concerned about agent being incommunicado

Sorry, can't help... just wanted to say to the Cooler! Someone useful will be along shortly

Mcgee, first, welcome. Lots of good info on AW run by smart, selfless, good people.

Next, it sounds like you might need to write a letter with questions and send it certified. Be sure you outline that you've tried to call and email previously, but he's taken that about as seriously as Oprah does diets. The sending certified is also an attention getter. It means "take notice: I'm thinking about moving this money stream from you to someone else."

I'd think once he's read the certified letter, communication will widen and excuses will narrow. However, if the letter has no effect, time to go shopping for another agent.

The issue here is communication and how to open the channels. So, do everything on your end to open them. And if he fails to reciprocate, bounce him.

Although I completely agree with the intentions of jst5150's post, the one thing I'm hesitant about is a certified letter. Maybe that's a bit too much.

Why not send him an email AND a first class letter (saying in each that you've done both) stating exactly what's on your mind. While being as polite as possible, don't pull any punches. In fact, I think you should give him a deadline two weeks out and tell him that if he doesn't contact you by such time and let you know exactly where your work stands - and what he's done with it since he's had it - that you intend to sever ties with him and the agency. It sounds like you have nothing to lose, and just maybe you'll wake him up.

you know--just because you signed with an agent in fall, doesn't mean you will immediately sell a few months down the road. It could be that he's working, but not getting responses, in which case--do you really want him to tell you he's got like twenty rejections for you? Are you ready for something like that?

Maybe he tried a few times, and get slammed.

Maybe he's new and can't sell anything.

jodi henley said:

you know--just because you signed with an agent in fall, doesn't mean you will immediately sell a few months down the road. It could be that he's working, but not getting responses, in which case--do you really want him to tell you he's got like twenty rejections for you? Are you ready for something like that?

Maybe he tried a few times, and get slammed.

Maybe he's new and can't sell anything.

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A writer should at least be aware their work is out on submission, and it sounds like the OP's agent hasn't even started subbing yet--four-six months (which is what I'm guessing from "fall 07") is AFAIK an abnormally long time to wait for the submission to go out if there aren't major editorial changes being made. (And yes, an agent should be passing rejections on unless specifically asked not to. That's part of their job.)

If the agent isn't getting any responses, or tried and got "slammed" and didn't tell the OP, or is new and can't sell anything, the OP is far better off without him.

I agree with DecemberQuinn. Long delays, nonresponse, repeated excuses--none of this is a good sign.

You may be better off without this agent. But before you make this decision, you need to have a frank talk with him. Persist until you get hold of him. Let him know how you feel. Share your frustration. Maybe he'll shape up, in which case you can see what happens. Maybe he'll make promises but things will keep on going the way they've been going, in which case you may want to seriously consider invoking the termination clause in your contract. Maybe you'll mutually decide to part ways. Whatever the outcome, you'll have done your best to resolve the situation, and if you exit, you won't be left with a lot of "what-ifs."

The one thing I would NOT do is to send a certified letter. That's likely to be perceived as a hostile act. It may be that you won't be able to work things out with this agent, but alienating him before even trying to resolve your issues is not a good plan.

- Victoria

Sounds like it might be impossible to get the agent to respond though, Victoria. If McGee has genuinely left 'repeated voicemails and e-mails' since January this year, and not heard back once, then it sounds like getting this agent to have a frank talk is going to be very difficult. Does he/she really want to spend another three months just trying to get thier agent to respond to a simple e-mail?

However, if McGee's agent has told him/her 'Look, I've no bites yet, it's a slow business. Settle back, write your next novel, leave me to it.' and McGee had continued writing and calling on a daily basis for news, then that's another matter. No agent wants to deal with that. ( I would have thought that the agent should have made that very clear to thier client, though, rather then leave them hanging in a void.)

Good points, Gary, especially your second paragraph. One reason it's hard to give advice in forums like this is that one often doesn't know all the details.

Assuming that the problem really is agent nonresponsiveness, rather than a nervous writer wanting too much contact, my concern is that Mcgee not exit the situation before making a last good-faith effort to resolve it--partly so s/he can feel reasonably sure that s/he hasn't misread the agent's signals, partly to eliminate any second-guessing later on. If you're going to jettison a relationship with an established agent (and I'm not saying you shouldn't--marking time in a bad agent relationship can be worse than not being agented at all), I think you want to be really sure the relationship is unsalvageable before you push the termination button.

If Mcgee makes one last major try for contact and still can't get a response, that will tell its own story, IMO.

- Victoria

Dear Worried,
One thing it would be good for us to know is what happened when you signed with this agent in the first place. Since it's a NF book, I assume you had a proposal that piqued his interest. Did he say it was immediately ready to send out? That he had editors in mind? Or that he'd get back to you with specific ways to beef up the proposal after you signed.
In my own experience, I went through a couple of months with my latest agent honing my proposal before it was sent out. It's been to a few places, but has been languishing at least two houses for at least six months with no answer. This may not be typical, or encouraging--for you or for me--but it shows how slow things can move in the publishing industry.
This same agent took more than six months to finally give me input on a second project.
It's easy for people to say a bad agent is worse than no agent, but sometimes there's a fine line between a bad agent and a mediocre agent, a mediocre agent and a lazy agent, a lazy agent and a lax editor. Certainly having to start all over again at square one is no picnic.
But it would be good to ask yourself just what the agent promised in the beginning and then continue phoning and emailing until you get a response.

jodi henley said:

It could be that he's working, but not getting responses, in which case--do you really want him to tell you he's got like twenty rejections for you? Are you ready for something like that?

