Contacting other agents after offer of rep

... I asked a related question in a thread in this forum and an agent hopped in and said that when you get an offer you shouldn't start querying other agents, afresh, and use the offer as a lure. Not sure if that included ones that you'd already queried? Probably so. For me personally, if I had queried an agent I really adored I still might contact them and inform them in the change of status. Maybe? I think the thing to do in general is to start pitching agents at the top of your list and gradually work your way down. That way the first agent to make an offer will most likely be the one you most want as your agent or the one that seems like the best fit.

Corinne, I'm sending you a PM. How exciting that an agent is so interested in your work and calling you this weekend!

Corinne Duyvis said:

It's not that I want to use the offer as a lure; I just want to make sure that I'm not signing with one agent before being sure that none of the others I've contacted are interested. I've already had queries going missing in the past that ended up getting requests when I nudged. What if one of those agents is 'the one' and I missed out because of an e-mail fluke?

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Such is life, I guess. If an agent has a full/partial, sure, let them know you've got an offer. Your offering agent will expect you to do this. As for worrying about queries that may/may not have gone missing, or agents that haven't even gotten back to you yet... I'd advise against it.

Ideally, an agent/client relationship will last your career. IMO, the last vibe on earth you want to be sending to an offering agent at the start of that relationship is "I'll let you rep me unless someone better comes along".

PM sent to you containing the phrasing I used in my "notification of offer" emails. GL on the phonecall btw!

... that's great news
It's not an easy position to be in. One thing you don't want to do is put off the agent too much or they may become hesitant themselves. No one wants to be second fiddle. But it is perfectly fine to ask for two weeks to make a decision, till you hear back from others. No need to get into specifics on that. Two weeks would be about the limit though. That should give you enough time to contact that other agent if you want. Be sure to tell them of the time constraint of course.

Good luck. And as much as it is awesome to have an agent do make sure you're satisfied before signing. If you have doubts and hesitations give some serious thought to doing so. If one agent wants to sign you most likely others will too

An agent offers rep. Of course you inform any other agents with fulls or partials - but what about agents with queries?

They're too late, that's all. I had one agent who liked my work so much she offered me rep after one day. (This is not a brag, by the way; she only happened after about 360 rejections.) The point is, slow or busy agents can lose great deals just like anyone else -- house buyers, job hunters, hiring managers, anyone who's busy and looking for a deal in a time-sensitive market. You really don't owe those guys a thing, but if there's an agent out there who's more attractive to you than the one who made the offer, you could nudge them with that offer and see if they get back to you.

I accepted an offer of rep while I had some queries outstanding. Responses dribbled in afterward, and they tasted sweet. Stingless rejections! And one request from someone who had sat on my query for almost a year. I really enjoyed giving them a polite No, thank you.

First, congratulations - offers are exciting - and you're smart to be cautious and careful in your decision making, but I will add an additional caution.

If you are thinking of the offering agent as a last resort - ie, a fall back in case no one else is interested, think carefully about whether to sign with that agent. I'm not sure if that's your thoughts or if you are just making sure you have all possible info before deciding. But since you are thinking about querying others, and checking in with no response=no agents, I wonder. IMO, an agent you don't have confidence in, that you're not thrilled to have, will possibly be a mistake - the relationship can be stressful and requires trust, and if you don't go in positive, it's a minefield. If you have doubts if this is the right agent for you, you need to think carefully about why. An ill fitting or not right for you agent can often be worse than no agent at all - and if you sign with an agent, and they shop the book, and it doesn't sell, there is little chance of a do over. So, if you're not sure if this is the right agent - then wait or say no.

Now, for your questions - go ahead and let every agent who you queried recently know, if you feel like they haven't had a chance to respond to the query. There's no harm in doing so.

The email can be simple - subject line "Offer of Representation for X" And then the body can say something like, "I have received an offer of representation for X. If you are still considering my query, please let me know by x date if you are continuing to consider the project. For your convenience, my query is pasted below. " Then the agent can look at the query and decide whether to ask for a partial or full, given the pressure of a pending offer. Be warned, that if you are iffy on the offering agent, even after you talk, then be careful - an email like this may scare away an agent who just doesn't have the time to consider it now. But, if you are considering the offering agent, then why not at least send a followup?

