Exclusive... but for how long?

Patience, grasshopper.


For a full ms., three months is the bare minimum. However, if you want to hedge your bets, you could send a follow up email to the first agent, asking if they've received it (unless you already know for certain.) Then, when the agent responds, you've got a captive audience -- but don't abuse it. You can say that you've received additional queries and would like to know what the expected turn around time might be, so you can show professional courtesy by notifying the other agents.

The agent shouldn't be offended since it's already been three months.

Good luck!

Wow

I'm no pro, but ten months seems excessive to me. I know they are busy, but it shows very little consideration for you and seems to be taking advantage of the clear power differential between agent and wanna-be author. It's a tough position for you, I agree, and the waiting would be doing me in also! I hope others with more experience chime in because this could happen to any of us. Good luck!

Well, most agents have a website and e-mail capability (worry if they *don't*!) If you don't have it, spend a buck and call the agency to GET the main website or e-mail address. Or, PM me the name and I'll find it for you.

Rest assured that the agents do have email addresses...maybe you should email Cathy. We have ways of making the Internet talk. Mediabistro, for instance, has supplied me with the secret knowledge of the Dark Side. And by that I mean agents who don't list their emails on their websites and such, as well as some other nifty information.

SnowOwl said:

Rest assured that the agents do have email addresses...maybe you should email Cathy. We have ways of making the Internet talk. Mediabistro, for instance, has supplied me with the secret knowledge of the Dark Side. And by that I mean agents who don't list their emails on their websites and such, as well as some other nifty information.

Click to expand...

The website www.everyonewhosanyone.com also lists agent and editor addresses - even agaist the will of the parties concerned.

Folks, if an agent isn't posting their email address, there's a reason: THEY DON'T WANT EMAIL FROM YOU! Digging up his or her email address is an invasion of his or privacy. Authors whom I did not email first who send me email get deleted pretty much unread. My submission guidelines are CRYSTAL clear on this. Authors who choose to ignore those guidelines are sending me a message: "I don't like to do business the way you do. I will be difficult to work with."

That said, I think it's fine to state what the period of exclusivity will be when you send an agent something exclusively. Frankly, I never ask for exclusivity. In my experience, only one in several dozen authors has found an agent by the time I get to read something. Odds are the project will still be free. In all my years as an agent, that's only led to regret once, but every agent has at LEAST one story like that.

Follow the submission guidelines. Don't stalk agents and email them when they try to keep their email private (if they INVITE email contact, that's another story, obviously). And please don't reward the creator of that website you mention by publicizing it. He's a jerk for doing what he does and for not honoring removal requests. If I started a website that posted the names and contact info for authors who sent me queries, along with their letters to me and my responses, I'd be tarred and feathered by a mob from SFWA, MWA, HWA and RWA. That website creator was banned from this site because of his rude posts. Please, just ignore the site and hopefully it will die off.

Thanks.

Best,
Andy

Andrew Zack said:

And please don't reward the creator of that website you mention by publicizing it. He's a jerk for doing what he does and for not honoring removal requests.

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Not to mention, his information isn't always accurate, and he lists a fair number of questionable-to-marginal agents and publishers.

- Victoria

victoriastrauss said:

Not to mention, his information isn't always accurate, and he lists a fair number of questionable-to-marginal agents and publishers.

- Victoria

Click to expand...

Ooops! Seems I'm stepped over the line! Sorry!
I do find him very objectionable - but I was really happy when, searching his website, I found the email address of an editor i had once met and spoken to at Harpercollins, and who had moved to another publisher, which I hadn't known. I didn't hesitate to write him, as he knew me; I told him I wanted to move, and he asked for the full manuscript. Finally he turned it down as it was not at all the kind of book he handles, but it was a pleasant exchange.

Andrew,
This isn't an exclusive situation, but along the same line being discussed here. I sent a partial per an agent's request, and in the 'form' request letter the agent stated that if I haven't heard from her in a month, I was invited to call to check up on my work. Now, here's where the story twists. She sent back my material with a handwritten letter saying it was great, but could I please submit a shorter (~100,000wds) ms, because my first one topped 180. Sure, why not? So I did, and I queried again (I didn't think it'd be nice to send the entire ms and mark it as requested because the two novels are completely different, same genre, way different stories). She answered my equery and said, "Send me a partial...I'm intrigued." But this time, it wasn't a form letter and so there was no invatation to call. I'm wondering if I should follow the guideline of the first form letter and wait a month to inquire with a short email (which she provided me in her response email, different from the submission address) or if I should ignore the first form letter and not check in at all.
We writers are tortured with the waiting. Is it ok to ask for a nible of information in this case (after the appropriate amount of time, of course)?

flotsamarama said:

That's the background. My question is this: What is a reasonable time for exclusive consideration? Should I write a follow-up letter to establish an end-date to the exclusivity? It has been three months -- not a long time in this business, I acknowledge, but long enough to make me crazy because other agents have expressed an interest in my book but I can't do anything about it.

Click to expand...

All this stepping around and worrying is amazing to me. An agent/writer relationship is a two-way street, or it should be. If the agent wants things just so and that doesn't suit you, shop for another agent. If the agent has your ms. for three months and hasn’t responded, I’d take that as a pass and send out more material.

Julie:

There are FAR more writers than there are agents. Hence, it's something of a "buyer's" market. So unless you're a proven writer with a successful track record, the keys are patience and professionalism (and by that, I mean following submission guidelines) when seeking an agent.

Best,
Andy

Andrew Zack said:

Julie:

There are FAR more writers than there are agents. Hence, it's something of a "buyer's" market. So unless you're a proven writer with a successful track record, the keys are patience and professionalism (and by that, I mean following submission guidelines) when seeking an agent.

Best,
Andy

Click to expand...

Good point, and this came up on another thread, where an author of several published books was not happy with her agent, and so was out querying, following the guidelines, sending just one or two pages. It seemed to me that most agents would not expect that, that they would be happy to receive the full ms. (or at least a partial) from a person with several books out by a big publisher. Example from a well known agency:

Published Fiction Authors
If you are a published author and have sold more than 5,000 copies, send:
1. The first three chapters, or
2. Your complete manuscript,
3. A 5-10-page synopsis, and
4. A self-addressed, stamped envelope.

Unpublished Fiction Authors
If you have already completed your manuscript, please send:
1. A cover letter,
2. A 5-10-page synopsis,
3. The first three chapters, and
4. A self-addressed, stamped envelope