"Additional reads?"

I think that's exactly it. He probably read it and wanted to garner opinions from others before making a decision. Yay for you!!

It may be standard practice for some agencies...?

Agents often get second (or first) opinions from their assistants. Consider it a very good sign. If she does pass (crosses fingers that doesn't happen) I say you can officially call that a close call.

Maprilynne

If he had read it and found it not entirely terrible, that would be it, pass. But he probably hasn't read it yet. Most probably he has an intern or two that read stuff coming in. Or maybe a junior agent. Or maybe his girlfriend. Only when someone says it's great does he read it. Or maybe two people have to say it's great. It's a gauntlet, you see.

And the normal response time cannot expire. It's just an estimate, and usually a quite optimistic one.

I forgot to mention, two assistants read my MS before it ever got to my agent's desk. That could definitely be the case here. My friend shares my agent said the assistant also read her book first.

Maprilynne

Yay for you. That's a great sign.

Reads

At the agencies I've dealt with, additional reads always came before the main agent read something. Some agencies have assistants, and while some don't talk about it, many agents/agencies actually hire outside readers to weed through the partials and fulls, and this can take some time, especially if all the outside readers can't read full time.

It's the same way it works with editors. You want other opinions before you read it so you'll know whether it's worth your time to read it in the first place.

If you're a good agent or a good editor, you usually don't need anyone to read it after you do.

Hi I submitted a simple query letter through e-mail because thats the way the agency wanted it, That was on Dec, 1 2006, I know your thinking if they liked what they read they would have contacted me. So now should I try to re-submit, or ask if they recieved the query, ( though I've been told you cant on e-mails ) or should I try another agent ? I have been reading that you should wait six weeks before you submit to another agent. Anyways some advice and thanks before hand.

Don't wait, mom, and don't resubmit. Send ten or twenty out at a time. Make sure your query is a good one though. You can post it in the query forum of "share your work," and get feedback.

Thanks Julie, your right, I guess i have been losing the feelings I had, but now I should try again and thank you again

writingmom said:

Hi I submitted a simple query letter through e-mail because thats the way the agency wanted it, That was on Dec, 1 2006, I know your thinking if they liked what they read they would have contacted me. So now should I try to re-submit, or ask if they recieved the query, ( though I've been told you cant on e-mails ) or should I try another agent ? I have been reading that you should wait six weeks before you submit to another agent. Anyways some advice and thanks before hand.

Click to expand...

Five weeks isn't even a blip on the publishing radar. I've gotten email rejections ranging from a few minutes to three months (and of course, quite a few ignored responses, too.) About 50% of your email queries will be ignored; about 50% will get responses. (Look, ma! I done math good!)

But like Julie said, submit a handful of queries at a time; don't wait and send one at a time or you'll die of old age before you get one book published. If you're getting nothing but form rejections, revise your query before sending it back out.

I can't recommend the Share Your Work forum enough. I can truly say it was the advice I got there on my query that led to partial and full requests.