A Novel Approach to Agents

You're not going to change the glacial pace of the publishing industry, or the practice of "no news means no." The only thing putting conditions on a full might do is annoy some agents that could have been interested in you. Do you really want to come across as someone difficult, or who doesn't understand how the industry works? Neither may be true, and not all agents would be offended, but why risk alientating anyone when the time gained would be so small?

Instead of trying to buck the system before making a name as a best-selling author (Stephen King and J.K. Rowling could get away with this), why not use the time you spend waiting writing your next book? Much more productive, and less likely to alienate the people you're asking to work with. Just my personal opinion.

I would politely decline and wish you luck...

The flaw in this logic is you'll only interest agents who care for exclusives, and they're going to ask for one anyway. Those who don't (and most don't), not only won't require/request an exclusive, but a whole lot of them are on record with their beliefs that exclusives are bad for writers and that they should be avoided whenever possible.

To those agents (and even to those less passionate about the subject, but who don't request them, nonetheless), I see two things happening: 1) You come across looking unsophisticated and uneducated about the process, and 2) You irritate the agents who've requested your work by attempting to barter a tight reading timeline for a perk they not only don't require, but don't want (and may abhor the very idea of).

As to your question, no. I want as many agents as possible reading my work at any given time. Offering un-requested exclusives ensures you'll only ever get one request. You and that agent could have serious differences in vision for your writing, communication preference, etc. But, you just had the one chance at an offer, so you'll either accept it, or turn it down without any other current prospects. For many, that's harder to do than it sounds.

Personally, even when I was in a position to, I wouldn't even grant an exclusive read to those who asked.

They're not taking that long just to annoy you. They're also reading thousands of other manuscripts, negotiating deals for their existing clients, trying to sell rights in other markets, networking with editors and publishers, and doing all sorts of other things.

Trying to force them onto your schedule is unlikely to work at all, and in most cases would probably turn off an agent from working with you.

Three weeks? That doesn't seem like a sophisticated expectation to me.

In my experience, the agents that have asked for an exclusive - I'm talking novels, here - have mostly read the manuscript in a timely manner. If they don't ask for an exclusive, you can keep sending out your full manuscript if asked for it. It's not in any agent's best interest to read a full book and lose out to a timelier agent because they were slow, and most seem to understand that when they do ask for an exclusive - they do realize they're holding up your manuscript from being read by other agents.

That said, you need to disclose to your next agent(s) that the manuscript is being read by someone else, but not excusively. If they want the exclusive, they may chose to wait to read the manuscript until you've been passed on or accepted by the first agent. I think it's fair to assume if you haven't heard from the first agent in a good amount of time, they've passed on it.

Regarding the original idea, I doubt any agent will want to work with someone negotiating time limits (or, really, anything beyond the agent's submission guidelines) up front, unless you're already an in-demand writer. Since you're soliciting agents, you're probably not.

popmuze said:

1) I think my track record of 14 published books (by major publishers) would address the question as to whether I'm uneducated about the process. .

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fair enough; instead you'd look like Anne Rice, or someone else who's own success or perceived success has made them insufferable. Still not a perk.

popmuze said:

Giant Baby said:

I see two things happening: 1) You come across looking unsophisticated and uneducated about the process, and 2) You irritate the agents who've requested your work by attempting to barter a tight reading timeline for a perk they not only don't require, but don't want (and may abhor the very idea of)

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1) I think my track record of 14 published books (by major publishers) would address the question as to whether I'm uneducated about the process.

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I think this will likely leave them wary and scratching their heads.

popmuze said:

2) I agree it would definitely irritate agents who'd rather hold onto a manuscript for six months to a year. That's why they hate exclusives; it would pressure them to read something. So the perk would be for me, not them. As I said, I'd much rather have one agent at a time reading it for three weeks, than seven agents who don't get back to you for six months--or ever.

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If you want to try it, try it, but I'd caution you against trying to fix a flat tire with a welding torch.

You've come up with some interesting theories, but they read to me like strawmen created to prove something to yourself. It's harmless to the rest of us, I suppose, but a bit hard to watch. Maybe some will bite, you never know. I really wish you luck.

