How to handle exclusivity agreements, deadlines

You can give Agent 2 an exclusive on the full, because your exclusive agreement with Agent 1 has now expired.

That means that, if Agent 1 comes back on August 4 and says "Oh, can I see a full?" you'd have to say, "Sorry, the full's out on exclusive with another agent right now."

Or you can ask Agent 2 if he/she'd be willing to read the full on a non-exclusive basis, because you have partials out elsewhere.

If you do decide to give Agent 2 an exclusive on the full, negotiate the shortest timeline they'll agree to.

Forget about agent 1, her period of exclusivity is over. Concentrate on agent 2 and contact her at once. If you want to give her exclusivity on your full set a deadline (e.g., 4 weeks) and tell her so.

The overriding concept is to get the right agent to represent you, and to do this you may have to contact many, many agents. Bear this in mind when offering exclusives. If I were looking for an agent I would only grant exclusives--with short turnaround times--to agents which I dearly wanted to represent me. But that just my opinion.

If I were you I would consider the now expired exclusivity granted to Agent 1 as expired, although I don't think you should advise Agent 1 of same. Agent 1 more than likely knows the exclusivity period is over. However, if and when the situation presents itself where it's to your advantage to do so -- you do so.

At the moment Agent 2, who is apparently interested in seeing your entire work, has two choices:
1. Tell you what s/he did and go from there -- which was done.
2. Tell you s/he is only interested if s/he has exclusivity -- which s/he decided not to do.

I don't see any harm in telling Agent 2 the truth, that is, that Agent 1's exclusive period has expired and that you can now offer exclusivity for (whatever number of weeks you decide). Based on Agent 2's response to you I think this would make him or her happy and put you in good stead.

Hmm I'm a bit late to this but what I would do is say to agent 2 you can't offer exclusivity because other agents already have the partial/full, but you will not contact new agents during the two week period/whatever time length you've agreed on he has to read the full..

Er, I hope that made sense.

Just a suggestion really. It's merely a polite way of saying that while you can't do this one thing for them, here's the compromise.

Perhaps I'm missing something here. Here's my
impression of where you presently stand. Please correct me if I'm wrong.

1. You sent a partial to Agent 1 and the exclusivity period you granted has expired. You haven't heard anything from this agent.

2. You sent sample pages/chapters (unsolicited) to several other agents without granting any exclusives on same.

3. Agent 2 initially requested you send her your full manuscript to be read on an exclusive basis, without her specifying a time period for doing so. You informed Agent 2 that you would be delighted to send her your full but due to prior commitments you couldn't grant her an exclusive. Agent 2 responded saying it was okay but that she would really prefer an exclusive (again, no time frame stated).

4. Objectively, as I see it, you now have no exclusives out there -- full or partials. Agent 1's exclusive period is over. The unsolicited sample pages/chapters you sent to other agents don't constitute any exclusivity.

5. If the above is true, what you do from here on is up to you. You're not obligated to anyone. If you want to grant exclusivity to Agent 2 for X number of weeks you won't be stepping on anyone's toes. If you do so, and other agents should respond positively to your full or partials during the X number of weeks granted to Agent 2 you just tell them the truth.

6. I think you have to do what you believe is best for you.

Speaking objectively, granting an exclusive to an agent or publisher isn't a sound idea. Why? For obvious reasons. You really can't try and sell your work until the period of exclusivity expires. However, there are always exceptions to the rule, the most usual being that one has received an expression of interest, which includes a period of exclusivity, from an agent or publisher they would dearly like be be represented by or published by. This is why I say that only you can decide on the grant of exclusivity, and the time frame.

If all goes well, and you'd be happy signing with Agent 1, I don't think you screwed up. Hopefully she'll agree with the 2 week exclusivity period you granted her. There is one thing to bear in mind re your statement that you hope Agent 2 will wait for 2 weeks. That is, if after 2 weeks Agent 1 tells you she likes your full but requests some re-write, and you agree with her suggestions, will you extend her 2 week initial exclusivity period? Assuming you do, how will you handle Agent 2? I realize this is all hypothetical at this point, but I believe it's best to be prepared for what may suddenly be thrust upon you.

No, I haven't had such an experience.

I don't know if there's really a right or wrong to the situation we're discussing. I'm sure different people would tackle it in different ways. While we all want to maintain our integrity, we all also want to get represented by a good agent. They hold the entire deck, while non-agented writers hold a single card, at best.

Given the situation we're discussing I think this is how I would approach same, and why, all based the the important fact that I believed in the revisions asked for by Agent 1, felt simpatico with like him or her, and felt that the revision (if good) would more than likely result in a contract and representation.

After judging how long it would probably take me to satisfactorily make the revisions (my best guess), I'd let Agent 1 know same (unless s/he already set a deadline) and ask for a decision X number of weeks after his or her receipt of same --- explaining that another agency is interested but you won't do anything until such time.

If and when you first make the above decision you are playing with fire when it comes to Agent 2 because you would have to advise him or her that you have granted Agent 1 exclusivity until X date based on the fact that the agency request to possibly represent you came prior to his or her. And, one way or the other you'll get back to them by XXXXXX date.

I don't think it's right or to your benefit to work on the revisions suggested by Agent 1 while you send out the full to Agent 2 on an exclusive basis. Thatw ould really leave you no where, as I see it.

I think it is proper to inform all other agents if you receive an offer. But to wait to hear from them before you make a decision may piss off the agent who wants to rep you. I can see if we are taking about 2 or so weeks, but that's about as much as I'd give it. You can probably buy 2 weeks from the offering agent by telling her something like:"It looks wonderful, I just need a little time to run it by my attorney. I'm sure you understand."