agent wants phone call after partial

thelittleprince

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Has this happened to anyone before? An agent has requested that we have a phone call but she has only read the first 5000 words. What could it mean???

By the way, she is a legit agent, I checked thoroughly :)
 

mccardey

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Has this happened to anyone before? An agent has requested that we have a phone call but she has only read the first 5000 words. What could it mean???

By the way, she is a legit agent, I checked thoroughly :)

I'm not an agent, but I'm pretty sure this is good news. :) Now don't get nervous...
 

oceansoul

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Wow. Unless you blatantly plagarised one of her clients and she wants to call to yell at you, she's probably insanely excited about the work! Get excited! But prepare lots of questions.

Yay!
 

Aggy B.

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There are probably two major possibilities here.

1. She absolutely loves what she's read and wants to offer rep now.
2. She absolutely loves something about what she's read but has concerns about something else and wants to talk over possible revisions and see how open you are to "fixing" something she's concerned about before she commits to reading the rest.

Either way, it seems very likely that she's keen on your book and that's always a good thing.

There's a smaller possibility that she thinks the book is wonderful, but can't see how it would fit in her list and wants discuss changing it to a different genre/category, or she wants to encourage you to send it somewhere else where it would be a better fit.

As Oceansoul said, make sure you have your questions ready for her. I would split them into three groups - questions about her contract, previous sales, submission plan (for if she immediately offers rep); questions about her editorial/revision style, how much work she normally puts into a client's book before it goes on submission, if she asks for revisions what sort of time frame she expects from the author and what you might expect as far as her reading it a second time (for if she starts with wanting to know if you're willing to revise); questions about where she thinks the strengths of your book and writing are, what areas may need improvement, etc (for if she isn't offering rep or asking for revisions but is giving notes on what she read).

Naturally, if she is making an offer you want to talk about all three groups. If she's asking for revisions, you'll want to talk about the last two.

Congratulations and best of luck!
 

Barbara R.

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It's certainly unusual. Can't be bad news; no one calls to deliver that. But I can't believe a serious agent wouldn't want to read the whole book before offering representation.

My best guess: she feels you're a real talent, wants to read the rest, but also wants to position herself well in case you get multiple offers.

Good luck!
 

lizmonster

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It's certainly unusual. Can't be bad news; no one calls to deliver that. But I can't believe a serious agent wouldn't want to read the whole book before offering representation.

My first phone call with my (eventual) agent involved her telling me she couldn't rep what I had, but she had some R&R ideas and wanted to know how open I was to changes. She was very enthusiastic about my writing, but she also knew what she was in a position to sell.

For me it worked out well in the end, because her suggested changes moved things in a direction I'd been edging toward anyway. It was a useful conversation for both of us.

So based on my single personal data point, a requested phone call is a good thing. :) Good luck, thelittleprince!
 

Lonegungrrly

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I had a phone call mid read from an agent who just sort of said he loves it so far and ask me a few questions about myself and what else I'd written. He ended the convo excitedly with "do NOT sign with anyone else until I've finished and got back in touch!" ... Then a month later he phoned again for an R&R.

It was all very exciting! Didn't end up signing with that agent, that MS, or even that category! But it was a boost that kept me writing like mad until I did get an agent :)

So it will probably be great news but even so, it isn't guaranteed great news. But well done all the same!
 

Sage

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Cheering you all on!
I would be pretty wary, actually, if the agent did offer rep based on a 5K-word sample.

However, my guess would be that this is going to be an R&R or a get-to-know-you call.
 

Old Hack

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Sage is right. I'd be wary too.
 

ZachJPayne

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Definitely wary if they're offering rep after only seeing 5k words.

But, we can sit here and speculate all day; you won't know until you know. :) So a tentative congratulations.
 

popgun62

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A legit agent probably wouldn't make an offer before reading the entire manuscript. But as I said, they like to make sure they "click" with an author by talking on the phone. I'm thinking that's what it is. They'll probably ask for the rest of the manuscript if they feel a connection. Good luck!
 

mccardey

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ETA: Misread Sage. Yes, an offer is unlikely on a partial. On the other hand, in my experience the request for the full is by phone call - at least in Australia. So - good sign, but don't go overboard. ;)
 
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thelittleprince

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Thanks for the advice everyone! I'm new to querying, and this took me by surprise. I too would be wary of signing with anyone until they have read the full - I think I'd insist they read it before offering rep! - so I doubt that's what it is. But as you have all said, a phone call can't be a bad thing!

I guess we'll see :)
 

mccardey

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You know you have to come back and tell us what happens, right?
 

madjack

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I don't want to burst your bubble at all! But I have read in the bewares section, I think it was, about a well-known agent that offers rep without actually reading the full - can anyone else remember reading that? I'll have to go see if I can find it again. But, I hope it is good news and totally legit because that is super exciting! :)
 

Old Hack

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Some agents with good sales under their belt work by taking on a LOT of new clients and hoping to sell them; but they make little effort to do so, and drop them after only making a few submissions on their behalf. Then the book has been out on submission, so it's very hard for the writers concerned to find a new agent.

It's important to find an agent who has a record of good sales AND a relatively low new-client-count.