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Topic: Literary agent question
| Author | Message |
| deadline | Posted – 7/25/2006 7:20:33 PM | show profile I sent a quarry letter to a literary agent before she went on maternity leave, hoping she would get a chance to look at it before she left. We had briefly met before and I was hoping she would remember me. I also thought someone else might be reading her mail while she was out, but I haven?t heard anything. She is my no.1 choice so I wanted to know what she thought, but I really don?t know when she will be back. How long should you wait, and would it be wrong to put out some inquiries to other agencies in the meantime? |
| dribbledrive1 | Posted – 7/25/2006 7:32:25 PM | show profile There is no way to know if or when you will hear back from this person, so I wouldn't wait. Query a number of agents. |
| deadline | Posted – 7/25/2006 8:05:00 PM | show profile Please forgive me. I meant query letter. Don't know what I was thinking. It has been a long day. |
| deadline | Posted – 7/25/2006 8:05:12 PM | show profile Please forgive me. I meant query letter. Don't know what I was thinking. It has been a long day. |
| overthehillwriter | Posted – 7/25/2006 10:45:10 PM | show profile I think a quarry letter is an adorable typo. Think about it, generally we're stalking something ... |
| gnarls | Posted – 7/26/2006 6:48:30 AM | show profile yes, you should definitely stick with quarry letter. it tells the troof as an earlier poster said, you should keep sending out letters. The hunt for agents is a numbers game you wouldn't believe. forget about number one choice. learn to send out twenty at a time. week after week, its a long torturous process, the sooner you get over the silly ideas the less mizzuble it will get. Not good luck though. |
| mailbag | Posted – 7/26/2006 7:36:25 AM | show profile | email poster Its in the quarry "deadline - I sent a quarry letter..." It probably is in the quarry... :D were most letters end up. (just kidding.) As a side note, my writer friends in France tell me that it is considered rude for agents, publishers, producers not to respond to every single query letter or submission. Not only that, but the receiver would think you are rude if you send a SASE along with a submission. (They are proud that they can afford a stamp to respond back!) If only I was better at French!!! :) |
| gnarls | Posted – 7/26/2006 10:11:35 AM | show profile Maybe that's how they do it in Frog-land, but here in God's Country, they will probably respond to a SASE, if only to send a form letter or to scribble on your letter, 'no thanks!" The real issue here is whether or not they respond to emails. Some of the top of the top will at least write back and say no thanks (Binky & Elyse C) but the rest is hard to say. If they like your letter they might ask for a taste or say intriguing but no thanks. you need to write a killer query letter and start sending it out by email. There are many web sites with agent info. They are usually better than the books on the subject, which tend to be full of bogus and misleading info. If they don't answer, do not take it as a no, Not until they actually say "NO!" Sometimes they read the email queries, some times they don't you might be better querying on a sunday night. as they are more likely to entertain email from strangers on a monday. again, good luck |
| deadline | Posted – 7/26/2006 2:08:19 PM | show profile Thanks guys. But I would hate to have this agent show interest after another agent. Would she be mad that I didn't wait longer if she is interested? She had given me her contact info when we met. However, I did not have anything to send out back then. I am pretty sure she will tell me what she thinks either way. Is it a good sign or a bad sign the longer it takes? At the same time, waiting sucks and I want to really get this thing moving. I haven't given much thought into who else I might want or should I say might want me. |
| The phashionista | Posted – 7/26/2006 3:47:31 PM | show profile How long ago did you send it? You could always follow up. Will she be mad? If for some reason another agent picks you up in the meantime, you could always tell Agent 1 that Agent 2 is interested, just thought I would give you fair warning. It's hard enough to sell a book, so if you somehow land in a dream position where you have to choose between two agents, go with the one with better credentials or the one you feel most comfortable selling your product. Best of luck. |
| deadline | Posted – 7/28/2006 2:19:44 PM | show profile I sent it a little over a month ago, maybe two months. If the agent is not there would there be someone else checking her mail? Would they wait for her to come back before saying yes or no? Thanks again. |
| dribbledrive1 | Posted – 7/28/2006 2:43:16 PM | show profile There is no way to know. There is probably someone checking their mail. But the reality is sometimes if a agent is not interesting they won't respond. So you just can't sit around for weeks and months and years wondering if and when an agent will read your stuff because it may be the agent has forgotten about you and your project altogether. --I sent it a little over a month ago, maybe two months. If the agent is not there would there be someone else checking her mail? Would they wait for her to come back before saying yes or no? Thanks again.-- |
| deadline | Posted – 7/28/2006 2:54:45 PM | show profile But what about the SASE? Don't agents use those? |
| dribbledrive1 | Posted – 7/28/2006 3:41:59 PM | show profile Usually they do. But sometimes they don't and things call between the cracks, especially when someone is out. Sometimes letters end up at the bottom of huge piles, out of sight and out of mind. So you definitely need to keep in touch and follow up after a certain amount of time. --But what about the SASE? Don't agents use those?-- |
