For those of you who have agents....

[spywriter]

How often do you hear from them? DO you make the contact or do they? How much time should go by before one of you makes contact with the other after the initial phone call and contract signing?:shrug As you can see I am but a wee one on this biz and I need all the help I can get.:hail

[absolutewrite]

Hey Spy!

I have two agents and neither are the most exemplary communicators if we're not actively working on a deal. It goes in spurts. Like this--

I'll e-mail agent an idea I'm working on. He'll call or e-mail to tell me what he thinks. Assuming he thinks it's a good idea, I'll go off and work on the proposal. When I've finished a first draft of the proposal, I send it to him for comments. If it needs improvement, he makes suggestions, and I revise. When it's done, he lets me know where he's going to send it. As responses come in, he calls to tell me what those responses are.

When an offer comes in, we're usually on the phone a couple of times a day until a deal is finalized.

Then a long stretch may pass while I'm off working on the project, and we may not speak again until I'm just about done and ready for a new deal.

If I have any problems along the way, I e-mail him. Sometimes he'll conference in on a call I have with an editor or publicist.

And sometimes we just check in briefly to chit-chat a bit or for me to ask for career advice.

But back to your original question, I assume that you've just signed a deal with an agent and are now waiting for some kind of communication? It should happen quickly, assuming the agent has something of yours to submit. He/she should be in contact with you to tell you what the plan is and where it's headed within about a week or two of contract signing, I'd think. If not, time for you to make a call to check in.

[spywriter]

Thanks for the info....:thumbs

This is my story....

I came home from vacation to find a contract and cover letter:snoopy . The next day, I phoned her and she returned my call a couple hours later. We talked for 30 minutes or so and I asked her about my book, her history and what her plan is for the book. She told me the publishers she wanted to target and about some contacts in CA she wanted to run my novel by. SHe told me that once she received my contract that it would be about 2 weeks until she started to target those people. It's been 2 weeks today.

I sent her an e-mail last week with a quick question...nothing imperative, but I'd like an answer. What should I do? Write her back, call her or just wait a little while?

Thanks for the info Jenna. I appreciate it.:hail

[SRHowen]

My experiences are about the same as Jenna's. I do get a monthly update, and if I e-mail, I normally get a response on the same day, but sometimes it can take a few days. If I call and my agent is there I get put right through, and we also juts chit chat sometimes.

If you sent the e-mail at the end of the week I'd give your agent at least a week to get back to you before you contact her again.

Shawn

[absolutewrite]

Hey Spy! If it was just a quick question, the agent shouldn't have any problem responding to it within a week. Sure, I'd call or drop another friendly e-mail just to make sure she got your question. And hey, CONGRATS! Finding a contract waiting for you must have been a great coming home present!

[DeePower]

Email isn't always as reliable as we expect it to be. A week is long enough to wait.

Dee
www.BrianHillAndDeePower.com (http://www.BrianHillAndDeePower.com)

[James D. Macdonald]

The kinds of relationships agents have with authors is as varied as the authors and the agents.

Right now it seems to be that there are between two and three hundred agents in the USA who have verifiable track records.