contacting agent with offer

Thanks to other threads, I know *how* to do this. But my situation is a little strange, as I'm trying to figure out when to contact a couple of agents. I may be getting a publisher's offer next week. For various reasons, I'm probably going to need an agent.

After researching, I queried several top erotic romance/science fiction and fantasy agents in January about a m/m erotic romance space opera I just finished. The book is the first in a series of three, and the introduction to a larger planned story arc. I've been writing sf&f for 10 years, I have contest honors backing me, and I just sold an erotic fantasy short story to a respected anthology. So I'm not a complete newb.

The agents I contacted were all open to repping m/m stories. One hasn't answered yet, but the others sent rejection letters by mid-January.

Armed with the same query letter and short partial, I approached seven e-publishers open to un-agented writers. Two sent rejections right away. Two have fulls already. Three just asked for fulls. Given some other communication I've had over the last week, I'm probably close to an offer.

I will certainly be emailing the agent who hasn't responded yet. I have a rec to an agent I have not contacted, one of the biggest in the business. Should I contact both of them now, or wait until I have the offer? One of my other target agencies will not look at offers they didn't broker from the start, so they're out. But should I email the other rejecting agencies, either now, or with the offer? I'm afraid that 'no means no', in many cases. And if they didn't like the query and partial that the publishers liked, could these agencies possibly market my larger story arc effectively?

Thanks, Kate.

There are very few reputable agents who work in both genres, so I only have a couple of names left to query. A few more are only open to recommendations, not unsolicited queries. I could probably get away with no agent for these first 3 books - but I don't want to send them to a publisher who wouldn't even consider the rest of the larger series. An agent could help me navigate that minefield.

That's what I thought. The only agency I'd really be tempted to contact again has already rejected two other sf&f projects of mine over the last three years. So at this point, no matter their stellar industry rep across both romance and sf&f, I get the feeling that they just don't get any sparks off my writing.

Which makes me sad, because they represent some of my favorite writers.

CAWriter, when you say you got your first agent thus, does that mean you are no longer with that agent? If so, how long did you work together?

I did have an agent from 1992 to 1999, but we parted ways amicably because 1) my writing wasn't good enough yet, and 2) I had other career commitments that took over my writing time. It's okay, because I recently discovered my old agent wants nothing to do with my new genre.

Thanks for the clarification.

My top three dream agents in romance have already rejected this project, or haven't responded yet. My dream agents in sf&f don't take my current genre (and have made that abundantly clear, in some recent Twitterfails.)

If the romance agents didn't bite on a query and partial that is getting full requests from publishers, will they prove worth their 15% later? I'd like an agent who at least likes my work, not someone I'd have to bribe to dance with me.