Fast Requests for Full Manuscripts?

Sapphire135 · Feb 18, 2014

I sent off queries on my novel and a few agents responded within a week asking for sample chapters. After that, one of the agents responded within two days and asked for the full manuscript. Another agent responded that same weekend - on a Sunday - and asked for the full manuscript.

Should I expect that they are reading the full manuscript quickly too? Or should I assume it will take the usual 3 months that they normally estimate?

I thought that since they requested the full so quickly that it might indicate a strong interest. Also, I thought that since one of them requested the full on a sunday that might mean something also. Is that just wishful thinking?

Torgo · Feb 18, 2014

I think an expression of interest this quickly has to be a good sign. Two days is an entirely plausible timescale for reading a few sample chapters, and I'd expect them to be correspondingly quick reading the full.

You do have to consider that sometimes things are too good to be true - check out the agents involved in Bewares and make sure they aren't, say, Strategic - but you do have reason to be hopeful, I think.

Mclesh · Feb 18, 2014

I think it just depends. I had a quick--next day--full request and sent the ms off. It's been almost a month now. She might have just added it to her stack. (I read elsewhere on AW that the same agent took five months to make an offer of rep.)

I hope you hear something soon, Sapphire, but don't be surprised if it takes a couple of months before you hear back.

Sapphire135 · Feb 18, 2014

Thanks to both of you! The agents are both very reputable. One of the agencies is my top choice. I am just so nervous waiting for a response - knowing that it could be any day now or it could be months and months.

Mclesh · Feb 18, 2014

Sapphire, I hear ya! The advice that is usually given is: write or work on something else in the meantime so you don't drive yourself crazy waiting.

Katrina S. Forest · Feb 18, 2014

Congrats on the interest! I only had one super-fast full request, and I believe the response (polite "no") came within a month.

I always assume all fulls will take at least three months. Even if I'm told it'll take a few weeks. I've driven myself nuts too many times to assume anything else. ^_^;;

Sapphire135 · Feb 18, 2014

Thanks guys! Each time I see an email in my inbox, my heart freezes. I always think it's a response! But then, when I go to me email, it's usually a notification for a sale at Bed Bath and Beyond

Giant Baby · Feb 18, 2014

Could go either way. For me, it was about a week and a half from query to partial request, and then 5-1/2 hours from partial to full. From full to offer of representation, just shy of three months.

It's good news that your partial seems to be holding their attention. Don't sweat it if the rest of the process isn't as speedy. Congrats on the requests!

Aggy B. · Feb 18, 2014

Quick response is always promising. My agent asked for the full MS four minutes after I queried. Then he called me a week and a half later to talk. Then some more emailing and a second phone call which resulted in an offer of rep (about a month after the initial query).

But I also had some initial quick requests (within a few days of the query) that took months for a form rejection to roll in. So, stay positive, but keep querying.

Siri Kirpal · Feb 18, 2014

Sat Nam! (literally "Truth Name"---a Sikh greeting)

Quick responses often result in quick responses...but not always. I had one that took five and a half months and ended with a polite rejection.

So, keep querying.

Blessings,

Siri Kirpal

Sapphire135 · Feb 18, 2014

Thanks all. I'm trying to focus on other things and I'm still going to send out a few more queries. Waiting is the worst!!

Jennifer_Laughran · Feb 18, 2014

I often reply and ask for a full quite quickly -- all it means is that I happen to be looking at the inbox at that moment.

However all fulls go in a queue and are read in the order received, unless there is some pressing reason to read faster (such as it has another offer on the table or something) -- but in that case it often turns into a no.

Sapphire135 · Feb 18, 2014

Jennifer_Laughran said:
I often reply and ask for a full quite quickly -- all it means is that I happen to be looking at the inbox at that moment.

However all fulls go in a queue and are read in the order received, unless there is some pressing reason to read faster (such as it has another offer on the table or something) -- but in that case it often turns into a no.

Good to know! Thanks for the answer.

Tromboli · Feb 18, 2014

Some agents read queries very quickly ( I know of two off the top of my head that nearly always respond within 2 days). That doesn't nessesarily mean strong interest. I have a friend who queried a quick agent, full request next day then waited 5 months for her to offer.

Quick requests are fantastic! Feel free to feel hopeful, but don't get your hopes up too much. Tuck in and expect a long wait. You'll simply be pleasantly surprised if you get a quick response (at least hopefully its a pleasant surprise). That's better than being so nervous that you break your email from refreshing too much or getting a stomach ulcer

JoyMC · Feb 18, 2014

I would assume nothing. (It's a safe policy throughout the publishing process.

)

My agent requested the full within a day or two of the query, but didn't offer until five months later.

