Should I mention one agent has partial MS in queries to other agents?

NeilTylerFloyd

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Hi everyone, forgive me if this has been answered before. I lucked out and one of the first agents I met asked me for a partial MS this week. I'm not looking too hard into it, but it does raise a question for me.

Should I add a line in my query letter going forward that mentions there is interest? Can this even be considered "interest?" What's the guideline here? She did not ask for an exclusive look, and surely she's assuming I'm going to be querying many more agents after her.

Thanks :)
 

lizmonster

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Hi everyone, forgive me if this has been answered before. I lucked out and one of the first agents I met asked me for a partial MS this week. I'm not looking too hard into it, but it does raise a question for me.

Should I add a line in my query letter going forward that mentions there is interest? Can this even be considered "interest?" What's the guideline here? She did not ask for an exclusive look, and surely she's assuming I'm going to be querying many more agents after her.

Thanks :)

I'd say don't mention it. A request for partial means your query letter is working, but that's about it. Knowing other agents also like your query letter won't say anything useful about the quality of your work.
 

Maggie Maxwell

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Hey Neil, and welcome to AW. :)

Simple answer: nope, not at all. The only times you are obligated to tell anyone anything are 1) If someone makes an offer, you tell the other agents with fulls and partials that someone's interested, giving them a time frame to read and respond if they wish and 2) If you previously had an agent trying to sell this story and you parted ways.

There are probably some I'm missing, but the only thing you need to tell agents in your query is about the book. If they want it, knowing someone else wants it won't change their mind, and if they don't want it, knowing someone else does won't change their mind either.