Advice from those with agents?

[Bushrat]

(1) Did you get your agent through regular query? At a conference? Some other way?

The good old regular way.

(2) How did you learn of your agent?

I heard he tends to give helpful, personalized rejections, and the main reason I queried him was because of that

(3) How long did you wait after agent requested the full?

About a week.

(4) How many agents did you query? How long did it take?

Ten or so. I think it took around six weeks.



Anyway, that was almost two years ago, and the easy part. Finding a publisher turns to be a much tougher ballgame.

[Sheluvspink]

Thank you guys for sharing it's so exciting. I'll be so glad when I'm at the querying stage..even though it looks to be nerve racking.

[CAWriter]

(1) Did you get your agent through regular query? At a conference? Some other way? My first agent I got through an industry recommendation/introduction. I had an editor from a major publishing house interested in my proposal and didn't know any agents. A friend with industry contacts connected me.

I met my second and current agents at conferences.

(2) How did you learn of your agent? (See above)

(3) How long did you wait after agent requested the full? Had an agreement with each agent within a month of meeting.

(4) How many agents did you query? How long did it take? In the gaps between agents I did talk with an agent or two at other conferences, but only queried 1. I was without an agent for a couple years (between agent 2 and current agent) but that was partly because I wasn't generating anything to submit.

I've always done a lot of research before attempting to connect with an agent so I know I'm approaching someone I think I can work with, someone who takes on my types of projects, etc. It helps that I've met a lot of agents through conference attendance, so when I've been looking for a new agent, I already have relationships with some that are in the ballpark for me.

Story of how I "lost" my second agent--We worked on my proposal together at the conference where we met. Got great input. Made the suggested changes and sent it off within a month. Signed a contract to work together. Six months went by and the proposal hadn't been submitted to one single publisher (including those from the conference who'd requested it). Figured it was best to cut my losses and move on.

[javamonkey]

Thanks to all the people who have shared their stories here. It's been so encouraging and informative to me and many others. Almost 1,500 views!

[WeaselFire]

I have no agent currently, so my experience is from the dark-ages (Pre e-books).

First agent I met at a conference organized by a friend/mentor/teacher. I thought it went great, but we weren't very successful. Second agent I got as a recommendation from another writer. She worked hard but we weren't compatible and parted ways. I never sold anything significant through either agent.

I sent out queries to about 40 agents, paying for copying, stamps, SASE's and everything. Caught the attention of a publisher somehow by doing this and started selling (Non-Fiction How To) through them (Unagented). Worked okay for about three years and then they got bought out, and bought again, and their "list was trimmed." Which meant they dropped me and the line I wrote for.

Haven't had an agent since, but I'm working on my first fiction work now and expect to need to start the process over again. The conferences I've been to recently haven't had ideal agents for me and my genre (Mystery) so I haven't pursued anything there. Besides, I *really* underestimated how much time it would take to write a novel.

FWIW, I'm also working on a non-fiction idea that I proposed to several publishers and there just wasn't a large enough market for it. Going to finish that as a self-pubbed e-book and see how it goes. I won't get rich, but if it sells 200 copies I'll make more than I'd get in an advance from the only publisher even mildly interested. Plus, this time, it will likely be in dollars instead of marbles and sea shells (overseas currency exchanges are a bitch).

Jeff

[amschilling]

I wanted to share a friend's story that's a little different from the other posts. So many folks got quick response times, but not hearing in a week doesn't mean to give up all hope. I thought that might be important to anyone not hearing so fast. Here's his story:

My friend sent his Q out widely over the course of a few months. He had 6 or 7 page requests, all but one of which came back as Rs. Five months after sending to one particular agent, however, and after getting no response to a nudge on status for more than a month, the agent signed him. So now he's happily rep'd with a respected agency, getting his feet wet in the social media side of things and moving towards subbing to publishers.