Is nine months too long on a full MS response?

JohnnyCat38

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Hello,
Back in June of 2012, an agent requested my full manuscript. I've politely nudged her once since then via e-mail and still haven't heard back. As per the agency's website, they appear to be pretty successful so I'm hoping she's just very busy. Is nine months too long? Do I simply have a case of wishful thinking going on? Thanks in advance.
 

jeffo20

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I had an agent sit on mine for nine months, too. I got no response to two polite nudges, one sent at six months, one at 8. My understanding, in general, is that fulls can take a lot of time, but I guess it really depends on the agent in question (the other full got a response in about two, three months).

And the nine monther resulted in a polite rejection.
 

waylander

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My longest was 18 months, but the agent did go on maternity leave.
 

Windcutter

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My longest wait was about 3 months, and that was a big name busy agent who had six figure deals in her pro history. Maybe I got lucky. Or maybe not that lucky, since I'm still without one. :)

Well, I can only say what I'd do. If an agent had my full for nine months *and* wasn't replying to polite nudges, I'd dismiss that full. By which I mean, I wouldn't place hopes on it anymore and I would go on querying as if that never happened.

Though I heard of a very famous author who used to be an AWer (maybe still is) who had a full with an agent for a year or so (if my memory is correct), and then there was a contract, a huge deal and lots of joy and money all around.
 

sheadakota

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One had a full that she sat on for over a year and another had a partial that she never did get back to me on. The book has since been published. I did nudge both agents at the six month and then the year Mark. The one with the full was quite apologetic and gave me a very detailed crit on why she eventually passed on the book.
 

amschilling

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I had one that hit a year, as well. With my current book, I'm on 5 months and counting on my longest, but I figure I'm barely at the halfway point there (the guy said he was really backed up, and his normal times are 6+ months). So you're in good company. And yes, sometimes the response times are much faster. But taking a while doesn't mean you're in the "thinking about it" or "Eh, I'll get around to saying no eventually" pile. It really depends on the agent. So hang in there, think positive, and work on the next book while you wait.
 
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JohnnyCat38

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Thanks, everyone. I feel more confident, now. I'm glad I joined the Absolute Write community.
 

Katrina S. Forest

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My longest wait so far has been five months and counting on an R&R. I checked in at three months and the agent's assistant was very polite and let me know that they had just been busy with clients' manuscripts. (Which is totally understandable. If I'm fortunate enough to become a client, I want my stuff to take priority over non-clients too.)

It is odd that you didn't get any response when you inquired, though. I would inquire one more time and if you still get nothing, write it off as a rejection. (Easier said than done, I know.)
 

mayqueen

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I've got one out right now for a over a year. I don't think the length of time the full is out is correlated to the likelihood of an offer, or at least, there's really no way to tell. My advice is to keep querying and write your next manuscript while you wait because you might never hear back.
 

Katrina S. Forest

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Now this makes me think of an interesting question... (Disclaimer: I am not, nor have I ever been in this situation)

You get full requests for manuscript #1, you send them out, you dutifully work on your next manuscript. Some fulls remain out with no response.

Manuscript #2 is finished and polished, so you start querying. Awesome agent requests an exclusive. Manuscript #2 is not with anyone else at the moment. But you still have Manuscript #1 with an agent who requested it months ago. Can you grant an exclusive (assuming you want to)? If so, do you mention Manuscript #1?
 

Jamesaritchie

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Nine months is definitely too long, if you sent a nudge at the right time, but received no response. Good agents respond to nudges when this much time has passed.
 

Windcutter

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Now this makes me think of an interesting question... (Disclaimer: I am not, nor have I ever been in this situation)

You get full requests for manuscript #1, you send them out, you dutifully work on your next manuscript. Some fulls remain out with no response.

Manuscript #2 is finished and polished, so you start querying. Awesome agent requests an exclusive. Manuscript #2 is not with anyone else at the moment. But you still have Manuscript #1 with an agent who requested it months ago. Can you grant an exclusive (assuming you want to)? If so, do you mention Manuscript #1?
Maybe nudge #1 first, explain the situation and then wait for their reply? If they say nothing, however... maybe I'm totally wrong, but if an agent requested my full, spent nearly a year looking for time to read it, and never bothered to reply to a polite nudge, especially a polite nudge that describes a special situation taking place, then I'd consider myself free to assume the agent doesn't care so it's a silent no.
 