I think it would be advertising, right up front, that you're difficult to work with. Diva behavior is a bad gamble.

Forgive me if I seem rude here, because it's really not my intent; I'm genuinely curious. With a track record like that, why are you undergoing the basic query process? Don't you have any connections with agents you could just ask if they want to represent you?

I don't have 14 novels published by major presses, but off the top of my head I can think of at least four or five agents I've spoken to, who like me and my work, who have expressed interest in me (some of them rep friends of mine as well), who I'd simply email if I ever decided I wanted to switch agents. That's just off the top of my head. And even if I didn't, I could ask one of my editors if they could put me in touch with someone.

I have more than a couple of writer friends who switched agents after being published; none of them went through the "regular" query process to switch, either. They just asked their friends, or contacted agents they'd interacted with elsewhere. None of them had any trouble securing new representation very quickly.

So like I said, I really don't mean to be sound rude, but have you not considered that? Are you sending regular queries or are you sending "Published author seeking new representation" emails, that just include your credits and ask the agent if s/he would like to speak to you?

Maryn said:

We get that you're frustrated, but we also get that you need to acknowledge the reality of how the business works, including its pace. If you can't take the heat...

Maryn, realist

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Yep. With the advent of Microsoft Word, spellchecker, and email, the flood of people wanting to do this has created an unnatural disaster which has swamped an industry already prone to glacier pace.

I don't see any amount of foot-stomping, I'm-not-gonna-take-this-anymore, changing it. I don't know what would improve response times, but it's difficult to see it being ultimatums that will make the difference.

Perks said:

I don't know what would improve response times....

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Writing a brilliant novel is usually the first step.

Well, then there's that...

James D. Macdonald said:

Writing a brilliant novel is usually the first step.

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Yep. That's all it usually comes down to. Tired of non-responding agents? Slow response times? An inbox full of 'no'?

Write a better novel.

Published 14 novels with major publishers and still having trouble finding an agent?

Write a better novel.

Obviously many, if not all of the 14 were found lacking if you're in this position. If you've published 14 times and failed to maintain the interest of publishers, then why should you have any higher priority than a new writer who hasn't published a thing?

I don't intend to be mean here, but it seems there's a fundamental disconnect between you and the publishing industry. Maybe that's where you should start rather than by sending gimmicky queries?

To be fair, though, people who have hit the current industry intersections fortuitously, by connecting with the right agent and editor at the right time with a manuscript that scratched the itches of all involved (including the bean-counters) would probably be reluctant to declare that all they had to do was write a "brilliant novel".

As soon as you do that, any and all one and two star reviews start looking a little more weighted than they might otherwise.

Certainly some people get lucky, but we're talking about ways you can ensure better responses from agents and publishers, not how some random people get published without necessarily being brilliant. It's not the same thing, and conflating the two doesn't help anyone.

If you want to be a published novelist, control what you can of the equation. If you're counting on lucky encounters you might just as well save your time and go play the lottery.

Drachen Jager said:

Obviously many, if not all of the 14 were found lacking if you're in this position.

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That's not cool, or for anyone unfamiliar with the OP's body of work to comment on.

RYFW, and all that.

Quote:
Originally Posted by Gordon
unless you're already an in-demand writer. Since you're soliciting agents, you're probably not.

Ouch.
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Actually hadn't meant to sound snarky, or cruel - simply saying that unless agents are quarrelling over who get to sign you first, you really need to play by their rules, not the other way 'round. Like George Costanza arguing with Jerry that they should be paid as much as Ted Danson for their pilot. Jerry tell George, you're not Ted Danson.

Okay. A bit snarky...

Drachen Jager said:

Published 14 novels with major publishers and still having trouble finding an agent?

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As has already been mentioned upstream, from what we can remember, the OP's 14 books aren't novels.

An ability to write 14 publishable nonfiction books is no guarantee of being able to writer a publishable novel.

Frustrating? Yes. But then, so is a hell of a lot of life.

An ability to write fourteen publishable novels is no guarantee that an author can write publishable non-fiction, or a screenplay, or a sonnet-cycle, for that matter.