33 partials, one offer, Total Confusion

[abdasgupta1]

Hi there,
I am in here after a very long time and so hello to you all again.
I know Victoria is already smiling because she can pre-empt what I am coming up with.
Long story.
In July 2007, I got for myself a very well-established agent in London (ok, all checks done, huge sales, glam clients, ex-CEO of one of the biggie publishing houses) who shall remain unnamed. My 110,000-word historical reincarnation romance, about which she was ecstatic during 2007, however, remained unsold till Disaster Downturn happened in 2008. In the meantime, she asked for a revision and that was done. The MS remained unsold. Since early this year, she withdrew, not responding to email etc etc...and I knew my time was up. I cancelled my contract with her 10 days back. Unbelievable, but true that Bigtime Ms XXX got herself fired by an unpublished writer from unknown India. Well...I lost two-and-a-half years because I just could not...and still cannot...believe that Ms XXX could not sell one MS. And like a fool, I took all the time to come to this crucial decision of terminating the contract.
Ms XXX blames the Downturn and this may be quite true but given her enthusiasm and reputation, I still feel that this was one strange thing that ought not to have happened.
Since last week, I have been agent-hunting again. Right now, I have requests for 33 fulls and partials...YES, 33, and the number increases even as I write...and the names are yet again, unknown, small, big and huge. Needless to say, I sprayed by query all over. Needless to say too that stature does not make any difference to me now.
I just want this MS off my back ie turn into book.
Now, just a few minutes back, a Scottish agency based in Edinburgh which has business tie-ups with a bigtime agency in London called to offer representation. I have done checks. The AW Background Check itself gives the agency a clean chit. Clean, smart and enthusiastic; not too many sales but as I said sales and reputation make no sense to me now.
What do I do, pl? Sign on and get rid of this zombie sitting on my head for the last almost three years or wait for the Roundtable of the Remaining 32 to pass, ask, pass, offer, hedge, offer...again another year of waiting.
Pl help.
Tks
Abhijit Dasgupta
Executive Editor
India Today
M: +919830046661

[profen4]

email your top choice (from the ones that have partials and full)and tell them you've received an offer. tell them why you'd prefer them, and say you'll wait to hear from them before you make a decision.

[honeysock]

Requests for 33 partials and fulls in one week? Really? With those stats, you should practice a little patience (give it maybe, I dunno, another WEEK?), and perhaps let some of these agents who are looking at it now know the kind of interest it's generating, if you want to expedite the waiting game.

Just my *very humble* opinion.


ETA: Yeah, what swhibs123 said.

[abdasgupta1]

Thanks so much for the quick response. But remember, I am a failed author. I COULD not be sold for almost three years. I am in NO position to bargain. The MS has been out to all and sundry in the UK already. The fact that I am still getting requests for partials and fulls is in itself something of an enigma. Nobody will even take into account the fact that the MS has not gone out to anybody AFTER the revision and that even if it has, one year has passed since then and there could be some new editor who could be waiting for it. Am I in any position to tell anybody, " Hey look, if you don't offer, I go that way..."? You think I can ask this of the agent in Curtis Brown ( my top choice, yes...with a partial right now)?
Tks so much but I think I need more, please.

[abdasgupta1]

Tks Honeysock, but the problem is now that at the same time I am scared (confused is the right word) of losing this Scottish gentleman ...I guess I parry and wait.

[YAwriter72]

Do all these agents know that the book they are looking at has been shopped around already for the past 2 years? Even if its been revised.

[icerose]

Agents do not sell 100% of the manuscripts they pick up. They just don't.

There are manuscripts they love but just can't seem to catch a break with. Even big agents go through this all the time.

As for the agents, you need to decide what you want.

My other advice? Write another book! The book you're sitting on might not be your first published book, it might make a great second book.

[abdasgupta1]

Yes, I have been upfront about the fact that it has gone around in the UK. And as for the second book, well, it's not easy is all that I can say. But well worth a try, I guess. Tks so much to you both, Icerose and YA.

[Barbara R.]

