Exclusives

Reply to the agent telling her you have no problem with granting an exclusive, (if you don’t) but that the ms is currently out on submission with other agents, and what would she like you to do?

Almost always, the agent will ask you to wait and send it when she can have it as an exclusive. Occasionally, an agent might say send it anyway. She could possibly say “just forget it, then” but that would be unusual. In any case, don’t fudge; always provide a truthful scenario.

rugcat said:

Reply to the agent telling her you have no problem with granting an exclusive, (if you don’t) but that the ms is currently out on submission with other agents, and what would she like you to do?

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This is what I did, and she decided to forgo exclusivity.

I'm coming in late here, but that sounds like great advice and a great resolution to the problem! Thanks for sharing, all.

Kristen

I just had a response to my query from a heavyweight agent and they want to see the first 50 pages on an exclusive basis. Never heard of this before: exclusives on the full manuscript yes, but on a sample?

waylander said:

I just had a response to my query from a heavyweight agent and they want to see the first 50 pages on an exclusive basis. Never heard of this before: exclusives on the full manuscript yes, but on a sample?

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I had Ginger Clark ask for just that when she was at Writer's House. When I told her I had other partials out, she said to send it anyway.

I believe Linda Konner mentioned at a conference I attended in June that she sometimes does that, but generally with a specific time limit, like a two-week exclusive.

Kristen

rugcat said:

I had Ginger Clark ask for just that when she was at Writer's House. When I told her I had other partials out, she said to send it anyway.

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This is another Writer's House agent so maybe it is house policy.