How can I convince my agent to nudge editors?

brs18041

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Hello,

I have a fairly new agent. She's great in all things (communication, subbing me to great houses, her editorial feedback, her friendliness, etc.), *except* for the fact that she is unwilling to nudge editors more than every 6 months. This unwillingness to nudge is reflected in our response rates... after about 5 months on sub, we have only 3 passes, and are waiting to hear back from 17 editors (after two rounds of sub). It might be worth noting that she has sold other clients' books, but all very quickly (so people have either sold within a month or two, or not at all).

I've heard that editors actually *want* to be nudged more frequently (as in, every month or two). If the agent doesn't nudge that much, editors get the sense that the project isn't hot. And then the MS sinks in their inboxes.

A few sources:


Now that we're approaching the six month mark with the round 1 editors, I've tried asking about nudging, but she just gives me vague responses and changes the topic. I think she's worried that she'll annoy editors and ruin her reputation or something.

So how can I convince her that nudging editors every 4-8 weeks is something she should be doing? I really don't want to have to tell her how to do her job, yet I don't want to have to part ways with her because she's not aggressive enough. I feel like this could be a really fixable thing... I'm just not sure the most tactful way to go about this without making her upset. Any ideas?

Thank you!
 

Old Hack

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You can't convince her to do anything, and if you do convince her to do something she thinks is unwise, it might well have an adverse effect on your book's chances.

You can, however, talk to her about this. Tell her of your concerns. Tell her what you'd like her to do. Ask her why she won't nudge more than she does. Work with her to produce a plan you're both comfortable with.
 

Jennifer_Laughran

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well FOUR WEEKS certainly seems like too much. but at least every couple months seems totally normal.

Time for a frank conversation.
 

ctripp

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I agree that 4 wks may be too early but by 8 weeks I would think an Agent can safely email an Editor who has the submission to inquire "nudge".
Most self subbing Authors don't wait more then 3 months before a nudge, so an Agent waiting longer then an Author seems TOO cautious. She may well not want to appear to be a pain in the ... to Editors (being that she is new) but on the other hand, she should believe in what she has sent them is worth reading/publishing and if that means pushing then push away! Sounds like she is lacking some confidence and we know in this business you NEED that, or at least know how to fake it well!:)
 

Old Hack

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Or it might be that she knows the editors in question, and knows they're overloaded and can't get to any submissions for X amount of time, and, and... There are always reasons we don't know about.

However, I agree with Ms Laughran.