Hi there,
I am in here after a very long time and so hello to you all again.
...What do I do, pl? Sign on and get rid of this zombie sitting on my head for the last almost three years or wait for the Roundtable of the Remaining 32 to pass, ask, pass, offer, hedge, offer...again another year of waiting.
Pl help.
Tks
Abhijit Dasgupta
Executive Editor
India Today
M: +919830046661

Hi there. What an unusual story! 33 bites in a week? I've been in publishing my whole adult life, and never heard of such good fortune.

Your expectations re. your former agent strike me as unrealistic. It's not unusual at all for agents to take on work they ultimately fail to sell. They try hard to avoid that, of course, since not only do they disappoint the author but they also end up working for no pay. But if they took on only surefire sellers, the literary world would be a narrower and duller place. Getting an agent is only the first step in a rather long dance. My American agent has been saying for months that virtually nothing is selling, not even published writers with decent sales records. If the agent covers all the appropriate bases and keeps you informed of submissions and responses, she has done her job, however disappointing the results.

That said, if she's no longer responding to your emails, and no longer submitting the book, then leaving the agency is appropriate. It's great that you got another offer of represention so quickly--speaks well for the book. What you can do, as someone else suggested, is to contact your top choices, let them know you've had an offer that you're reluctant to accept until you hear from them, and then ask politely when you might expect to hear back. This happens all the time; if you're polite and not pushy, you won't offend anyone by asking. Meanwhile you can temporize a bit with the agent who made the offer: ask about his/her plans for submitting the book, maybe have a phone conversation to get a sense of how you get along. But don't let that bird in the hand get away!

Good luck.

Barbara

[abdasgupta1]

Tks, Barbara. Yes, the bird in hand is what brought me here. As for the 33 partials, pl understand that I had gone through this entire process once before and I knew already who to ask and may be, how. ( And yes, I sprayed to around 500 agents, so there...that's not a great strike rate!)

[DaveKuzminski]

Thanks so much for the quick response. But remember, I am a failed author. I COULD not be sold for almost three years. I am in NO position to bargain. The MS has been out to all and sundry in the UK already. The fact that I am still getting requests for partials and fulls is in itself something of an enigma. Nobody will even take into account the fact that the MS has not gone out to anybody AFTER the revision and that even if it has, one year has passed since then and there could be some new editor who could be waiting for it. Am I in any position to tell anybody, " Hey look, if you don't offer, I go that way..."? You think I can ask this of the agent in Curtis Brown ( my top choice, yes...with a partial right now)?
Tks so much but I think I need more, please.

You are not a failed author.

[abdasgupta1]

And, Barbara, I forgot to mention ( which I should have, I guess) that I also have 250 passes already...all form rejections:-)
Just a thought: I think agents nowadays look at India as a genre by itself and so their response time regarding an Indian author is very quick. Just a thought...

[abdasgupta1]

Ah, Dave. You make my day:-)

[Phantom Writer]

Ab- I agree with Barbara on this one. You have a very unusual story and 33 partials in one week is amazing. You must have the flare for queries or your book happens to fall in the "it" crowd right now of what agents are looking for. If I were you I'd step back and breathe for a few before you make any rash decision.

[abdasgupta1]

Precisely, Pahntom. I think you are right. I must step aside for a while. For the last 10 days or so, all I have been doing is searching and querying without a break. And pressing the Send button every second. But I do not think that the 33 requests is any big deal. Not at all. Out of 500 odd, 33 is nothing.
And, I repeat, agent interest in India is very, very high, particularly in London. I say this from experience, both of 2007 and now. I am sure if Bookers and Pulitzers go out to an "exotic" land now, the agents will immediately point their browsers there. In the UK, you just need to put INDIA in the subject line and the rest will happen almost in seconds. It may be a pass, cool, but they will react anyways.

[Momento Mori]

Confratulations, but I'm confused by a couple of things:

1. Is the novel you're currently querying the same novel that was with Fired Agent (and which you did revisions on) or is it a brand new novel?

2. Did Fired Agent ever submit that novel to publishers?

MM

[abdasgupta1]

And, Barbara, my MS is about British India and has real British characters...I have had interviews with their descendants...some like the the Viceroy's great great grand-daughter...all this fascinates London. Yes, it still does...And throw in reincarnation and the possibilities of a Bollywood film, and you have some recipe there. In any other times, my novel would have at least sold, I am sure. My bad luck.

