Exclusive etiquette

Wow, both agents sound pretty eager. Congrats on that to Anonymous Pal!

As far as I know (and I'm no expert), exclusivity on reading the manuscript is NOT exclusivity on rep. Like, someone else can offer rep even if another agent has an exclusive on reading the full.

I would say something along the lines of:

Yes, Agent B was made aware of your partial prior to receipt of the 3 week full. However, no exclusivity on representation has been agreed upon at this time.

In speaking with agents at writers conferences, they make it clear that if they ask for an exclusive read and you say yes, they will be ticked to find out that another agent has requested representation and then they've wasted their time in reading your work. The world of publishing is small and you don't want to ruin your future efforts at other books by ticking off even one agent.
Thanks,
Robin

cscarlet said:

I would say something along the lines of:

Yes, Agent B was made aware of your partial prior to receipt of the 3 week full. However, no exclusivity on representation has been agreed upon at this time.

Click to expand...

<---- This

Exclusivity would give the right to read and potentially make an offer or rep. It doesn't mean that your friend MUST go with that offer of rep, and certainly other agents are free to make offers as well.

Disclaimer: I have no idea what I'm talking about.

Logically, it seems to me that implied within the granting of exclusivity is the promise that if an offer is extended, it would be accepted. Otherwise, what is the point of the exclusivity?

I'd tell Agent B that as soon as the exclusive is up the ms will be going to another agent who is very keen to read it.

The minute the exclusive expires, email the ms to Agent A and let Agent B know what you've done.

If Agent B makes an offer in the meantime, ask for time to consider it (a week or two is reasonable).

I had a full and a few partials out when agent X requested exclusivity. I told agent X about what I had out and offered not to send anything else out and agent X waived exclusivity.
Had agent Y (who already had my stuff) requested representation or a full, I would have told agent Y about the exclusivity that took place after she requested my stuff. I would wait the three weeks and send out the full to Y or if X made me an offer, I would ask for a week to consider that and another offer I received while X was reading. Then I would send my full to Y and say that I have an offer from another agent and need to tell that agent in seven days and let Y decide if she wants to consider. I believe this is kosher, since Y had the partial before X asked for the exclusive. I don't think she needs to tell X that she wants to send her full to Y, since X knows she has a full and partials already out.
Congrats to your friend.

Pinkamy, I'm so confused.

Exclusivity is such a trap for the writer -- once agent X waived exclusivity, it's waived. Better for the writer that agents compete. What if an exclusive agent offers, you talk, and you're not quite sure they're right for you? It's risky to say no without any other offers other than someone interested in a query or partial. What if an exclusive agent passes, and the other agents decide the bloom is off the rose? Ships do sail, and who wants to go back to other agents, hat in hands?

The point of exclusivity is that basically the agent gets first pick. Since they are the only one with the full they have the first chance at an offer. It puts you in an awkward situation if agent B were to offer representation then you send the full to the other agent. It sort of defeats the purpose of the exclusive.
Obviously it is still an option since there is no rule that says you have to choose agent B. But if you would rather have agent A you probably shouldn't have granted the exclusive until you heard from agent A about the partial.


Basically-- if agent B offers representation of your full what would you do? Still send out the full to agent A? Seems silly to me. If you like agent B then keep in their good graces and be happy about the offer. If agent A declines, OR if they offer and you decline the whole thing was a waste of time and will probably add some strain to your relationship with agent B.

I am sure that Agent B understands the possibility that you will not accept the offer however, going with your analogy of a relationship-- If you are in a committed, long term relationship with a guy and he purposes.. sure you can say no but if you say, "Well I don't know. I think I want to give this other guy a chance to ask me before I say yes".. well that might not feel very good.

So, I'd tell Agent A exactly what was said above. There was no promise of first pick of representation and he knows about the partial being out. That way if Agent B declines you can still send to Agent A, they will be excited to get it BUT if Agent B comes back and offers you representation (assuming that this is a very good choice in agent etc.) then I suggest you accept it and then simply apologize to agent A.


Mind you, I am no expert but I can not imagine that an agent who asks for an exclusive will ever feel good about a writer who grants said exclusive but in the end gives another agent the chance to rep it. I can't imagine that is good etiquette.

Taking guesses over which agent is going to offer representation first is jumping a little ahead of oneself. Regardless, an author has every right to evaluate his/her options and not jump necessarily on the "first come first serve" wagon. They have to believe they are a good fit with that agent. This is why we do research before submissions.

Of course, don't drag it out for forever. That's not fair. As previously stated, 1-2 weeks sounds about right to consider an offer. And CERTAINLY don't send a new query out to someone after an offer has been submitted (that's not fair at all). But if one agent has a full, and one agent has a partial but wanted the full because they liked the partial, I don't see a problem with that.

(*Meanwhile ending this post with a caveat that I may not know what I'm talking about*).

Amyashely-- I see your point and agree with you.

I think the key to this situation working the best it can is to not let either agent know that you would choose the other over them. Even if you would choose agent B if given an offer don't tell agent A that. Or if you would rather have agent A, don't tell agent B that... Ya, know until the time comes that you need to make a real decision. Then you should tell them!
Just be sympathetic to both agents and try to look at things from their perspective. Sometimes that is the best you can do.

kellion92 said:

Pinkamy, I'm so confused.

Exclusivity is such a trap for the writer -- once agent X waived exclusivity, it's waived.

Click to expand...

No, in the letter it was clear that exclusivity was waived for the submissions that were already out, not for subsequent queries.
I believe that integrity serves a writer better than parsing technicalities. Waiting a week or two until the exclusivity has lapsed is good form.