Exclusive Manuscript?

newgreekwriter

newgreekwriter

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I know that 'exclusive' means that well, one agent's eyes only...Right? See, I queried a couple of places and for my number choice I said that it could be exclusive, since that's what the agency's website said. (Isn't that what it says at Writer's House?)
Another agent asked me for my three chapters, and we'll see from there, but I'm wondering what happens if another agent wants an exclusive deal? I can't promise them all...Can I?
If anybody can help me with this problem, then I would be very thankfull!
Oh, and I did say in the query that it was a multiple submissions but if she did get back to me, I would give her the entire manuscript...I hope I didn't make a mistake. =/
This is obvious rambling, but after reading information on other websites...Since the agent didn't ask for an exclusive (they haven't responded at all) then I can just withdraw my manuscript, right?
 
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suki

suki

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newgreekwriter said:
I know that 'exclusive' means that well, one agent's eyes only...Right? See, I queried a couple of places and for my number choice I said that it could be exclusive, since that's what the agency's website said. (Isn't that what it says at Writer's House?)
Another agent asked me for my three chapters, and we'll see from there, but I'm wondering what happens if another agent wants an exclusive deal? I can't promise them all...Can I?
If anybody can help me with this problem, then I would be very thankfull!
Oh, and I did say in the query that it was a multiple submissions but if she did get back to me, I would give her the entire manuscript...I hope I didn't make a mistake. =/
This is obvious rambling, but after reading information on other websites...Since the agent didn't ask for an exclusive (they haven't responded at all) then I can just withdraw my manuscript, right?
Click to expand...

OK. Let's try this again.

First, welcome to AW. There may be some agents reading in this forum who will come in an answer your question. But just in case you are worrying and anxious for responses, I would say this:

You don't generally offer exclusives in queries or send exclusive queries. But don't worry about it if you have done so already.

But, if you give the first three chapters to the requesting agent, and then the other agent asks for an exclusive, you would have to tell him/her that soemone else has the first three chapters, and ask if he/she still want to see it. Some won't care as long as they are the only one with the full. Others will say they want to wait until the first agent has passed or you've withdrawn it.

But then you will also have the issue of what if agent one says, ok, as long as I have the exclusive full. And then agent with 3 chapters asks for the full? Well, then you would have to tell him/her hey have to wait or withdraw from agent with the exclusive full.

If anyone has an exclusive, it means you will not be able to let other agents look at the same manuscript for whatever period of time you set - ie, "I can grant you an exclusive on the full manuscript until ______ date." (4-6 weeks would be reasonable, but you can set whatever you like). Then if another agent asks for it, you should say that you can't give it to them until the other agent has passed or the exclusive period has expired. It's a better deal for the agent than it is for the author. But if it is your top choice for agent, it might be worth it to you. But make sure you set a deadline.


Also, you don't have to withdraw the queries out there, but if those other agents request the full or partial you won't be able to give it to them while the first agent has the exclusive.

And, if that first agent then makes an offer, you will really not have the ability to quickly get the manuscript to other agents and see if any of them are interested. So you would have to decide on whether the first agent is the one for you without knowing if anyone else is interested.

And here are a few other threads where the issues surrounding exclusives have been discussed - including others' opinions and experiences with exclusives:

http://www.absolutewrite.com/forums/showthread.php?t=138780&highlight=exclusives

http://www.absolutewrite.com/forums/showthread.php?t=139298&highlight=exclusives

http://www.absolutewrite.com/forums/showthread.php?t=138336&highlight=exclusives

http://www.absolutewrite.com/forums/showthread.php?t=138320

They might offer some additional opinions, info and insights.

Also, people are really great about answering questions around here. But, I get anxious for immediate info, so I usually use the search function to see if any threads already answer my question. In case you haven't found that tool yet, here's how it works:

At the top of forum page, just under and to the left of where it shows you as signed in, is the word "search". click on it. It will open a box where you can enter what word or phrase you are looking for. And if you want to narrow your search, you can click on advanced search to bring up a screen to narrow it.

good luck.

~suki
 
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