[abdasgupta1]

Momento, it's the same novel but with major revisions. Yes, she did submit.

[Momento Mori]

abdasgupta1:
Momento, it's the same novel but with major revisions. Yes, she did submit.

Have you told the agents you're currently submitting to that the novel has previously been on submission?

It's just that if you had a standard contract with Fired Agent, then she has a claim on the commission for that manuscript even if someone else manages to sell it (and that applies regardless of whether you've subsequently revised it or not).

MM

[jsouders]

Momento, it's the same novel but with major revisions. Yes, she did submit.

From my understanding, this may be a hindrance in trying to get it published now. A lot of editors don't want to see something they've already seen, even if it's by a new agent. I know you said that these other agents know about the other agent, but do they know it's been submitted to editors?

[abdasgupta1]

I have sent the submission lists to all of them. Yes, it is a problem, of course, and most of them have said as much but wanted to read all the same. As I said in an earlier post, I am in no position to bargain because I have remained unsold for almost three years. Which is why this bird in hand is making me sick. Yes, sick...because I do not want him to run away and neither do I want to let go of the other "possibilities" out there. It's maddening.

[Old Hack]

Here's what I would do.

First, make sure that your relationship with the original agent has been properly terminated. You did tell that agent, in writing, that you were ending your relationship, right? If not, you have to do that NOW. Do nothing else until this has been done.

Next: let the agent who has recently expressed an interest know EVERYTHING about your book's history. Who represented you, who that prior agent sent it to, what those editors said about it, everything. Hold nothing back: if you've been even remotely economical with the truth, correct that now. And then tell that agent that your book is out with other agents, has been received very well, and that you're going to come to a decision within XXX days.

The next step assumes that you've not granted anyone an exclusive on your submission.

After that, contact ALL the agents who have since expressed an interest in your work and tell them that you have a tentative offer of representation on the table, and that you'd appreciate it if they could let you know how they'd like to receive within XXX days (probably minus one or two days to give you a little thinking-room). And tell them which publishers have already rejected your work, so that they know what they're up against.

Some of the agents involved will withdraw at this point. They'll feel they have no chance of selling your book once they know everything. But some of them probably won't. And then you'll have to decide which one to go with.

And you could PM me the name of your first agent because there's a tiny chance I might have heard something dodgy about them, which might change my advice.

[Traven]

But remember, I am a failed author.
You are not a failed author; you are a pre-successful author.

[abdasgupta1]

Old Hack, Traven: Thanks so much. OH, you give absolutely sound advice. I have done all that you have prompted me to and am now waiting. I have been upfront with all sides and everyone knows what they are up against. I am sure, by Monday, the 32 will trickle down to a few but that's okay. At least it closes options and allows me to breathe easy. So, thanks again. And, Traven, that's a new coinage and I love it.

[Stacia Kane]

As I said in an earlier post, I am in no position to bargain because I have remained unsold for almost three years.


If you have a book they want, you're in every position to bargain. Stop thinking of yourself as someone going begging; that is not the case.

[abdasgupta1]

Tks, Stacia. Nope, not begging, no, not at all; slightly apprehensive and massively confused:-(

[Eirin]

It's just that if you had a standard contract with Fired Agent, then she has a claim on the commission for that manuscript even if someone else manages to sell it (and that applies regardless of whether you've subsequently revised it or not).

MM

Huh?

Surely that only applies if the contract with Fired Agent included a Interminable Agency clause ... and that's not standard by any means.

[abdasgupta1]

Yes, a standard contract is just so, very standard. You get nothing if you do not deliver. Period.

[Barbara R.]

And, Barbara, I forgot to mention ( which I should have, I guess) that I also have 250 passes already...all form rejections:-)
Just a thought: I think agents nowadays look at India as a genre by itself and so their response time regarding an Indian author is very quick. Just a thought...

