Hi all,
This is my first post, so if I screw up on some forum etiquette here, my apologies.
I had something interesting happen to me last week and I'd like to get some opinions on things.
The story is, I write a humor column that runs on the web site for a major metropolitan newspaper. A couple weeks ago in one of my columns, I referenced a very successful novelist. Last Monday (3/10), the novelist's agent e-mailed me to compliment me on the column, which she thought was really funny. She noticed that I'd written a novel - I plug my POD novel at the end of every column in order to drive sales - and asked if I had an agent for it, and if not, if she should read it.
As it turned out, this agent was from Writers House, and she reps some seriously heavy hitters. You can imagine how elated I was to write her back and send along my manuscript. I've queried 50 agents with this novel and not one has requested the entire manuscript. So for this agent to ask for the entire thing, right off the bat, out of the blue, without me having even queried her...I was flabbergasted.
My questions are:
1. Should I stop querying other agents while she reviews my novel? Normally I would continue with other queries, but this seems like a highly unusual case. If I'd queried her and she asked for the whole manuscript, I'd still figure I had a fairly low chance of her offering me representation. But with her coming to me out of the blue, and being such a prominent agent, I was thinking I'd give her at least a month of exclusivity. (She hasn't asked for it, BTW.)
2. How excited should I be? Has anyone had anything like this happen before - a situation in which an agent makes the first contact, instead of the usual other-way-around situation? I don't know what to make of the whole thing. My hope is that she decides to rep me and I then get to work on improving/editing the manuscript per her suggestions (I'm under no illusion about my novel being perfect as it currently stands). My fear is that two months go by, I don't hear anything, then I get the dreaded form letter. I kinda doubt the latter option will happen - I'd like to think I'll get some form of meaningful feedback, even if I don't get an offer - but still. Any thoughts on this?
Oh, and I haven't mentioned the agent's name or my info because I don't wanna freakin jinx this thing. I know, it's weird, but my gut tells me to play this opportunity a little close to the vest.
Thanks in advance for any thoughts or advice!
This is my first post, so if I screw up on some forum etiquette here, my apologies.
I had something interesting happen to me last week and I'd like to get some opinions on things.
The story is, I write a humor column that runs on the web site for a major metropolitan newspaper. A couple weeks ago in one of my columns, I referenced a very successful novelist. Last Monday (3/10), the novelist's agent e-mailed me to compliment me on the column, which she thought was really funny. She noticed that I'd written a novel - I plug my POD novel at the end of every column in order to drive sales - and asked if I had an agent for it, and if not, if she should read it.
As it turned out, this agent was from Writers House, and she reps some seriously heavy hitters. You can imagine how elated I was to write her back and send along my manuscript. I've queried 50 agents with this novel and not one has requested the entire manuscript. So for this agent to ask for the entire thing, right off the bat, out of the blue, without me having even queried her...I was flabbergasted.
My questions are:
1. Should I stop querying other agents while she reviews my novel? Normally I would continue with other queries, but this seems like a highly unusual case. If I'd queried her and she asked for the whole manuscript, I'd still figure I had a fairly low chance of her offering me representation. But with her coming to me out of the blue, and being such a prominent agent, I was thinking I'd give her at least a month of exclusivity. (She hasn't asked for it, BTW.)
2. How excited should I be? Has anyone had anything like this happen before - a situation in which an agent makes the first contact, instead of the usual other-way-around situation? I don't know what to make of the whole thing. My hope is that she decides to rep me and I then get to work on improving/editing the manuscript per her suggestions (I'm under no illusion about my novel being perfect as it currently stands). My fear is that two months go by, I don't hear anything, then I get the dreaded form letter. I kinda doubt the latter option will happen - I'd like to think I'll get some form of meaningful feedback, even if I don't get an offer - but still. Any thoughts on this?
Oh, and I haven't mentioned the agent's name or my info because I don't wanna freakin jinx this thing. I know, it's weird, but my gut tells me to play this opportunity a little close to the vest.
Thanks in advance for any thoughts or advice!
and let us know how it goes.
