Partial vs. Full

popmuze said:

In general, would anyone know what would cause an agent to request a full manuscript rather than a partial?

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I'm an unpubbed novelist (I'm not even at the querying stage as yet), but my take on it is that something in your query letter must've made the agent sit up and take notice - after looking at a lot of the query letters during Miss Snark's recent Crapometer, I can see why most of the queries that come get form rejections.

Not that I think writing queries is easy!

Anyway...did you also send along a few pages with your query? From what I've read, it seems most agents are willing to look at the first few pages of your novel that's been attached to your query.

I can certainly understand being cautious (sounds to me like you've been burned before), but I personally take it as a good sign. And, from what I've read, agents do request fulls right away - if the query/first 5 pages excite them, if an editor is looking for exactly what you've got, etc.

Be happy!

And good luck!

~Nancy

On the current manuscript I'm shopping around, the agent's assistant said the *query* sounded "exciting" and promptly requested the full. I think it's more a case of lucking out in finding a good match, i.e., someone who was already predisposed to enjoy the type of story pitched.

My guess is that partials are requested when an agent likes the idea but initially is more interested in seeing if the writer can string together coherent sentences. If a full is requested, then the person *really* must be excited.

I learned from Rachel Vincent's site that her agent requested the full, read it in like six hours and then called to offer representation. From what is posted on the site it seems as though Miriam Kriss was all hot for it. So make of that what you will.

full

Many agents prefer a full over a partial for a very simple reason. It saves a step. If an agent requests a partial, and likes it, she's still going to have to request the full before making a decision. So why not just request the full in the beginning?

Quite a few agents who look at partials do so instead of asking for a simple query letter.

Two steps are almost always better than three.

I know of one agent I queried who asked for my full. Her policy was only to ask for fulls. It saved me a lot of time on my way to rejection.

I went from query to full to representation in less than six days. I was quite shocked and asked my agent why I skipped the partial stage. He told me that I had numerous credits in the SF field that were verifiable, and that he was looking for a good SF writer, since he had none in a stable of 29 fiction writers.

I daresay that wouldn't happen to me again in a million years. LOL.

Popmuse, you're getting a fabulous response for your query. Just out of curiosity, could I ask you what genre, and what your premise or pitch line was about? It really sounds like you have something intriguing there. It might help others here to know what that is.

Congrats on such a good record thus far!

Tri

I didn't understand about the non-responders either. There were quite a few of them, somewhere around 35% of all my email queries never came back with a yea or nay. I think they're the "don't call us, we'll call you" crowd, and don't answer at all unless they're interested. Very sad, because I don't know if my query even got through or was caught in a spam trap. I also like to keep active records of who I sent to and who has gotten back with a "NO." Just for my records.

Tri

I'm not sure why I've been blessed, but I have less than a ten percent no response on agent queries. I've even exchanged multiple e-mails with agents who have rejected me. I didn't complain to them, I thanked them for their time and consideration and gotten three or four thank you's back. I guess they don't get appreciated enough.

When partials and fulls went out I usually got something I could use to improve the manuscript, and I let some of them know that I appreciated the input and had used it to sell the project. Everyone of them wrote back a note of congratulations. No lengthy epistles, but it was hardly a form response, I'm not sure they have such form responses.

Now publishers are a different story; though when I wrote to withdraw the submission that had been with them for months I did get a few responses.

One E publisher had sent back several critical comments on the ms and then gone quiet after promising to get back to me shortly (a couple weeks). When they did not respond further after a nudge at +2 weeks, +4 weeks and + 6 weeks, I wrote off their no reply as no interest.

When I informed them I had withdrawn the submission, I got a response within the hour asking me what kind of deal I'd gotten and then informed they would have beaten the royalty rate if I'd gone with them. Well, if they'd gotten back to me at all, I'd have known that they still had an interest. And no, they said they did not mind simultaneous submission.

It's a funny game. Agents seem to be more relaxed generally speaking than are the publishers and respond very well to courteous behavior.

Regards,
Scott