How long to follow up on a requested partial?

harvey77 · Mar 8, 2009

A very reputable agency requested a synopsis and chapters from my sci-fi book. Window of time for a reply was 6-8 weeks. It's been 11.

Do you think it's too early to send a follow up email? Important to note: the materials were sent on an exclusive basis.

brainstorm77 · Mar 8, 2009

I've seen 3 months posted often on the board.

scope · Mar 8, 2009

Send a status query immediately. If they are beyond the period of exclusivity you have to tell them if you want to withdraw or extend same. If the latter, I wouldn't give them more than 2 more weeks).

You have plenty of other agents to query.

elroy · Mar 9, 2009

IMHO, 3 months minimum. But if they said they'd be done in less than 8 and it's 11, follow up by all means. Good luck! Let us know how it turns out.

Cyia · Mar 10, 2009

If they gave a specific time frame for an exclusive read, and they're outside the confines of that time frame, then you need to follow-up ASAP.

aka eraser · Mar 10, 2009

If my math is correct, you sent it during the Christmas holiday period which could account for the lag. But since it's an exclusive, I'd definitely follow up.

Gonna bump this over to BWQ.

harvey77 · Mar 16, 2009

Emailed the agency and the novel was (surprise) rejected. However, I never received a reply via snail mail, and I know for a fact that I included an SASE. The agent chalked it up to getting lost in the mail, which, since it was around the holidays, is possible.

During the wait period, I was editing the novel and strengthening it. So not a total loss. Still, in the future I'm not going to submit partials on an exclusive basis.

Cyia · Mar 18, 2009

Related question.

On a status query, do you just say:

Dear agent:

I was wondering if you've had a chance to look at the manuscript for [title] that you requested on [date].

Or should it be more involved than that?

Saltier · Mar 19, 2009

I don't know, but I'd LOVE to see the answer to that.

Also, say your word count was long for the genre, and over the several mo. since the query, you've tightened (because once the partial was sent you *magically* gained the ability to hate any passage that won't endear you to the reader) the MS by about 6,000 words.

Would the agent want to know that the work is now shorter?/ would you include that on a status email on a partial?

Saltier · Mar 19, 2009

Actually, I just saw this post and found that it answered the question.

As for my other question, I'm thinking no. I'm probably just looking for a reason to check in.

See? It's better to post here and look like an idiot than to look like an idiot with an agent or editor.

Cyia · Mar 19, 2009

Saltier said:
Actually, I just saw this post and found that it answered the question.

As for my other question, I'm thinking no. I'm probably just looking for a reason to check in.

See? It's better to post here and look like an idiot than to look like an idiot with an agent or editor.

Woot! This was the post I was trying to find before I posted that question. I'd lost it. Thanks!

How long to follow up on a requested partial?

harvey77

brainstorm77

practical experience, FTW

scope

Commonsensical Maverick

elroy

Cyia

Rewriting My Destiny

aka eraser

Fish Whisperer

harvey77

Cyia

Rewriting My Destiny

Saltier

Small towns fuel escapism

Saltier

Small towns fuel escapism

Cyia

Rewriting My Destiny