R&R Followup-- Advice Appreciated

SheWritesIt · Mar 12, 2018

Hi! I begin querying my non-fiction project a couple of months ago. I queried one agent I'd *love* to work with. She quickly got back with me and asked for the proposal. I sent that. Then she let me know that she forwarded it to her colleague who represented a similar author I mentioned in my query letter and that her colleague was "intrigued". Later in the week, the colleague emailed me and let me know that she was intrigued, but the proposal was really not ready to send to editors. She made some clear suggestions for what needed to be fixed and invited me to resend if I revised it. I'm a total novice and it truly was not ready. So I emailed her back, thanked her and said I would be happy to revise. I took a month and rewrote the proposal, including the sample chapter taking special consideration to her comments. So, after one month of revising, I sent the revised version back to her. Since then I haven't heard anything at all.

Mid week will mark one month since I sent the revised proposal. The agency's submission guidelines state one month is fine to nudge. So I was thinking of sending her another email later this week and just following up with her. Any thoughts or advice on that? I desperately want to work with this agency and I think they'd be perfect. The wait has been driving me thoroughly insane. I want it SO BAD.

Anyway, I'm sure you all can relate and I would love to hear similar experiences and any advice for followup you have to offer. Thanks!

Aggy B. · Mar 12, 2018

If the agency works collectively (which is seems like they might) they may all discuss potential clients which can sometimes take time. Also, there's a balance with positive reactions, that sometimes they take longer than a knee-jerk "No thanks."

When I was querying I usually waited the suggested time period plus about 25-50%. (So for things that said "We'll get back to you in a month" I nudged after six weeks. And for things that were "We'll get back to you in three months" I nudged after 15 weeks.) I know that waiting is hard, but you have to balance between being on top of things and not being impatient.

Best of luck.

rusoluchka · Mar 12, 2018

In the meantime, don't put all your hopes on this agency. Query widely. It will help with the waiting.

SheWritesIt · Mar 13, 2018

Thanks a lot! I'll try to be more patient and will hold off on nudging.

SheWritesIt · May 16, 2018

So, still waiting.

I did nudge after one month. I submitted the revision in mid Feb., nudged after six weeks or so and still haven't heard anything. Have I been ghosted?

s_nov · May 16, 2018

It's possible, but the agent might also be swamped. Have you looked at QueryTracker? Some agents have a program that sorts inboxes, so nudging would send the query right back to the bottom. I'd say check QT. If the agent has a lot of CNR's or has responded to a few queries after yours, it might be a no. Or she's thinking it over.

The best thing to do would be to shove that in the back of your mind and keep querying other agents. You might find somebody who is super passionate about the project and a better fit for it than this agent!

lis_kb · May 17, 2018

Feeling like you're ghosted is the worst. I commiserate. But I do agree that the best balm for that is to keep querying!

SheWritesIt · May 21, 2018

Thanks! I'll keep querying.

QT doesn't have many comments for the agent I did the R&R for, so it's been kind of a guessing game.

R&R Followup-- Advice Appreciated

Not as sweet as you think