Just received offer of rep....Help!

The polite thing to do is to inform the other agents who are reading that you have an offer of representation. Usually you give them a few days to either finish and offer themselves or bow out.

The offering agent will entirely understand and even expect this. Just tell him or her that you are thrilled and will straight away tell the others that there is an offer on the table.

Don't worry, a few days will not - I promise - make a reputable agent in any way uncomfortable.

In the interim, you'll have to start thinking about what you'll do if you end up with multiple offers.

Not unless asked. At the end of the call, just confirm that you're very excited about the offer (assuming that you are), and that you'd like a week (or whatever you think you'll need, a week is pretty common) to consider it. Then you get in touch with everyone reading and let them know you have an offer to give them time to decide whether they want to bust a move and get your book read, or bow out.

They're used to this. It's cool.

bunderful said:

Should I tell her how many other people have read my full in the past and rejected it (~20)? Should I tell her how many fulls I still have out (~15)?

Do I name names of the agents who rejected or who still have it???

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You don't need to give her details unless you're asked. Just thank her for the offer and tell her you'll give her an answer in a week (or 10 days); there are others reading and you need to inform them that you've received an offer. This is standard practice and not something a legit agent will balk at.

I only had one agent ask for a name, and that was an agent who asked who had made the original offer. She wanted to make sure it wasn't a scammer.

bunderful said:

Should I tell her how many other people have read my full in the past and rejected it (~20)? Should I tell her how many fulls I still have out (~15)?

Do I name names of the agents who rejected or who still have it???

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No, none of that is relevant. (Especially not who has rejected it.) It is unusual for an agent to ask you to name names, unless like Cyia suggested, it's for legitimate reasons. Just say you need a few days. The agent will understand.

Oh, and congratulations!

bunderful said:

Thanks but my breath is still held until this is all final. Feeling very much in limbo stool until things are final and decided/signed....

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Totally normal and pretty much a way of life, as far as I can tell.

Still, it's a good feeling. It's a step - a big step - in the right direction.

bunderful said:

I had an agent ask me that. Should I tell?

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Ask you what, specifically?

bunderful said:

Just had the most amazing phone conversation with the agent who offered me rep. am completely blown away by how much she "gets" my novel.

And 6 other agents replied so far that they are going to read my full and get back to me.

This is totally insane....

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...and wonderful! Let us know how it goes w/ the others, too.

Very cool! Have fun!

bunderful said:

I had an agent ask me that. Should I tell?

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There's no reason not to. Legit agents don't want to see a good book get thrown to a scam, nor do they want to be scammed.

Telling the agent who asked will not only give her the chance to say "beware" if the person who offered is shady (definitely doesn't sound like that's the case here - congrats) and it also lets them know that you aren't one of those queriers who gets the bright idea to tell all the agents reading your MS that you've got an offer when you really don't. (Which can backfire as often as it can succeed, as when given a time constraint, many agents simply bow out.)

Seems like a good problem to have.

I just wanted to say congrats. Mind boggling but fun! Enjoy.

Congratulations!

It's totally up to you if you want to tell other agents who made the original offer. You don't have to, but I'd recommend yes. If you don't, they might wonder why not -- sometimes people fake offers of rep to get quicker responses from other agents.

I actually prefer not to know who the other agent is. I find myself "bumping into" the same agents repeatedly as we have simliar tastes. I also have a core group of good agent friends. If I know one of them made the offer, I might decline reading it out of respect for him/her.

I never ask who else offered, though I've had some folks volunteer the information. I just like to read in an unbiased way, and throw my hat in the ring based upon the merit of the project. If I know my agent BFF oir BIG NAME AGENT offered, it could skew my line of thinking.

Just my two cents.

Good for you! What a wonderful "problem" to have.

Congrats. Let us know how it all works out.

bunderful said:

Thanks Mandy. Two agents have already asked that question...but I replied very nicely that I don't feel comfortable disclosing that information. Frankly it made me feel very uncomfortable (like, why are they asking me?? and what if I give the wrong answer??)


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I think sometimes agents like to know to gauge how "hot" a project is, and how likely it is they'll sign it. If a brand new agent offers on something and say, a writer's house veteran agent offers, we know what we're up against. It takes SO many hours to read a project that it's an investment and sometimes it is helpful to know how likely it is that we'll sign the project. Granted it's actually out of our control!

It really is tempting for me to ask, but I just prefer to know after the fact.

If it's something I decline, I always ask at that point who it is. It's just always interesting to see what colleagues are out there offering on, whether I love it or not.

I don't see any reason to NOT tell them if they do ask.

Congratulations, Bunderful!