Querying Multiple Projects

eventidepress

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So, say you've begun querying project one, and have had a few encouraging rejections asking you to resubmit if you have another project. Then you finish project two before you've heard back from all the agents about the first one... Should you start to query project two to those who rejected project one but asked to see more? Or wait until you hear back from all the agents regarding project one, before you start to query project two to anyone?
*indecisive*
 

Ineti

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Two different projects, right? Query both at the same time, but keep track of who you're sending which project to. You'll probably not want to query the same agents or editors at the same time with both projects.

And while you're querying both, work on the third project. :D
 

eventidepress

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You'll probably not want to query the same agents or editors at the same time with both projects.

Right, definitely not :p My main concern was, if an agent is interested in, say, Project Two, should I tell the different agents who are looking over Project One, or not worry about that possibility while still querying, or...?
 

Ineti

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Right, definitely not :p My main concern was, if an agent is interested in, say, Project Two, should I tell the different agents who are looking over Project One, or not worry about that possibility while still querying, or...?

Hmm. Are the two projects the same genre? Assuming they were on the bookshelves at the same time, would they be in direct competition with each other (e.g., two romances, two sci-fi novels, etc.). If so, open communication with all parties involved would likely be a good idea.

If not, I guess it depends. Not all agents handle all genres, so you might be able to query one genre project with one set of agents, and another genre project with another set of agents.
 

Ryan_Sullivan

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Right, definitely not :p My main concern was, if an agent is interested in, say, Project Two, should I tell the different agents who are looking over Project One, or not worry about that possibility while still querying, or...?

Shouldn't be a problem. Go ahead and send project 2 to the agent in question. If something comes up and you get multiple offers, you can decide at that point. Good luck!
 

eventidepress

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Hmm. Are the two projects the same genre? Assuming they were on the bookshelves at the same time, would they be in direct competition with each other (e.g., two romances, two sci-fi novels, etc.). If so, open communication with all parties involved would likely be a good idea.

Yeah, they're both the same genre, so most of the agents I'd want to submit both projects to are the same... Yay, confusingness :)
Thanks for the advice, it's helpful to get some other perspectives!
 
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Danthia

Query away. The goal is to find an agent and sell your work. Put your work out there when it's ready.

Space out the queries for the same agents though, because otherwise it can seem like you threw work together and are slapping it out there, and that can look bad. Leave at least three months between them, unless they asked to see the next project, then you can mention that. You don't want to send multiple projects at the same time to the same agent.

If you happen to get two offers for two different books, treat it just like you got two offers on the same book. Talk to all agents involved, decide who you like best and sign. Then you say "thanks so much but I went elsewhere," to the others and show your new agent the other manuscript. They'll likely be thrilled you have a second book ready to go. They'll probably be trying for a two-book deal minimum anyway. I believe that's pretty normal.

Just because you have two books ready to sell doesn't mean you'd release them both at the same time. They'd most likely space them out, or in rare cases, publishers have done a series a few months apart to build on momentum. Naomi Woulk's Dragon series did that.