But what does it all mean?

srose said:

So herein lies my question(s). Has this happened with anyone, and is this normal? Should I continue with my queries? What should I reasonably be expecting? I really want to work with this woman. Is she possibly just making sure I can do the work before she offers me representation? WHAT IS GOING ON?!

Any advice, thoughts, concerns here, please let me know. I just feel... lost.

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Sure, she could be looking to see if you can do the work and how cooperative & timely you are. But an agent who spends that much time on your work is VERY interested. There are a lot of agents who want to see revisions before they sign, so it's not uncommon. This agent sounds superbly attentive and I'd definitely give her first shot, after all, she helped you shape your novel up. If it were me, I'd give her a month or so to review before I began querying again. Then if I were to get another offer, I'd immediately let her know and give her the opportunity to weigh in.

Some people here will tell you to keep querying now, and I'm not going to say that's right or wrong (I've done it). We all know how slow the publishing world works. Another offer could very well speed things up with this agent!

Good luck!

I think it's hard to generalize as each agent has their peculiarity. Which agent or agency are you working with? This would be a good starting point to get the community to suggest some strategies to you.

Some people here will tell you to keep querying now,

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I'm one of those who will tell you to keep querying. Especially because you told her about the conference/meeting other agents and her response was "she can't tell me not to, but she would appreciate knowing first and foremost if I were to get an offer." It's true that she couldn't tell you not to go, but she could have offered representation as an incentive for you not to scout additional opportunities.

The agent isn't waiting around for you. Her career is in full force. She's reading partials, requesting fulls, signing deals, making money... IMO, you shouldn't put your career on hold for a 'maybe.'

I think if she is spending this much time on your work to make it better and making reading suggestions to you (not to mention sending you some) is awesome. If i were you i'd check the blogs on the agent/agency to see what other's have experienced with them- but I agree with the others I wouldn't stop querying just in case but I'd definitely make it clear (after your research of course) that you really want to continue with her and you value her time/effort on making your project better. Best of luck to you!!!

srose said:

I had an agent read my full MS, and since, our relationship has been awesome. But we haven't signed. So I'm asking for opinions from the community before I go any further.

She provided me with eight pages of notes and the first half of the manuscript line edited after she read my MS. We even talked on the phone about it.

After a month, she wrote "just to check in" - also offered to send me some books (which she did) that she had scored for free.

Before I finished my edits and rewrites, I finished my second book. I sent it to her, which she also provided massive amounts of notes on, and line edited a huge portion.

I've since sent her my rewrites (one week ago) but she said she was busy and would get back to me soon.

She has said she loves them both; my first she said she found herself quite obsessed with, my second she said "I really enjoyed..." She has given me so much of her time, but we haven't really progressed and I'm starting to worry we may not. Before a writers conference where I would be meeting agents, I flat out asked her if I should just not bother. She said she can't tell me not to, but she would appreciate knowing first and foremost if I were to get an offer.

So herein lies my question(s). Has this happened with anyone, and is this normal? Should I continue with my queries? What should I reasonably be expecting? I really want to work with this woman. Is she possibly just making sure I can do the work before she offers me representation? WHAT IS GOING ON?!

Any advice, thoughts, concerns here, please let me know. I just feel... lost.

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srose - Your situation, while understandably confusing, isn't entirely unique. I've heard stories of other authors working with an agent on revisions for months before signing. And she's read two of your manuscripts already, which is outstanding.

Honestly, it sounds as if you should be having this conversation with the agent. You're doing revisions for her, so I don't see how a direct question about your future together is out of line. Ask her: Once these revisions are complete, what happens? Are you going to represent this novel once it's edited to your satisfaction?

This your career, so ask her. I can't imagine she's putting all of this time and effort into your manuscripts, only to say "eh, changed my mind." That would be a foolish waste of time, not only for you, but for her. The chances of her signing you are in your favor here.

And never forget--agents talk to each other. If you end up signing with someone else, after months of work with this agent and without giving her a chance, she won't forget it. And chances are, she'll tell other people. Agents discuss authors as much as authors discuss agents.

I had this happen to me. I met an agent at a conference, and she expressed interest in receiving my full MS. I sent it along, and she wrote back that she thought that it needed revisions, but that she was "interested in working with me". I didn't know if that meant that she was my agent or not -- like you, I was puzzled.

I made the (significant) revisions, and she still wasn't happy. She requested more revisions, some of which I was iffy about, but because I really wanted her to rep me, I made them. I asked her several times if I would be getting a contract soon, and she always answered vaguely (after the holidays, after my move to a new address was complete, etc.).