And for the one agent who just started repping your genre - I see no problem with sending a query that says - I see you just opened up to x genre. I actually have an offer of rep on my manuscript Y, but given you have just opened to this genre, I wanted to see if you would be interested (or something like that). And then also give her a deadline to respond (like a week, at most).

I would not, however, send a whole bunch of new queries - here's why: agents talk, they share info, they even sometimes tweet when they get something that is out of the ordinary (like a query from someone sitting on an offer), and it could get back to offering agent that in response to her offer you carpet bombed agents using the offer as bait - and it makes it seem like you're really not interested in her. And could really sour your relationship if you do decide to go with her.

So, if you have one or two additonal queries, that might be fine - but I'd advise against more than that, unless you really don't intend to sign with this agent.

And good luck!

~suki

Some agents ask for quite a lot of pages in the initial query, and some of these agents (I can think of two off the top of my head) want to know if you're offered rep while they're considering the query. With most agents, though, I don't think I'd contact them unless they'd requested something from me.

... that worked out pretty cool.
Now you have plenty of time

Corinne Duyvis said:

Would any of this be annoying to the agents you contact, or rude to the offering agent?

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Agent Kathleen Ortiz just weighed in on this subject on her Twitter feed. Here you go:

http://twitter.com/KOrtizzle

suki said:

Now, for your questions - go ahead and let every agent who you queried recently know, if you feel like they haven't had a chance to respond to the query. There's no harm in doing so.

The email can be simple - subject line "Offer of Representation for X" And then the body can say something like, "I have received an offer of representation for X. If you are still considering my query, please let me know by x date if you are continuing to consider the project. For your convenience, my query is pasted below. " Then the agent can look at the query and decide whether to ask for a partial or full, given the pressure of a pending offer. Be warned, that if you are iffy on the offering agent, even after you talk, then be careful - an email like this may scare away an agent who just doesn't have the time to consider it now. But, if you are considering the offering agent, then why not at least send a followup?

~suki

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This was a very helpful response, as were others in this thread. If I might tag along, I have another. If a writer has out several fulls and/or partials in this situation, does the offering agent often ask about them? How many or who has asked? I have been keeping several subs in the air since I started the process by querying again every time I get a couple of rejections. I have a fear of someone asking how many fulls are out, and if I answer and then get no more offers, the first agent thinks maybe my project isn't as strong as he thought at first? (What, me paranoid?)

Thank you to anyone who has feedback on this.

miamyselfandi said:

If a writer has out several fulls and/or partials in this situation, does the offering agent often ask about them? How many or who has asked? I have a fear of someone asking how many fulls are out, and if I answer and then get no more offers, the first agent thinks maybe my project isn't as strong as he thought at first? (What, me paranoid?)

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I'd guess around 25% of the agents who requested fulls from me asked if I had other fulls out. Most do not seem to consider it a priority, in my experience.

I wouldn't worry too much about agents changing their mind based on what other agents think. They will either like your work or not. Certainly if you have lots of fulls out by request, this might make an agent read faster, but otherwise, don't sweat it.

miamyselfandi said:

This was a very helpful response, as were others in this thread. If I might tag along, I have another. If a writer has out several fulls and/or partials in this situation, does the offering agent often ask about them? How many or who has asked? I have been keeping several subs in the air since I started the process by querying again every time I get a couple of rejections. I have a fear of someone asking how many fulls are out, and if I answer and then get no more offers, the first agent thinks maybe my project isn't as strong as he thought at first? (What, me paranoid?)

Thank you to anyone who has feedback on this.

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From personal experience, when an gent offers representation, he/she wants to know how many other agents have it and will wait for you to give them time to make a decision. But I don't think the first offering agent cares if the other agents offer or not they just want to know the bottom line: are you working with him/her or not.

(sorry for being purposely vague)

I'm just wondering if it looks good when the agent goes to sell the book if he/she can tell editors "She had 4 offers" Because otherwise, when your dream agent calls, what's the point of giving other agents a chance to offer other than ego-strokes?