| bart23ny | Posted – 7/28/2006 5:01:24 PM | show profile Send out as many query letters as you can. Don't worry about giving an agent an exclusive unless he/she asks for your manuscript. Even then, don't give them an exclusive unless they specifically ask for one. |
| deadline | Posted – 7/30/2006 12:04:11 PM | show profile Thanks everyone. To the last poster - I have not written the book yet because it is nonfiction. Not that it matters too much. I am going to start writing the book in a month. I really wanted to have an agent by then, but it seems that it might not happen. I really want to work with a good agent. I guess everyone does. I kind of think it is hard to tell what agents are like. I have writers market and have read as much as I can find about different agents. However, I find myself struggling to pick the next place to send my stuff to. Did anyone else go through anything like this? I am wondering how long it may have taken some of you to find an agent. And did you really just send your stuff out everywhere? I also am wondering why some of the top agents do not have Web sites. Does anyone here know anything about that? Thanks guys. |
| CamelMan | Posted – 7/30/2006 1:05:43 PM | show profile The standard answer is to look in the acknowledgments sections of books that will be similar to the book you're proposing. Often the authors will thank their agent, and you'll get a sense of which agents would want to work on a project like yours. As for the web, some agents only work through referals, or only work with their established author list and aren't interested in the leads a website would bring. (And some of them are just small, and don't want the expense of a website). But there are plenty of sites out there that should be able to help you with other contact info. My favorite is everyonewhosanyone.com Lastly, you should think twice before going ahead and writing the book. If you can't sell the propsal, I don't see how you can sell a finished book. Good luck, --I kind of think it is hard to tell what agents are like. I have writers market and have read as much as I can find about different agents. However, I find myself struggling to pick the next place to send my stuff to. Did anyone else go through anything like this? I am wondering how long it may have taken some of you to find an agent. And did you really just send your stuff out everywhere? I also am wondering why some of the top agents do not have Web sites. Does anyone here know anything about that?-- |
| dribbledrive1 | Posted – 7/30/2006 1:31:05 PM | show profile I agree. There really isn't much of a point of writing a non-fiction book unless you plan to self-publish. Fiction, memoirs, or humor are a different thing. --Lastly, you should think twice before going ahead and writing the book. If you can't sell the propsal, I don't see how you can sell a finished book... |
| bart23ny | Posted – 7/30/2006 7:26:30 PM | show profile OK, I didn't realize, was non-fiction. Try this link for a list of agents: http://www.anotherealm.com/prededitors/pubagent.htm With non-fiction you just need to have a proposal. But definitely write up an outline/summary etc so that you can kick it into gear ASAP. You also might want to look into joining http://publishersmarketplace.com/ which costs $20 a month, but is a great place to research agents/deals, etc. The other poster was right?many agents don't have websites because they only work from refferals and would otherwise get inundated with unsolicited manuscripts/queries. |
| deadline | Posted – 8/3/2006 9:14:07 AM | show profile I guess I didn't mean I was going to just sit down and write it. My book is about something going on far away from where I live so I have planned a few trips back there to start further developing the concept. But I think I need to kind of write a little as I go along. I think I can always change it. I just thought it would be nice to have an agent before I left. |
| CamelMan | Posted – 8/3/2006 11:36:00 AM | show profile Well, I guess my point was that you should think twice before investing money in plane tickets, hotels, etc. (not to mention your time) on a project that might not pay off for you. Maybe there's a reason no one's picked up on your proposal. Maybe you don't have the platform they're looking for. Maybe there are too many books on the topic already. Maybe the topic has such a small audience that no one will invest the money that it would take for you to go write the book. Hey, if you want to go ahead and write the book, do it. But if it were me, I would be worried that I wasn't on to something that would be worthwhile in the end. |
| deadline | Posted – 8/3/2006 12:09:14 PM | show profile I have only sent out one query letter to one agent. It's not like everyone is just shooting down my book. Also, I think going there to do some more research can't hurt. And I do have someone who has offered to help me get it published if things didn't work out with the agent. I have a good story that I believe in enough to invest my own time and money to get it started. And you don't have to be so mean. |
| worm | Posted – 8/3/2006 12:37:32 PM | show profile I saw nothing "mean" about the response. Nonfiction books are sold first and then written. It is generally considered a waste of time to write first and then try to sell it. It is true--if you can't get an agent interested in your idea, then you can't expect a publisher to get interested. Send out a few more queries. Read a few books about how to write a proposal. Do you really want to spend money for airfare, etc, for a book that may never sell? |
| deadline | Posted – 8/3/2006 12:46:42 PM | show profile Again, I am not actually going there to write the book but to start the process and do some research. Why would you tell me to read some more books on how to write a purposal? I know how the process works. And I don't believe anyone needs to read a dozen books on writing a purposal. |
| worm | Posted – 8/3/2006 1:19:17 PM | show profile Oh, sorry. Your posts seemed a bit naive, and you sounded as though you needed direction and advice. My mistake. |
