Lackadaisical, limited offer of representation - anyone else?

I just started querying agents last Friday. So far, most have yet to respond (which is to be expected), with a few quick not-for-me's (including one that said that my story was interesting but not marketable [why not ask about my analysis of the market and competing books first? but I digress]), and a couple requests for my book proposal. (This is a work of nonfiction.)

Now on the day that I sent the proposal to one agent, she writes back that she would be willing to sound out one particular small publisher with a cover letter, following up with my book proposal if appropriate. (Couldn't I just do this myself? The submissions guidelines link for this publisher isn't working, but it is a smallish publisher [Kaplan] so I doubt agented submissions are required.) Then she says: "If you don't get a more ambitious reception from another agent for your work, I'd be happy to talk."

Huh? She won't even read my book and will just send a query to one publisher, if I can't find someone else.

Is this some new trend of doing a minimal amount of work on a book and hoping for a payout, kind of like playing the lottery?

I'm glad I got another request for a book proposal today or I would be really depressed.

No, not always. I happened to write the book first, for reasons I need not go into here.

Agents ask to see a nonfiction proposal even if the book is written, because it is shorter and contains information about the anticipated markets for your book, analysis of competing titles, marketing ideas, a summary of your chapters, etc. Then from that they can decide if they want to read your entire book.

The proposal contains a sample chapter (or chapters, depending on the length of your chapters).

As recommended, I made it clear in both my query letter and my proposal that the book is completed.

Oh, I agree with you both. I just found it strange to find an agent offering such a lukewarm response and limited plan. I definitely want someone who believes in the book (even to the extent of reading it ).

At least she was upfront about it all. It would have been worse if she had requested the book, never read it, but feigned enthusiasm and offered representation, and only then sent it to this one publisher (that I could approach on my own). And even worse still if she tried to get me to pay a reading fee or for editing, etc.

I definitely intend to keep looking. I have three experts in the field who have read the book and written endorsements of it. When I get down I just read what they wrote. (Yes, I do mention the endorsements in my query and include them in the book proposal.) Most of those I've queried haven't yet responded -- and I can find others to query if none of those work out.

It helps to share, though, and I thank you for talking to me!

shaldna said:

because unless you are a leading literary agent, Executive Editor at Random House or the chief buyer at Boarders, then your analysis of the market means jack.

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Well, then, why bother requiring it in book proposals? And why would all the books on writing book proposals stress how important this section is? All that work that all agents themselves ask for is meaningless to them, contrary to what they say? They are, each and every last one of them, experts in all fields and knowledgeable about every book that has been published in all those fields. They all just decided to ask for market analyses from authors on a whim, gleefully throwing those sections in the trash, unread.

OK, I'm ranting a bit. But I can't quite see where you are coming from or why you assume that my analysis (which took weeks of research and reading of other books) is not worth jack. I hate to think it was a massive waste of time.

Actually, different agents have been saying different things (and no one "leading" has weighed in yet), so I don't know that we can assume that this one agent is right, even if some agents may be omniscient.

Of course, time will tell. If I don't find an agent, there are a number of small publishers that can be approached. I only started querying a week ago; I think it a little premature to abandon all hope.

I hope you aren't saying that, because I received one rejection saying that she feared it might be difficult to place my book with a publisher (said without knowledge of other books dealing with the same subject matter as far as I know), that I should simply give up.

As far as the previous post is concerned, I doubt that there is any book that is of potential interest to one, and only one, publisher. The competing books I mention were published by others, and I describe how my book is different and needed. To mention just this one publisher indicates that the agent didn't read my proposal at all, despite requesting it. (She wouldn't have had the time to read it before her response unless she dropped everything and immediately read it.) I would have been happier with a simple "not for me but keep querying others" or a "not for me -- you may need to query small publishers if you can't find an agent."

But I didn't start this thread to get into an argument about the merits of my book or whether it will ever get published, with or without an agent. I never expected every agent to fall in love with my book. That's why I queried a lot of them and will continue to query until I either find success or run out of folks to query. I just found this "I will spend a few minutes doing something you can do for yourself, and nothing more" response to be peculiar.

Kellion92, thank you.

If I get an offer on my own, I would obviously seek someone to look over the contract.

Like I said, time will tell. To know what might sell, an agent or publisher would have to know the size of potential markets, their needs, and how well existing books meet those needs. That is the reason for market analyses, or at least so I have read and it makes sense to me. While agents may have sufficient expertise in some areas, I doubt there is anyone who has this knowledge for every field.

I thank those of you who have made positive comments or suggestions.