Jumping Jim

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They have a saying in Hollywood: if you haven't heard, you've heard.

I think this is becoming truer in publishing every day. Slow means no. No response means no. No news means no.

If they're really interested, they jump right away. Let's not forget that a Literary Agent is, first and foremost, a sales person on commission. No one's shy. They need to make sales to pay the bills.

A year ago I queried a very prominent agent. Got a request for a full within the hour, and later that same day an assistant contacted me with more details.

Radio silence since then. Which means I've heard.

Meanwhile, I wrote something else, and got an offer from someone else. You got to keep moving, baby!
 

Katrina S. Forest

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Maybe nudge #1 first, explain the situation and then wait for their reply? If they say nothing, however... maybe I'm totally wrong, but if an agent requested my full, spent nearly a year looking for time to read it, and never bothered to reply to a polite nudge, especially a polite nudge that describes a special situation taking place, then I'd consider myself free to assume the agent doesn't care so it's a silent no.

I agree.

I think my bigger worry would be offending the awesome agent who has Manuscript #2. If you say, "Sure, a two-week exclusive is fine," and then three days later you've got an offer on Manuscript #1, that's a really awkward e-mail to write. Then again, maybe it's not as much as I think. Saying, "I had written this agent off as a no after X months of hearing nothing," isn't exactly unreasonable.

I feel like I'm getting into weird hypotheticals now. I guess my initial question was, "Do exclusives apply to single manuscripts or do they apply to your whole body of work?"
 

waylander

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They have a saying in Hollywood: if you haven't heard, you've heard.

I think this is becoming truer in publishing every day. Slow means no. No response means no. No news means no.

If they're really interested, they jump right away. Let's not forget that a Literary Agent is, first and foremost, a sales person on commission. No one's shy. They need to make sales to pay the bills.

A year ago I queried a very prominent agent. Got a request for a full within the hour, and later that same day an assistant contacted me with more details.

Radio silence since then. Which means I've heard.

Meanwhile, I wrote something else, and got an offer from someone else. You got to keep moving, baby!

This ain't Hollywood.
Individual agents move at their own pace. Took my agent 3 months to read my latest manuscript and I'm a client!
 

Susan Coffin

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They have a saying in Hollywood: if you haven't heard, you've heard.

I think this is becoming truer in publishing every day. Slow means no. No response means no. No news means no.

If they're really interested, they jump right away. Let's not forget that a Literary Agent is, first and foremost, a sales person on commission. No one's shy. They need to make sales to pay the bills.

A year ago I queried a very prominent agent. Got a request for a full within the hour, and later that same day an assistant contacted me with more details.

Radio silence since then. Which means I've heard.

Meanwhile, I wrote something else, and got an offer from someone else. You got to keep moving, baby!

:welcome: Jim!
 

Axordil

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Query Tracker has statistics about the average time any given agent takes to respond to a query or sub.

I would not assume an agent is a "no answer means no" unless their website or some other official entity indicates that's the case. It may be more common now, but it's not the default expectation.
 

Debbie V

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I I guess my initial question was, "Do exclusives apply to single manuscripts or do they apply to your whole body of work?"


As far as I understand it, the exclusive applies to the manuscript, but you'd want to be up front about an offer on another manuscript. You don't want to end up with two agents. That could be awkward.
 

Phaeal

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Maybe nudge #1 first, explain the situation and then wait for their reply? If they say nothing, however... maybe I'm totally wrong, but if an agent requested my full, spent nearly a year looking for time to read it, and never bothered to reply to a polite nudge, especially a polite nudge that describes a special situation taking place, then I'd consider myself free to assume the agent doesn't care so it's a silent no.

Agreed. I would send a last email to agent #1, saying another agent is interested in a second novel. No response in a week? Write agent #1 off.

Here's the thing. I can see an agent taking a very long time to read a full, but to ignore polite nudges at appropriate intervals? That sends such a strong message of "Leave me alone, I'm not all that interested" that I don't think the nonresponding agent would have cause to complain if the writer assumed no response meant no and went with someone else.

Especially since the "no response = no" approach is increasingly common. Well, as writers get schooled in this expectation, the practice could cut both ways.

But yeah, to stay on the high ground, one last email explaining circumstances would be the right thing to do.
 
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