Response time for requested material.

Drachen Jager

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This may have been answered before but I can't find it.

Near the beginning of my query process (it's hard to believe it's been two and a half months!) I had two manuscript requests. Both have been in agent hands for over 10 weeks now, from one agency I got an immediate response to my submission saying that it was with the reader. Both were sent by e-mail so it's not like they could have slipped behind the filing cabinet.

So, a multi point question.

1) How long does it take? I checked on AgentQuery and I'm well beyond the average response time, in fact the longest response time posted for one company was only 40 days, I'm nearly double that now. Does anyone have any personal experience?

2) Again looking at the AQ stats the longer something is out the higher the statistical probability it will be picked up. Right?

3) I gather from reading elsewhere that when requested material has been out for over two months it's generally considered acceptable to send a polite, "how's it going?" e-mail to the agent. I sent one to each of the 70+ day agents on Thursday last week and there's no response... Both responded with their requests within two days of my initial query (one was only 10 hours)... Was it impolite of me to nudge them, or is there some conference going on that I don't know about keeping agents busy?

I'm just exhausted. I want the process to be over already.
 

Jamesaritchie

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The only real answer is that it takes as long as it takes. It's a good idea to send a polite inquiry after two months,and then, if you really like these agents, go back to waiting another two months.

But don't spend your time waiting, spend it writing your next novel.
 

cate townsend

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But don't spend your time waiting, spend it writing your next novel.

True. Best thing to do is submit and forget, concentrate on the next thing, or you'll drive yourself crazy with the waiting. As for response times, you may find an average out there for certain agents, but it can vary at certain times of the year or when the agent(s) is particularly busy.
 

shaldna

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It can take weeks or months. There's no way to tell. And average times are just that, average.

After 3 months I would send a polite follow up, but until then I wouldn't stress.
 

Danthia

1) How long does it take? I checked on AgentQuery and I'm well beyond the average response time, in fact the longest response time posted for one company was only 40 days, I'm nearly double that now. Does anyone have any personal experience?
It varies wildly. Three to six months is the average response rate on fulls, but all kinds of other factors apply. For example, if the agent had three clients hand her new books when yours lands on her desk, she'll take care of her clients first. And I've been reading a lot about how slammed agents are right now with the economy (people out of work who are using the time to write that book they always wanted to) so they're likely getting a lot more queries than normal. All that adds up.

2) Again looking at the AQ stats the longer something is out the higher the statistical probability it will be picked up. Right?
Not necessarily. (See question one) All it means is that they are taking longer. Some books take longer, others go fast. No way to tell. Much easier on the nerves to not try to read anything into how long.

3) I gather from reading elsewhere that when requested material has been out for over two months it's generally considered acceptable to send a polite, "how's it going?" e-mail to the agent. I sent one to each of the 70+ day agents on Thursday last week and there's no response... Both responded with their requests within two days of my initial query (one was only 10 hours)... Was it impolite of me to nudge them, or is there some conference going on that I don't know about keeping agents busy?
The London Book Fair was around that time I think, so it's possible they just have a lot of their desks at the moment. You could give them another week and re-nudge. But no more than that since you don't want to be a pest. If you've heard nothing for another 30 days, you could nudge again.
 

Julie Worth

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If you haven't received a response to a status query, that may be because the agent forwarded your email it to her reader, or because the agent never responds to a status query, or because she's already rejected your book and isn't going to tell you. That last thing happens too frequently, and it's terribly rude, but there's nothing you can do about it. Nothing except to keep sending out queries. Sure, it would be helpful to get a response, even if a rejection, that told you something you could use before sending out any more fulls, but that happens very rarely. It does happen, though. Once I got back a paper MS from an agent (whom I'd emailed) with every page marked up by an editor, along with a two page glowing assessment. Even so, the agent rejected it without comment. But didn't matter, that was like finding a brick of gold in the mail.
 
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Jamesaritchie

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Once I got back a paper MS from an agent (whom I'd emailed) with every page marked up by an editor, along with a two page glowing assessment. Even so, the agent rejected it without comment. But didn't matter, that was like finding a brick of gold in the mail.

An editor saw the book and liked it? How the heck did an editor even see it, if the agent wasn't representing it?
 

Julie Worth

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An editor saw the book and liked it? How the heck did an editor even see it, if the agent wasn't representing it?

This wasn't the editor for a publisher, this was her editor--that's what she said in an email, anyway. I was shocked by how much work he put into it, even fact checking the most arcane details. Maybe she was trying him out, I don't know, but most unusual.