Agent checkups

Spiny Norman · Nov 26, 2007

Okay, so I think we've all been in certain straits where one or more agents have pieces or perhaps all of our work, and what we have from them seems to be mostly silence.

I'm at that stage now with one agent - I submitted the full of my MS on October the 9th, understanding that they would have an exclusive until November the 15th. The day before the 15th I sent an email saying I would begin submitting again to other agents. As of now, besides the email asking me to email my full, I haven't heard anything from them. I don't even know if the attachment worked.

On the other hand, I am still getting stray rejections (and the odd request) from agents I submitted to over five months ago. Clearly, this takes time. But how frequently can a guy drop a line without it becoming impolite? I was considering sending an email on December the 9th - exactly two months after I submitted the full. I don't think that's jumping the gun, but then if I was sure I wouldn't be writing this thread.

Hmm...

Gillhoughly · Nov 26, 2007

A brief e-mail to the agent in question asking for confirmation on whether the attachment of the letter of (date) on (what's in the subject line) is not out of line.

You can say you've had e-mail problems--who hasn't?--and just want to make sure it arrived.

Someone should be able to reply to that, since it's a tech query and you're not asking the status of your full. Two months is not nearly enough time for that, especially with holidays looming.

bluemoonscribe · Nov 27, 2007

Honestly, if you waited until the exclusive expired, and let them know that you plan to submit to other agents, you've fulfilled your obligation to this agency.

While I would double check to make sure they have received the full and to see what the status is, I would also feel free to submit elsewhere.

Spiny Norman · Nov 27, 2007

Gillhoughly said:
Someone should be able to reply to that, since it's a tech query and you're not asking the status of your full. Two months is not nearly enough time for that, especially with holidays looming.

Cool beans. Sort of what I thought.

I already am submitting to a few others... I suppose I may have picked the worst time of year to start this up. Thanks, though.

Prawn · Nov 28, 2007

Norman, I always BCC myself on important stuff so I can satisfy myself that it was sent, and satisfy my paranoia that the attachment was openable. I put all those into an email folder marked QUERIES SENT.

ORION · Nov 28, 2007

I used to do the same as Prawn and I also put a line asking if the agent could let me know if it was received and "openable" - I ALWAYS got a response - keep in mind this was for requested fulls via email...

Agent checkups

Spiny Norman

Gillhoughly

Grumpy writer and editor

bluemoonscribe

Spiny Norman

Prawn

Writing is finite,revising infinite

ORION

Sailed away years ago