Ultimately, after nearly 6 months had passed and not a single submission had been made, I point-blank asked her what the deal was. It was then that she told me that she had "gone as far as she thought she could" with my MS, and that she was not going to sign me.

I was furious, to put it mildly. I do think that she helped me improve my MS, but since I thought that I had an agent, I did not continue to query. I ended up getting another agent, fortunately, but I wish that I hadn't lost 6 months in the process.

Be careful!!

This is difficult. I'm in a similar situation, with one very clear difference in that the agent I'm working with, asked that we work together on my ms exclusively. The idea being that they do not sign me until the ms is ready to submit, but it's been made clear that I am not querying others. Perhaps they made clear the exclusivity because I had another agency interested and they didn't want to waste their time getting me revisions etc., if I was just going to walk away to another agency once they'd put in their time.

It IS entirely possible that at the end of the revision process they won't sign me and will walk away, at which point I hope the book will be stronger and I will first go back to the other agency that I turned down and if they're not interested then I'll start querying again.

But it's important to remember, that until money is involved, the contract is not something that really guarantees anything so far as I can tell. Most contracts I've seen are written in such a way that either party can pretty much walk away at anytime - and both agencies I talked to confirmed this for me in regards to their contracts. Prior to money changing hands/projects being sold there seems to be little protection for you (or them) so having the contract signed, while a wonderful thing to be able to tell people (I personally ache for it) really doesn't offer you more protection than just working with her.

If you have finished the revisions and are waiting for her to get back to you, I would give her a reasonable time frame (a month maybe?) to read the work, at which point if you haven't heard from her I would email her and check in - tell her that you are really hoping to move forward as you've enjoyed working with her and would love for her to be your agent but when does she think she'll be able to get back to you - etc., setting a date (in your own mind if nothing else) of when you will start querying again if you don't hear back from her one way or another. She sounds like overall she's been great to work with - so just try to be professional and courteous and reasonable. Treat her as you'd hope to be treated. If you do that I can't imagine your reputation will suffer - even if ultimately you do part ways.

One thing I would NOT do is listen to family and friends around the dinner table. They may mean well, but they probably know nothing about publishing. It's a complicated industry...and they're no more qualified to tell you what's what about agents and publishers and writing, than you are to tell them what's what in regards to whatever their day jobs are. I'm sure they are trying to protect you - but if my experience is any indication - they know nothing about how this all works.

Sounds like your agent is a former editor. It's a hard habit to break, believe me. However, if she hasn't signed you yet, keep looking. It's her loss if another agent makes an offer.

My philosophy is: If a manuscript is not ready for a publisher, it's not ready for an agent. She probably wants to be sure she can be completely committed to repping the book. However, keep in mind. It's your book, not hers. Do what you need to do.

To the best of my knowledge, my agent isn't a former editor. I'm grateful she was willing to work with me on revisions. My experience on this forum tells me it's not uncommon practice for agents to request revisions from their clients, either before signing, or after, or both. Actually, it seems to be more common among the writers here than an agent not asking for any changes at all.

srose said:

I had an agent read my full MS, and since, our relationship has been awesome. But we haven't signed. So I'm asking for opinions from the community before I go any further.

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Okay, so there's this website for teen girls looking for advice and (being teen girls) my friends and I go on sometimes and read it and laugh about the pathetic stuff they talk about (omg, does he like me? Am I fat? Is ____ normal?) and this really reminds me of sooo many of the posts on there.

"Okay, so I've been hanging out with this guy for a while and we get along really well. The thing is, I don't know if we're dating or not."

Oh, yeah, I'm supposed to give you advice. Well, I've heard of this happening before. I don't think you should be worried.

This person sounds like a super nice lady!

This person sounds like a super nice lady!

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The agent is a business woman. She's not suggesting revisions because she's nice. It's a business decision. And she hasn't signed the writer because it doesn't make business sense for her to do so (yet, fingers crossed she changes her mind).

Phantom said:

Okay, so there's this website for teen girls looking for advice and (being teen girls) my friends and I go on sometimes and read it and laugh about the pathetic stuff they talk about (omg, does he like me? Am I fat? Is ____ normal?) and this really reminds me of sooo many of the posts on there.

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Hey, now, Phantom, that's a little rough...I've been in my share of drunken brawls, yet was reduced to pleading for help like a little girl when agents were stringing me a long with cryptic innuendos.

I'm feelin' for ya, srose...query on, I say. Escritora nailed it, IMO...