Agent "announcement" question

geminirising

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When do you think it's OK to share news on social media that you've signed with an agent? Safe if you've mailed in your signed contract (and have your own copy with both signatures)? I overthink everything but don't want to jump the gun!
 

lizmonster

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Why not... ask the agent?

IIRC, I either did this, or was about to do it when she tweeted about it first.

You guys now have a business relationship. It's really OK to ask questions like this, even if you feel they're trivial. They're not. Everybody is new sometime, and your agent knows this better than anyone. And they're excited about signing you, too!
 

Earthling

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I did it as soon as I signed the contract. About a week later my agent Tweeted her own announcement.

It didn't even occur to me to ask--why would she want it to be a secret?
 

Putputt

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Ask your agent. "Can I Tweet our earth-shattering union because it is THE BEST THING EVER??" or something more professional. :)

I'm not sure why your agent might want to keep it a secret either, but it can't hurt to ask. Fwiw, with my previous agents, there was no announcement and they didn't even bother following me on Twitter, and they're very active on there. :-/ With my current one, he Tweeted it about 20 minutes after we talked on the phone, before I even signed the agreement. Well, he talked while I went, "HI YES I WANT TO WERK WITH YOU GOSH SO MUCH EXCITE." He was someone I'd worked with before though, so I knew what the agency agreement was like.
 

Jennifer_Laughran

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I did it as soon as I signed the contract. About a week later my agent Tweeted her own announcement.

It didn't even occur to me to ask--why would she want it to be a secret?

I don't think it's a matter of "wanting it to be a secret" -- but she might have some kind of STRATEGY in mind. For example, the agent might want to wait until the author is officially listed on their website so that they have something to link to. Or the agent might want to wait until after the long weekend (or whatever the case may be) so that they can be around to RT and link and etc.

I mean, whatever. As an agent I certainly wouldn't mind how or when a client "announced" -- but if there was any concern or confusion about it, asking seems like a super-straightforward way to clarify. I didn't mean asking for permission - more asking "IS IT OK TO BLAB NOW OR DO YOU WANT ME TO WAIT FOR ANYTHING?"