Sapphire135 · Feb 18, 2014

Tromboli said:
Some agents read queries very quickly ( I know of two off the top of my head that nearly always respond within 2 days). That doesn't nessesarily mean strong interest. I have a friend who queried a quick agent, full request next day then waited 5 months for her to offer.

Quick requests are fantastic! Feel free to feel hopeful, but don't get your hopes up too much. Tuck in and expect a long wait. You'll simply be pleasantly surprised if you get a quick response (at least hopefully its a pleasant surprise). That's better than being so nervous that you break your email from refreshing too much or getting a stomach ulcer

Thanks for the advice! My requests for the full weren't off the query. All the agents had a partial and within a few days of getting the partial they asked for the full. I don't know if that makes a difference, but I'm trying to mentally prepare myself for a long wait

Sapphire135 · Feb 18, 2014

JoyMC said:
I would assume nothing. (It's a safe policy throughout the publishing process. )

My agent requested the full within a day or two of the query, but didn't offer until five months later.

The requests that I have received for the full manuscript were from agents that already had a partial. No one has requested a full off of just my query yet!

My general motto is to hope for the best, but expect the worst. Meanwhile, the anxiety of waiting is just awful.

lauralam · Feb 19, 2014

I got a request from my now-agent 5 minutes later and an offer the next day, but that was a huge exception to the usual way things go - my book was already going to acquisitions at a publisher in a few days.

During my querying I had quick requests and slow requests. There's no way to know, really!

KVL · Feb 19, 2014

Query tracker might be useful for looking at reported response times on partials, fulls and queries.

One of my full requests came less than 24 hours after I sent the query. In all honesty, I never thought of a quick full request possibly translating to a fast read of said full, mainly because I think certain agents try and clear out their queries on a certain day of the week. Likely, my query just caught their eye when they were going through their box.

Hope for the best/expect the worst is pretty much my motto, too, except with added chocolate. Good luck to you!

Putputt · Feb 19, 2014

Most of the requests I received came within two weeks of sending the query. The fastest turnaround time on a full was about a month. One agent had it for about two months before I got my first offer and had to nudge her.

So don't worry about the long wait time! Try to work on your next project and forget about this one. I know, it's next to impossible, but it gets even worse once you're on submissions.

stormie · Feb 19, 2014

As others have said, since they're reputable agents, it does sound very promising that you got such positive responses requesting fulls so quickly.

In the meantime, make sure you have questions written down that you want to ask the agents when (not "if"--note I'm positive here!) they call or email an offer of rep. There's a thread or two somewhere here on AW about that.

Sapphire135 · Feb 19, 2014

Thanks everyone! I'm new here and my initial post might not have been as clear as it could have been. No agents requested my full off of my query, so I don't think they were just clearing out their inbox. All the agents who requested my full did so after having requested a partial. Within about two days of sending the partial, they requested the full. That was what gave me reason to hope. I was repped before - in a different genre - so I'm not a complete newbie, but it has been a very long time since I sent out my work like this. Just nervous!

Jamesaritchie · Feb 19, 2014

Maybe, or maybe not. What difference does it make? You've written a query, and sample chapters, that made agents want to read the full. This, in and of itself, is a wonder to behold, so don't jinx yourself by worrying about speed.

Sit back, relax, get drunk, and start work on another novel. After you sober up, that is.

Sapphire135 · Feb 20, 2014

Jamesaritchie said:
Maybe, or maybe not. What difference does it make?

I suppose, in general, none of it makes any difference, but people still experience anxiety and still seek out others to share experiences with. Most of it is just reading tea leaves and has little bearing in reality, but it is still nice to hear if people had a similar experience and it turned out positively - or vice versa!

Phaeal · Feb 20, 2014

My quickest response was also my best: Agent requested a full but with exclusive, which I couldn't give, as the MS was out with others (some for more than six months.) Oh well.

Week later, agent wrote back saying send the full anyway, nonexclusive. He did, as promised, read it overnight and offered the next day, after we spoke on the phone.

So my impression is that quick movement through the entire process is a good sign, but slow movement isn't necessarily a bad omen. If that makes sense.

Anywho, write the next book so you'll have something to talk about during "the Call."

Fast Requests for Full Manuscripts?

Sapphire135

Torgo

Formerly Phantom of Krankor.

Mclesh

It's too hot

Sapphire135

Mclesh

It's too hot

Katrina S. Forest

Sapphire135

Giant Baby

Oh, the humanity.

Aggy B.

Not as sweet as you think

Siri Kirpal

Swan in Process

Sapphire135

Jennifer_Laughran

knows what she's looking for when she finds it!

Sapphire135

Tromboli

Hopelessly Hopeful

JoyMC

Sapphire135

Sapphire135

lauralam

Moonshade

KVL

Putputt

permanently suctioned to Buz's leg

stormie

storm central

Sapphire135

Jamesaritchie

Sapphire135

Phaeal

Whatever I did, I didn't do it.