From agent acceptance to sending out

blackbird

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Generally speaking, once an agent has agreed to represent your work, how long can you reasonably expect to wait until they actually begin the process of sending it to publishers? Is there an undertood time frame that varies little from agency to agency, or does this really just depend on the individual agent and the number of projects they have going on? How long is a reasonable time to wait before making a few gentle nudges or suggestive hints?
 

triceretops

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Blackbird, I'm at that process that you speak of. It is my understanding that shortly after the contract is signed, the agent pretty much gets right on it and has it out withing 4-7 days, because it has to be copied, packaged, and mailed. However, some agents only send out queries and full synops before they get a request for fulls, so it varies. Also their workload has a lot to do with it. But just speaking for me, it's fairly swift.

Just don't count the days--get right on another project pronto.

Tri
 

Cathy C

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A lot depends on the agent, of course. We were fortunate that our agent had just recently met with an editor starting a new line, so she could just make a call and tell her to hold a slot open until she could read our book. That sped up the process a lot. But with another book (same agent), she sat on the book for quite a while (several months) without sending it out once, because she was waiting for just the right line to be announced that would buy it. Sometimes, it's DETRIMENTAL to just send it out willy-nilly, if the agent is pretty sure that it's unique enough to need just the right home.

Hang tight, but stay in contact.
 

SRHowen

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It also might depend on if your agent wants you to make any changes before you send it out.

Shawn

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