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Topic: Agent etiquette?
| Author | Message |
| mad fingers | Posted – 4/23/2008 6:10:36 PM | show profile Guessing they are in much the same boat as editors: Tons of queries and proposals, and only so much time or interest... I'm trying to target only those with relevant lists, although, placing an offbeat project with mainstream (I hope) appeal is going to be a challenge. I know the snail mail route can take months, but I was hoping e-mail responses might be faster. Any insights on turn-around time for a book query? Thanks! |
| rch23 | Posted – 4/23/2008 6:56:41 PM | show profile | email poster I did a TON of research before sending my queries and only sent to agents I thought would be interested in the subject matter. That being said- I heard back from most within a week or two. |
| dribbledrive1 | Posted – 4/23/2008 7:38:24 PM | show profile Most agents respond to email queries fast, often that same day. |
| mad fingers | Posted – 4/23/2008 9:21:43 PM | show profile Hmmm... sounds like it's back to the drawing board for me... Thanks. |
| FeaturesGal | Posted – 4/24/2008 12:40:02 AM | show profile I keep extremely detailed files in Excel. Looking at mine-- it seems that most who chose to respond did so within a day or two. Most that chose to respond, in my experience, asked to see the entire proposal. From there, it was weeks or months until I heard back. My agent responded the same day initially and I didn't hear back from her for almost 4 months. |
| stinking prague | Posted – 4/24/2008 2:56:16 AM | show profile The process of finding an agent will quite likely drive you crazy. Best to learn extreme patience and to have very thick skin. I will tell you that it is mainly a numbers game. Take the time to write a killer query letter, be prepared to tweak it until it is absolutely perfect. How do you know its perfect? By the response you get. There are plenty of good agent resources on the web. Find some. Most have the agent's email address. Use those. Screw the snail mail. I don't think they like paper letters, it makes them nervous or something. Like I said earlier, its a numbers game. email them in groups of twenty to thirty. Do it sunday night so they'll get it monday morning when most have the attention span to focus on queries. I think any other day of the week, they don't have that window. At least that;s been my experience. What the other posters said about doing research on agents is probably good, but my own experience hasn't reflected it at all. During the query phase, you'll often be surprised who writes back. Some of the top top agents read their own email and will actually give you a thumbs up or down. Binky Urban never said yes, but she always wrote back promptly. Some agencies never never answer email queries. If they're gonna be such dicks, why assume their treatment of your paper query will be that much better. The other thing is that when they do say yes, send your manuscript, don't start breaking out the champagne. You're dealing with a whole new spirit-killing process. The Agents who are prepared to be delighted by a one-page query letter will in all liklihood, not be willing to read your MS with anything but heavily pre-jaundiced eyes. They don't want to be delighted by your work. That part of their brain is turned off. what is operating is a nearly reptilian cortex that is looking for the slightest reason to chuck it after fifteen seconds or less. seriously good luck |
| caitlinkelly | Posted – 4/24/2008 8:24:28 AM | show profile sp, why so bitter? I've been through three agents over the years and am awaiting news on my latest proposal -- and have had several proposals shot down along the way. That's the way it is. Agents are not your Mom -- all excited and eager to read your work. Why would they be? You're choosing them to be someone who has knowledge of the marketplace and will, perhaps, help you find your niche in it. You may have to go through several agents. Expect it. Expect them to be tough and "jaundiced" -- they receive a lot of crap and some of it from writers with insane and absurd ideas of what the process should be like, instead of what it *is* like. For the fortunate few, getting your ms. read -- and sold -- is fast and smooth. For many, it's not. Even when an agent LOVES your ms. it may not sell quickly, or sell at all. The single best way to get an agent to read your work quickly is to be referred to them by someone they know, maybe one of their current authors. That's why getting to know ambitious, talented peers -- beyond the pleasure of friendship and shared tips -- is helpful. The more you know about the process of selling your book idea, let alone the writing/publishing and promotion of it, (which is even tougher) the less bitter you will become...Forewarned is forearmed. |
| stinking prague | Posted – 4/24/2008 10:31:23 AM | show profile Why am I bitter????? Because I just spent ten fricken non-returnable years writing fiction., five years of which was spent on something I couldn't even get my god damn mother to read, so kindly leave her out of this discussion. I'm bitter because my agent took fricking months to read my stuff and months longer to put any corrections onto it, none of which I could really use. and then after I did as i was told it took him months longer, (actually months and months) before he decided it was ready to be submitted. Of course the fact that he turned around and sold it for a shitload of money over the course of a three-day weekend does somewhat alter my opinion of him. actually in my mind money-grubbing is a delightful quality.... I'm bitter cause it's something I'm good at. Practice makes perfect. yes you're undoubtedly right that knowing someone helps. Well I don't know anyone. I still don't. Writers are a bunch of self-absorbed twinkie twisters. I much prefer journalists but of course they're all clueless. my point is ultimately that selling fiction is doable, its just really difficult. good luck still |
| FeaturesGal | Posted – 4/24/2008 11:46:21 AM | show profile I agree with CK-- it's just a process. You get rejected-- but that's just part of the way it goes. I had SEVERAL agents call me on the phone and then end up not repping me. It happens; it isn't fun...but there's not much you can do about it except keep going on. I'd have to say that the search for an agent was almost downright pleasant to the experience of having your work submitted to publishers. Publishers? BRUTAL. But again, it is part of the game. After a certain amount of hearing "no," you get a bit more used to it. |
| caitlinkelly | Posted – 4/24/2008 2:31:53 PM | show profile Oy. OK, selling fiction is a lot harder...did anyone on this board *really* not know that going in? Oh, maybe you were going to be the exception. There are endless books and websites and conferences where you can find information and insight into the lottery-drawing aka publishing your precious book. I do not get this rage and bitterness -- especially if you sold your "fricking" book anyway. Practice makes perfect. Take a number. "Perfect?" Really? And if you are as utterly contemptuous of all writers and journos as you are here, well suffer in your miserable ignorance while the rest of us talk to smart colleagues to find out how it works and deal with it accordingly -- lowering your expectations to start with. If one agent is a dick, find another. There are many agents out there and if your work is so fantastic, someone will be happy to grab and sell it. It can be extremely hard to: find a topic for a non-fiction book; find a topic you care about and know about enough to spend 2 years+ on it; write well enough to produce a terrific proposal; have the "platform" to get the chance to write it; find and keep an agent you like and trust; find a publisher and editor you like and trust; not have your book orphaned; if so, find another editor you like and trust (or are simply stuck with); get the book published; have 15 minutes of the publicist's overwhelmed schedule and attention to help promote it; get reviews somewhere; get some positive reviews; make sure there's great word of mouth about your book which is the only proven thing that sells book; sell some books --- and keep your darling baby in print for more than six months. Who ever said it was easy? Where do people get the fantasy that any aspect of this process is going to be smooth sailing? MFA programs? J school? All the authors I know know it's often damn hard and are happy to share -- with people they trust -- that useful intel. |
| mad fingers | Posted – 4/24/2008 3:06:44 PM | show profile I know it's going to be a long haul. Using the "If I throw enough stuff against the wall, something's gotta stick" theory, anyone see problems using a multiple submission strategy? |
