Do agents show clients the cover letter?

Mine didn't...

Mine didn't either...But she's pretty open. I'm sure if I asked, I could see it, but I've never thought about asking.

Mine didn't, and I didn't ask to see it. That part isn't my job.

Mine doesn't, but I saw one by accident once when he forgot to remove it from an editor's response he was forwarding. And um, yeah- I don't need to see that again. Like ever.

Not healthy.

I saw mine. It was a version of my query letter. Of course I asked to be included in all aspects of the process.

Mine showed me the one he wrote. I commented that I didn't realize the book was that dark, but he's the boss. He reread it, said I was right, and rewrote with a lighter touch. Both were versions of my query letter.

If I decide to go the agented route, I'd certainly ask them to share any correspondence with me. If they're representing me and my work, I'd like to know what they're saying and to who.

I'm sure she would if I asked, I really have never thought to. After all she really knows the work and I trust her. Sometimes I ask her if it's worth including certain elements. Though I get the feeling the initial pitch is often in person or by phone. I was present once when she pitched something of mine to someone, it was neat. She does email me a list of all the houses she's sent to and sends me the responses as she gets them. She is also really responsive to my suggestions and has subbed to places based on my recommendation.

I love my agent .

I didn't see it, but I didn't ask to either. But she did blog about it and used it as an example of an editor pitch letter, so I eventually did get to read it I think she also has some other examples on her blog as well.

My agent really doesn't send cover letters, other than one saying something like, "Here's the manuscript we talked about."

The synopsis that goes along with it is mine, not hers.

Much depends on the agent. Does she actually know the editors, talk to them regularly, have a reputation of delivering good manuscripts, etc.

Unfortunately, most editors at large publishers don't make the buy decision these days. The acquisition board does, which usually means marketing.

Pretty much every agent sends along glowing praise of every manuscripts they submit, and thousands and thousands get rejected, anyway.

It always comes down to the book, with a nod to the writer's history/background, not what the agent says about the book.

But I see everything my agent writes, and everything an editor writes back. Every writer should. You can learn a lot this way, though I've found that just as agents praise everything they send to editors, many editors praise everything they reject when they're rejecting to an agent. It's often professional courtesy run wild.

Yes, sometimes, and you might be enlisted to help write the submission letter, or your query might be mined to help craft the sub letter.

Mine does not.

I don't even know if mine writes cover letters; I think he pitches on the phone or in person. I'm sure if I asked he would tell me, and he'd probably show me, but I generally don't like to know that stuff, to be honest. It makes me feel more pressured or whatever.

I ask him not to tell me to whom he's submitting, too, which I know is unusual. He thinks it's a little weird, I think, but he goes along with it. (If I knew who was reading it I'd get all panicky and probably start Twit-stalking, or going Google-crazy and looking up their authors and all sorts of oddnesses.)

Nope, and I don't want to see. It would be a little strange for me to see a
"query letter" she's written about my work.

Danthia...that was cool to look at the letter your agent put together.

I saw mine -- it was also a version of my query letter.

... I'd love to see the cover letters, if I had an agent, just out of curiousity, but I'd lack the courage to ask and be too afraid that they'd think I was checking up on them or something or calling their ability into question. So I'd keep quiet on the issue and there'd be no great loss there other than that my curiousity wouldn't be satisfied. I am the worst salesperson on the face of the earth and certainly wouldn't be able to make any suggestions about better ways to pitch a project. That's why I long for an agent. One like TP's would fit the bill quite nice

Ken - you really shouldn't be scared of your agent. It's a professional working relationship. If you find yourself scared of your agent, and if your agent is so easily offended (I mean, isn't asking after information on the submission of your work a perfectly reasonable question?), then maybe that wouldn't be the right agent for you.

... not sure? If I do manage to get another agent again by some miracle I would just be so afraid of blowing things by being too inquisitive or something of the sort and that would be the case even with --

Hmm. You may have a point, because I'll tell you: There was this one agent I was conversing with via emails fairly regularly. They didn't handle my genre, unfortunately, but they did like my writing a lot and gave me encouragement. The agent was so nice and down to earth. Very, very cool. If "they" had become my agent I wouldn't have hesitated to ask things. So I guess you're right.

Thing is though that I only have that rapport with very few people. I'm rather an odd fish, as you've probably noted ;-) So chances are I am not goiing to find that. That's not to say there aren't agents out there that are great and that would be awesome to have! I have my sights on one now. It's just that I wouldn't have that rapport. And so I'd be hesitant to ask stuff.

That's just how I am :-(

Sorry if that's TMI. Also sorry about the spelling of rappor, which is most likely wrong. Looking that up now and will go back and edit if so. Ah, the word ends with a "t."

Everyone's an "odd fish" in my mind. And we all have our own quirks. So we need to work with people who compliment those quirks (I mean . . . go well with them, though the odd "I find your neuroses charming" wouldn't go amiss either). I am deeply neurotic. I end game and send my agent emails like: "Okay, so what if twenty years from now I've got a hangnail, how will that affect book sales at that point?" And she puts up with it marvelously, answering my questions as if they were sane.

I truly don't think it's wise to look at an agent and be honoured that they want to rep you. There's no honour about it. Yes, it's hard to find an agent, yes it's exciting when you do and of course authors feel like if they do just one wrong thing an agent will dump them. But that's wrong. The fact is that an agent agrees to rep you because they respect you. And you want them to rep you because you respect them. It has to be mutual. And you need to work in such a way that is mutually beneficial. If you feel like you can't talk to your agent about anything professional (uh, not so much personal stuff) then that's a serious business problem.

Now, you may have to set some boundaries from the off, and being professional is two sided. Just as they shouldn't be offended that you have questions to ask, you too must keep in mind what a professional question is and isn't. Knowing how an agent is representing your work to editors is definitely under the heading "professional interaction". It's your work after all.

I think instead of thinking of yourself as weird and that no one out there will ever suit your personality, think of yourself as one of many quirky authors who will find that right agent for him. Remember, authors in general are weird. They work alone, they live in their heads, they often shy from the spotlight (uh . . . not me so much, but that's my own brand of strangeness). Agents are used to authors not necessarily being the most socially comfortable individuals. And of all the businesses out there, this is the one where you are most likely to find someone who can work with your quirks.

Don't compromise. Trust me, we've all seen someone who has. And it never works out.

Both of my agents showed it to me. I didn't ask