Seeking advice: My story so far

Hello all,

Along with a lot of other people, I really didn't know what I was getting into when I finished my first manuscript and said to myself, "Ok, now I just need to get an agent."

Just get an agent. Simple, right? Ha. I know better now. Anyway, I've got a finished manuscipt and have been sending out query letters to agents for, oh, about eight or nine months. I've had good responses. My best moment was when Laurie Abkemeier wanted to see my first three chapters, and then, when she said she was suprised at how much she enjoyed them, asked to see a full. In the end, she liked the writing, but wasn't sure there was enough pay off for the reader. So close. Uhg. Oh, well.

I landed another agent, but he proved to be the wrong guy. We weren't on the same page. So I moved on. I presently have an agent who has my full manuscript and my book proposal, but it's been over two months since I heard anything other than- Yes, I still have it. Sorry, I'm busy.

I would say that I have sent out a total of 50-60 query letters. Now I'm wondering this: Do you think it's time to try the publishers directly? Should a person only attempt to nail down a publisher when he/she has decided to forgo agents? I say "forgo" because I can almost imagine an agent not wanting to take you on if you have appealed to a number of publishers and have failed.

So what do you thinK? Should I keep going for agents or seriously consider going with a publisher directly? Is 50-60 query letters enough to call it quits? I know people have done many more, but I feel like I'm running out of agents who say that they are looking for nonfiction humor/memoirs.

Thanks for any thoughts. I'm a noob and need a fresh voice.

Austin

P.S. In case you are wondering, the book is called, "Walking with the Mailman." I'm a letter carrier and have chronicled my daily affairs in a humorous memoir-esk fashion. Think "The Life and Time of the Thunderbolt Kid." That was my model.

Thanks

I appreciate the advice. I'll stick with the agent route for now. I need to exhaust that.

I'm pretty sure the query letter is solid. Out of the fifty or sixty agents I have queried, I have had five show interest. That doesn't seem bad. But you could say that I'm becoming impatient. Join the crowd, right?

One agent still has the full right now. That's certainly a good thing. But when ten weeks roll by and I don't hear anything, well, I begin to imagine a desk with a stack of papers rising into the air like a skyscraper with mine lost somewhere on the 44th floor. Untouched paper doesn't decompose like vegetables in a compost heap, right?

Thanks,

Austin