Yesterday I received a contract from an agent. Since I have requested material out with three other agents, what would be the best wording to announce this to them?
Acceptance
- Thread starter popmuze
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Wow, congrats popmuze! Not sure exactly what you should say. Are you positive you want to go with the agent who just gave you the contract, or are you thinking about going with one of the other agents, should they offer representation? If it's the first of the two, maybe say something like, "Thank you for your interest in MY NOVEL. However, so-in-so from such-in-such agency has offered me representation, and I have decided to go with them." And then, yeah, I'm not really sure where to go from there. Best of luck, popmuze!!
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Depends on which is your first choice. You can send the other two an e-mail saying
"I'm writing to inform you I've recently received an offer of representation for my novel (name) You requested the (full/partial) on (date) I'd like to enquire as to wether you've had the chance to review these materials, or would be able to do so in the next ( week, 2 days, whatever) If not I would ask you to remove them from your queue and would like to take the opportunity to thank..etc etc.
You also tell the one that offered that you have two other agents looking and in fairness, you need to contact them and give them ( 2 days, whatever) to respond.
Of course if this one is your first choice forget all that and just send a note telling them the work is no longer available and thanking them for their time.
Big congrats by the way!
"I'm writing to inform you I've recently received an offer of representation for my novel (name) You requested the (full/partial) on (date) I'd like to enquire as to wether you've had the chance to review these materials, or would be able to do so in the next ( week, 2 days, whatever) If not I would ask you to remove them from your queue and would like to take the opportunity to thank..etc etc.
You also tell the one that offered that you have two other agents looking and in fairness, you need to contact them and give them ( 2 days, whatever) to respond.
Of course if this one is your first choice forget all that and just send a note telling them the work is no longer available and thanking them for their time.
Big congrats by the way!
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Congrats! I second Manat's suggestion, even though it would be so tempting to tell them something about snoozing and losing.
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what I did was email each one telling them I was accepting an offer of representation and each one emailed back making their own offers of rep. I did not burn any bridges (no "you snooze you lose") and consequently the rest said if it doesn't work out for any reason they would be happy to represent me. You never know what will happen.
Kind of like a dance - leaving one partner for another.
You don't want to alienate anyone.
JMHO
Kind of like a dance - leaving one partner for another.
You don't want to alienate anyone.
JMHO
Is there any time frame that's standard here? I've seen people mention 2 days, and I've seen people say as much as 2 weeks. I'm in the same situation right now, with one agent interested in representing, but another who's had my full manuscript for three months who I want to notify... I'd happily go with either, but I don't want to alienate or be unfair to either party with some unreasonable request. At the same time, I want to get the ball rolling on this fast and start my new life as a agented-but-unpublished-author.
I have an itchy set of typing fingers....I sent an email to the agent in question asking for a response in five days (by Friday). I hope that seems fair, but perhaps I'm being overly sensitive in hoping not to burn any bridges before they're even built. They probably see this kind of thing all the time and it would take much worse to offend... right?
I am a firm believer in the bird in the hand theory.
In my case, the three agents who'd been reading my manuscript at the time of my offer never even responded when I emailed them that I was approached to sign with another agent.
In my case, the three agents who'd been reading my manuscript at the time of my offer never even responded when I emailed them that I was approached to sign with another agent.
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Sure, there's no reason an agent would be offended by a 5-day deadline after having the manuscript for 3 months. You're being reasonable. I agree with DA that I'd normally give a week for a situation like that, but 5 days is close enough.
To me, any more than that is rude to the person who made the original offer-- kind of saying, "Well, just hang out and wait and let me make sure no one else is even vaguely interested, no matter how long it takes." It already makes me uneasy just asking for the week to make a decision, because it suggests that I'm really holding out for someone else.
Exactly right -- I don't want anyone to feel like they're second choice.
I've yet to hear from the agent who I'd been waiting on anyway, but the agent who has offered to represent -- who I'm now keeping waiting until Friday -- wrote me back an email last night (at 3:42AM!), still happy to answer any questions I have in the meantime.
quick update -- the agent's all were great. The one I was waiting to hear from got back to me with his congrats and said since he'd been on the fence about my book, and that that it would be prudent to accept the offer on the table -- and I did.
three months into the query process, and I got me an agent! w00t!
three months into the query process, and I got me an agent! w00t!