Etiquette for following up on a full request

Hayley E. Lavik

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I have my full manuscript out with an agent right now. Her response time says 6-8 weeks, and I've gone just past that long now without hearing from her.

When I sent her the manuscript, she did confirm that she received it, so I know it hasn't gotten lost in the ether.

What is the etiquette on following up at this point? Should I give her a gentle nudge just to check in, or should I just leave her the hell alone and wait until she gets back to me?
 

Karen Junker

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I'm not an agent, but I'd imagine the holidays may have affected response times. Short of stalking her on social media to see if she's announced any delay in response time, if it were me, I'd wait a few more weeks. Best of luck!
 

mayqueen

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I would recommend waiting 3-6 months and then send a polite email checking in.
 

Treehouseman

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Yes, in the same boat as you with a couple of them!

One agent reps a couple of friends of mine, and when I queried at 6 mo to find it had not been read yet I was bummed, however my friend told me that this particular agent takes upwards of a year to read fulls.

I found query tracker to be good for monitoring reply times and a barometer as to whether an agent is super-busy or not. It's a bit pay-it-forward though, not everyone takes the time to say they have been rejected or have interacted with someone.
 

Aggy B.

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If she gave you a specific response time (6-8 weeks) I would wait for double that amount, then send a polite note somewhere along the lines of "Dear Agent, Just a quick note to check in and see if "Insert Your Novel Title Here" is still under consideration. Thank you for your time. Sincerely, X Writer"

Although it may seem unnecessary to check in on something you know she got, it's important to remember that sometimes responses get lost too. (Unlikely, but possible.) It never hurts to follow-up politely if enough time has passed.

Personally, if I don't get a response within a month of my nudge/follow-up, I send another one every month to 6 weeks until I do get a response.

Aggy, done this several times herself
 

Debbie V

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I also double the given response time before nudging. I often resend the material with the nudge for the agent's convenience. Include the date you sent it and the date you received the auto reply in case they have everything stored in date order.

Good luck.