schedule a phone call with a potential client (important but not urgent.)

I wish I had, but I didn't.

Here's what that means for you: Keep querying! Don't assume This Is It. And ping Miss TardyPants once a week (not Monday) to express your continued interest in talking to her. Unless it's Barbara Poelle. If it is La Slitherina, email me and we'll conference her in on a call and do an a cappella version of this to motivate her:





Also, make sure you check your spam filter. I'm not sure why but my spam filter is unusually voracious this week. (Probably cause she's unhappy to be back from vacation.)








The four categories, drawn from The Seven Habits Of Highly Effective People (one of the best book titles EVER) are:
1. Important and Urgent
2. Not important but Urgent
3. Important but not urgent
4. Not important and not urgent (renewing your passport that doesn't expire for a year for example) 

So, is this normal?

Imagine my excitement when I landed Big Time Agent! However, after I signed the contract, crickets.

After 2 months I sent a gentle email nudge (BTA's preferred form of commo) asking if there were revisions needed, if I needed to do anything..etc).

After a couple of weeks, BTA responded and we talked. BTA had obviously forgotten about me and (1) asked me to resend the ms, saying that BTA got so many emails that it was lost somewhere. I did so, along with some other requested things.

It's been a month and...still those darn crickets.

I know now I should have asked more questions during The Call, like how often communication would occur.

Here's my question: is this normal, the prolonged silence? (2)  I know BTA has many best selling authors. I respect that BTA is busy, but I also run a business and I know to respond promptly to clients. How long should I give this before terminating (yep. No termination clause. I am exposing my ignorance on the internet because it might help others who are blinded by the light).


I know one of BTA's authors and this author speaks so highly of BTA. Of course, the author is a best seller, which probably helps. I think highly of BTA too, I just need to know what is normal in the agent--client world.

First, you have no idea if BTA forgot about you unless she said she had. You can't read her mind. (If you can, please fire her at once, and come sign with me)

Second, the question isn't whether this is normal. The question is whether this is how you want your working relationship to be.

Normal could involve dancing pantsless in bars on Seventh Avenue (and trust me, for some of my clients who shall remain nameless

it does)


The question isn't whether dancing pantsless is normal, it's whether you want to do it.

And it's clear you don't.

You need a different style of communication. One that does not require months of silence and phone call prompts to hear from your agent.

For some clients that style might be just fine. I have clients who hear from me no more than twice a year and are ok with that.

I have other clients who hear from me several times a week, and one of those might be a phone call just to shoot the shinola.

Every client is different. One of the things one learns as an agent is what each client wants/needs and then tailoring communication to fit that.

That kind of tailoring does not come quickly or easily.  I have clients who've given me wake up calls. I have some ex-clients who did so as well.  Sometimes we learn the hard way.

You need to do the following:

 Speak to your agent candidly. Mention it feels like she forgot who you were. Be very direct that waiting for a month feels disrespectful and like you don't have value.

Then, listen both to what she says and how she says it. If she gets defensive and blames you, or faults your expectations, things are not going to change (ie get better.)

If she listens carefully, apologizes, and the two of you work out plan for meeting your needs, things are going to change (ie get better)

If you realize things are not going to change, you have a choice to make: suck it up or terminate the agreement.

This is where you need to be brutally honest with yourself: what do you want in an agent. Some very good agents are terrible with client communication. If she can sell your book, and get you a good deal, will it be worth the communication downside?  That's a question only you can answer.

You need to think about this NOW before the book is sold, because once the book is sold, she's the agent for that book forever.

A word of warning: a lot of people will weigh in on this topic. Some will have a list of "shoulds." Be very careful about listening to other people's should lists. The ONLY thing that matters here is YOURS. I've seen too many writers go astray listening to other writers telling them they should do this that or the other.  Listen to yourself (and me of course!)

Query Question: more on waiting time

I am a contemporary romance writer and have been submitting my third novel to agents.

I'm delighted to say that I have had 6 Full requests and 2 Partials (the most positive responses I have ever had) since 25 May but have not heard a thing back from any of these agents so far.

