Submitting to new agents while MS is being re-subbed.

[cspradbery]

Six weeks ago I sent my MS back to an agent who had asked for a re-write and re-submit. She emailed me to let me know she was looking forward to reading it but it would "take a while as she was very busy".

Now, this is fine and I understand her position, however would it be bad form for me to now start sending out queries to a few more agents while I wait? I'm guessing I have at least another month to wait and if she says no to the new MS I would have wasted all this time. If I query another ten agents in the mean time, I'm hoping I would have heard back from this agent before I hear anything on the new submissions.

I hope that made sense!


Carla

[Ryan_Sullivan]

I wouldn't. If she took the time to ask for revisions, it's a nice courtesy to wait until she has responded. Sure, if she didn't ask for exclusivity you're not in any technical trouble. To me, it's more a matter of courtesy. If she's busy and taking time to read a revision, you should give her some time. If you would plan on withdrawing from the other agents if she liked it, then it would just be wasting their time too.

If she's an agent you would like to work with, give her time, and let it go where it needs to go. Slow and steady wins the race.

[waylander]

Seconded.
An additional point to consider is that she may have further comments to make on your work which would improve it. You would want to have those, and possibly incorporate them, before you resume querying.
Write something else (not a sequel) while you are waiting.

[inkspatters]

I say to keep on querying if she's going to take a while. Why? Because other people may have other great suggestions for your work and you don't want to miss out on those, either. If she wanted dibs on the project, she would have specified exclusivity for a certain period, or she would have offered rep, imo.

By the way, Kathleen Ortiz answered this in the Ask Agent thread the other day, link (http://www.absolutewrite.com/forums/showpost.php?p=5073485&postcount=190). She seems to think it's fair enough to query elsewhere :)

Ultimately, you just have to do what you think is right, though.

[AngelaA]

Did she ask for an exclusive?

If not then I would query. Otherwise you might find yourself waiting for months with no progress on other fronts. There's no harm in querying...if you get another request for a full, perhaps letting the other agent know would be a good idea.

[Cricket18]

Always move forward and keep querying.

The agent might have good intentions but too often I've seen this scenario and it either takes months to get back to the writer, or the agent falls off the map altogether.

If the agent wanted an exclusive, she would've asked. She didn't, so move on.

:)

[ChaosTitan]

Unless the agent you're working with asked for an exclusive on the project, you're free to query elsewhere. Especially seeing as she couldn't give you a definite time frame on getting back to you.

[Barbara R.]

Six weeks ago I sent my MS back to an agent who had asked for a re-write and re-submit. She emailed me to let me know she was looking forward to reading it but it would "take a while as she was very busy".

Now, this is fine and I understand her position, however would it be bad form for me to now start sending out queries to a few more agents while I wait? I'm guessing I have at least another month to wait and if she says no to the new MS I would have wasted all this time. If I query another ten agents in the mean time, I'm hoping I would have heard back from this agent before I hear anything on the new submissions.

I hope that made sense!


Carla


Hi Carla,

It's a tough call. I used to be an agent, and from that perspective my feeling would be that the agent already invested her most precious asset in your work--the time she spent reading and coming up with editorial suggestions---and that you owe her a reasonable period of exclusivity as a courtesy.

The writer in me says yes, but how long? You've already waited six weeks; it could be 4 or 6 more till she reads. The writer's advice would be to start submitting again. By the time any other agents get around to reading your query, asking for a partial or full ms., and reading it, you'll have heard back from the original agent.

If you haven't, and someone else is interested, you would drop a line to the original agent, let her know someone else has made an offer but that you wouldn't want to commit to that agent before hearing back from her. Ask if she can get back to you within a week and stall the other agent till then.

Good luck.

[scope]

lWithout any doubt I say keep querying.

Lets call a spade a spade. I don't doubt that she's a wonderful person, that she's courteous, interested in your work-at least to some degree (if not, why would she spend time outling and revising?) -- but, she had every opportunity and reason to ask for an exclusive, and didn't. Worse, she told you it will take a while as she is very busy. You may very patiently-or not-wait 6 months to one year to hear from her, if indeed she stays with the company and decides to get back to you.

Bottom line, it's your career and your decision. Were it me there's no way I would not query others immediately and wide

[suki]

This is a tricky area. Everyone is correct, she didn't ask for exclusivity and you are free to keep querying. BUT, there is an unspoken courtesy here that you not share the revised version, revised based on her sugegstions, for a reasonable period of time to let her have first crack at it, since you revised based on her suggestions. That's sort of the unwritten courtesy.

BUT, since she has said she may not get back to you in a reasonable time, I think it lessens your need to wait. So, if it were me, I'd give her a couple weeks from the time you sent it to her, at least, then start querying again.

It may be that she doesn't respond, but then you can know you gave her a reasonable time to respond. And if you would be querying US agents you're coming up on July 4th weekend anyway. So...why not wait a couple weeks and then query. And then if you get requests you're on better footing.

~suki

[dgrintalis]

I am jumping on the query train here as well. Without an exclusive, you are free and clear to keep querying.

[Monlette]

Absolutely, continue querying! If she didn't want you to query elsewhere she would have asked for a period of exclusivity or signed you outright.

If it were me, I'd notify her as far in advance if I suspected there was another offer in the works, but I certainly wouldn't put my career on hold, hoping it does better on her second read-through than her first.

[EagerReader]

I think you should keep querying as long as she didn't ask for an exclusive. If, it happens that you receive another offer before she's made her decision, that's just more choices for you. I asked that very question, here at Ask the Agent while my MS was being reviewed for the second go round. Kathleen Ortiz said to keep querying, I didn't because I was holding out for a dream. And then I woke up with an R. But, at least they were incredibly quick so I didn't lose too much time in between. If it had been six months or more I'd be in the loony bin. Good luck to you, either way you roll!

[cspradbery]

Thanks for all the advice. I'm going to continue querying. This agent is definitely my first choice so I don't want to annoy her, but she hasn't made an offer and I have given her a six week head start.

Hopefully she'll like the new MS and it'll all be moot. (Yeah right!)

Thanks again guys!

[shaldna]

I would keep on querying unless she has asked for an exclusive.

At the end of the day you can't put your career on hold while you wait for her.