How long should one expect an exclusive submission to be for? And if an agent requests an exclusive look at a submission, does that not imply a responsibility for the agent to respond in a timely manner?
I understand that most literary agents will simply not respond if they are not interested and that it often takes a lot of time for them to work through their pile of queries and submissions. However it seems to me it would be no more than common courtesy to make an effort to reply in a timely manner if exclusivity has been asked for.
My issue comes after Ms Paige Wheeler of Folio Literary Agency, of whom I’ve not found one black mark against, responded to my query with a request for more material: synopsis, three chapters and a bio. She asked that I share this with her on an exclusive basis. Happily I agreed. That was early in March. In April I queried her about my query and was told she had yet to receive the material. I sent it all again as per her instructions. I asked at the time how long the exclusive nature of this was to last. No response. Early this month I again queried about my query. To date no response.
This comes up because I now have another agent asking for the material. Is the exclusive agreement with Ms Wheeler still in place?
Maybe this poor old country boy expects too much, but somehow I get the impression that literary agents can be as discourteous as they like while the writers have to silently accept it. Am I wrong? Is this the sign of an impatient writer?
[FONT="]
[/FONT]
I understand that most literary agents will simply not respond if they are not interested and that it often takes a lot of time for them to work through their pile of queries and submissions. However it seems to me it would be no more than common courtesy to make an effort to reply in a timely manner if exclusivity has been asked for.
My issue comes after Ms Paige Wheeler of Folio Literary Agency, of whom I’ve not found one black mark against, responded to my query with a request for more material: synopsis, three chapters and a bio. She asked that I share this with her on an exclusive basis. Happily I agreed. That was early in March. In April I queried her about my query and was told she had yet to receive the material. I sent it all again as per her instructions. I asked at the time how long the exclusive nature of this was to last. No response. Early this month I again queried about my query. To date no response.
This comes up because I now have another agent asking for the material. Is the exclusive agreement with Ms Wheeler still in place?
Maybe this poor old country boy expects too much, but somehow I get the impression that literary agents can be as discourteous as they like while the writers have to silently accept it. Am I wrong? Is this the sign of an impatient writer?
[FONT="]
[/FONT]