Maybe. Although just yesterday I was thinking about a former student of mine, an exquisite writer, whose novel taught me more about Indian society than I'd ever known. That book never found a publisher or even an agent, which flies in the face of something I like to believe: that the system works, however slowly, and that good books will find a place eventually. But in that case, I don't know that the writer did everything you have to do to make it happen. She submitted to maybe a couple of dozen places, got discouraged and quit trying. Shame. But an insane level of perseverance is part of what you need in this business.

[Barbara R.]

And, Barbara, my MS is about British India and has real British characters...I have had interviews with their descendants...some like the the Viceroy's great great grand-daughter...all this fascinates London. Yes, it still does...And throw in reincarnation and the possibilities of a Bollywood film, and you have some recipe there. In any other times, my novel would have at least sold, I am sure. My bad luck.

Sounds like a fun book, actually. I'd like to read it someday.

[abdasgupta1]

Fun book? Ahem...5 years of slog on a comic strip. If that is what you meant by "fun book"...seriously though, whatever is happening to me is not funny at all. Sure, I will send you the MS but first, let me give up on this insane persistence:-(

[kullervo]

Just tell me that in the interim you have written a shiny new book. Which, of course, you could have sent to your excellent agent rather than firing her. And if she managed to sell #2, #1 would have had a better shot.

[abdasgupta1]

Writing this 110,000-word tome has taken a lot and I doubt whether that second book will come faster than otherwise anticipated. You see, my day (actually deadline nights at least thrice a week) job keeps me bogged down a lot (though I am sure heavy day jobs are mostly the case with others too) but I find it difficult to indulge in writing for the art of creation simultaneously...I just get too tired. Also, writing historicals fascinate me and that takes a lot of out-of-the-book labour. So that's another problem. But #2 will come...an American biggie agent just emailed me saying she is loving the MS. All fingers crossed; once I get this 5 yr hump out of the way, I can breathe easy and get down to my next book. And thanks so much for the words of encouragement.

[popmuze]

If you had a standard contract with Fired Agent, then she has a claim on the commission for that manuscript even if someone else manages to sell it (and that applies regardless of whether you've subsequently revised it or not).


How about if you never had a contract, but an agent sent your manuscript to a few places before you dropped him/her and subsequently revised the manuscript and changed its name?

[abdasgupta1]

I guess you can do that, but that's not exactly proper behaviour.

[abdasgupta1]

How about having an agent in the US and another in the UK, pl? Is that possible...if you are in that sort of situation where you have rep offers from both the US and UK and wish to go alongwith both? Is that practically possible, pl?

[Toothpaste]

I wouldn't recommend it. I have an agency in the UK that prides itself on its foreign sales (like the USA). And I would imagine any good agency in either country would have enough savvy to sell to another country. It's also just easier as an author having one go-to person.

[abdasgupta1]

You are right, Toothpaste. And thanks for solving my problem of plenty but just about...the US or the UK...which one ( given other conditions being the same...like both have sales in their countries etc)?

[Barbara R.]

How about having an agent in the US and another in the UK, pl? Is that possible...if you are in that sort of situation where you have rep offers from both the US and UK and wish to go alongwith both? Is that practically possible, pl?

Agents represent writers for all their rights, including translation and foreign contracts, so it would be highly unusual for the writer to have both an American and British primary agent. However, all literary agents use sub-agents in foreign countries; so if your primary agent is American, she'd have another agent in Britain working on your behalf.

As to choosing which to aim for, my own preference would be an American agent, just because the market here is so much bigger. On the other hand, there are ties between Britain and India that might make publishers more open to books set in India; so it's six of one, half dozen of the other.

Barbara

[IceCreamEmpress]

It's just that if you had a standard contract with Fired Agent, then she has a claim on the commission for that manuscript even if someone else manages to sell it (and that applies regardless of whether you've subsequently revised it or not).

That's only true if the MS is sold to someone to whom Fired Agent submitted it.

An agent doesn't get eternal rights to commission on an unsold MS; however, they do get the commission on any sale that resulted from one of their submissions, even if they've already been fired.

[abdasgupta1]

Ok, everybody. End of confusion. I am going with Patricia Moosbrugger. Tks to everybody for all the help and advice.