Could you tell me please what the "average" process is when an agent might be considering offering representation to a writer and how long these things can take?

I'm trying to keep busy with other writing (and planning Book 4) and the last thing I want to do, is come across as impatient! I have only "checked in" with one of the agents so far (after 10 weeks) and she apologised, saying she was swamped and would get to my MS asap.

I suppose I'm just apprehensive that all 8 are going to reject my work!

Of course you are. You are a writer. Worrying about things you can't control is pretty much #1 on your To Do list each and every day.

The industry standard for full manuscripts is 90 days. That means you don't utter a word till August 25.

After August 25 you can email ONCE every six-eight weeks, very politely, asking for a status update.

I will tell you that I'm running VERY late on requested fulls right now because I've had a lot of client work come in, and that comes first.

I think everyone is running long right now except those efficient elves AWESOME AGENTS and FIERCE WORD WARRIORS, KICK ASTERISKS AND TAKE NAMES Sarah LaPolla and Jessica Faust

I see those tweets and I look more like this:

I know you're anxious, but the very best thing to do is keep sending out queries, and work on your next book.  The pace in publishing is glacial for the most part.  Time to fortify your coping mechanisms.

Query Question: who needs glaciers when you've got waiting time?

I've been querying a non-fiction project that I am working on with another writer. We've been accumulating our share of rejections and so were really excited when an agent we queried asked for the full proposal. (This is an agent I have gotten rave reviews on from a fellow writer)

Of course now my mental illness springs into action as it's already been more than 3 months since she's had our proposal. We emailed her (briefly and courteously, natch) after she had had it for 6 wreks, and got a reply from her assistant that she was indeed reading it. More time passed and now at the 3+ months mark with no word, I learned that she had switched agencies. I emailed her again at her new agency, but it's been a week (4) and I haven't heard a peep (or a beep).

I understand that her current clients come first, but if she is not interested it would be nice to know so that we can move on. (5)

So I guess I have several questions:
1: what is a reasonable legnth of time to consider a full non fiction proposal?
2: If a full has been requested, would the " rejection by no response" rule still apply, or do they owe me a "no" even if it is a form "not for me" rejection?
3: Is there summer camp on Carkoon and what kind of cake does it serve?

(1) I generally ask for 30 days after receipt of a proposal. Right now I'm running about 90. I'm not proud of that fact, and I'm working pretty hard to get stuff read, but as you say, clients come first, and silly me, I've been selling stuff left and right and as soon as one contract is finished, another one rolls in. I do try to reply to pings but even with good intentions, I'm not always as responsive as I wish.

(2) You know my feelings about no response means no.  (It's here if by some chance you didn't hear that rant.) Generally however, no response means no applies at the query stage. Yes, I've heard about vast silence on requested fulls and proposals but I'm really hoping it's not the norm.

(3) I do not know the details of what goes at at Carkoon. Much like Her Majesty Queen Victoria and the penal colony in Australia, I just transport people there, I don't visit.


Now, let's talk about what you're going to do with this information.

(4) Since this agent has moved agencies she's barely figured out where to get her morning coffee, and buy her lunch at this new office. Let alone where the best watering hole is.  In other words, she's busy adjusting to the new office and her new colleagues.  You need to give her at least a month here before pinging at all.


(5) And by "move on" what do you mean? Stop pinging her with reminders? Or start querying other agents?  Because you should be querying until you have an offer. Reading a proposal is NOT an offer. Don't wait around hoping this agent will sign you. Seize the initiative and query widely.  NOTHING moves a dawdly agent faster than "I've got an offer from one of your more nimble competitiors, slackerpaws."

Waiting is the pits. I know it first hand (you think editors respond instantly?? oh please, would that it were so.)

But I also know that the best way to deal with waiting is to keep moving. Keep sending your query out. Keep building your platform. Keep reading books in your field that can be comparable titles.

If waiting time is a glacier, your only job is to hang in there and keep moving.