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Yes, you DO want your agent to tell you where your book is. I think this is extremely, extremely important.

What are you going to do if you talk to the agent after a 'year' of subbing and find that he's only sent it to 2 places? Are you going to be happy with that, or are you going to be frustrated?

Knowing where your book is being sent is crucial. You are paying them to do a job. I don't think it's too much to ask that you know where your book is being sent (or if it is being sent at all).

popmuze said:

...my proposal... been to a few places, but has been languishing at least two houses for at least six months with no answer. This may not be typical, or encouraging--for you or for me--but it shows how slow things can move in the publishing industry...This same agent took more than six months to finally give me input on a second project...there's a fine line between a bad agent and a mediocre agent, a mediocre agent and a lazy agent, a lazy agent and a lax editor.

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You have pretty much nailed my present issue - made worse by the fact that I'm on my first book and I have no idea what's "normal." My agent seems good... yet, I haven't really got the experience to judge. I'm way better off than Worried Mcgee. But...

Some feedback from any of you that would place my experience in context, and help me survive this agonizing wait, would be greatly appreciated.

My scenario: Signed June 2007 for NF book, completed minimal editing on the proposal and he sent it out early July. Over fall a smattering of rejections. January 2008 update from agent: "there are at least a handful who sound quite interested." March 2008 update from agent: "even though there are a number of publishers seriously in the process of considering... I should be going out to other publishers as well..."

Obviously, the agent is working - not like some others discussed here. My biggest problem is that, although quite responsive when I email, he NEVER contacts me without my prompt. About every 6 weeks I send a request for info. He always responds promptly and says something like the above. The information is heartening, but not complete (exact list of who has rejected, who is still in process and where process stands).

So.

Questions: Is 10 months or longer "normal" for a publisher to keep a proposal without a decision? (And I should just chill and count my blessings.)

Does this agent seem like an overworked professional doing his job - his only weakness being a lack of communication - or does the slow pace suggest anything to worry about?

Thanks for info or insight anyone can offer.

Elena, I guess it depends on what you are comfortable with. My previous agent was very good at tossing around names on the phone, but when I asked for a submission list, I never got one (even when he agreed to send it). This bothered me, a lot. Maybe it doesn't bother some writers, but it wasn't something I was comfortable with.

You have to decide what you are happy with and judge from there. If the communication style isn't working for you, perhaps you are not with the right agent-fit for you.

As for submissions languishing on the editor's desk, here's a very startling insight from an anonymous editor's blog. I found it to be quite an eye-opener:

http://editorialass.blogspot.com/2008/02/waiting-to-hear-back-from-your-agent-on.html

Having to deal with the writers' strike? I was picketing. Nobody was writing, nobody was hiring. What's to deal?

Irysangel said:

...when I asked for a submission list, I never got one (even when he agreed to send it). This bothered me, a lot. ...If the communication style isn't working for you, perhaps you are not with the right agent-fit for you....As for submissions languishing on the editor's desk, here's a very startling insight from an anonymous editor's blog:

http://editorialass.blogspot.com/2008/02/waiting-to-hear-back-from-your-agent-on.html

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Thanks for the link, Iryangel. It really was an eye-opener. The blog posts say 6 months is excessive... 'though they are discussing novels.

The thing is, before I signed I asked about communication style. He honestly said he wouldn't do much. I signed anyway knowing this would present difficulties, but figuring once he sold the property, it wouldn't matter.

Only I've gotten myself into a stew wondering all kinds of things. It's way too easy to imagine the agent sent out the proposal then editors let it ride until it became unattractive merely due to lying on (or under) a desk for several months. Of course, there this may not be the agent's fault. He seemed so very good except for communication style. But I wonder if I should consider finding an agent who offers the kind of communication I want. sigh.

If you've changed agents, how did you do it?

Like all of you I know how busy and overworked agents are. However, as busy as they may be, their daily endeavors are geared to money making opportunities. I understand this and don't begrudge them. On the other hand, we can do nothing but wait to hear from them. Yes, we can send an occasional email to some of our agents asking what's going on, but only occasional - we don't want them to think we are pains in the you know what. One other factor, when under contract to an agency they usually have right of first refusal on your next work. That raises an interesting dilemma. While we are working on our next project should we complete same and have to offer it to our agent? It would seem rather silly to do so when they have yet to do anything with our first work which they thought was publishable. And if we did offer same and were turned down, should we seek out another agent for the second book? I can't imagine anyone being happy with that.


So we wait.

While I don't think the following is unrealistic, some of you may. Lets say an agent represents 10 to 20 writers. Is it too much to ask that they take one specified morning each month and drop an email to each of their authors bringing them up to speed? No matter how much or how little they have to say. Of course in between monthly updates they will certainly contact their authors re a need, question, or if something hot is cooking.

Well Scope, as you say, it is not too much to ask for monthly updates. The industry standard seems to be communication monthly. If a writer is happy with less than that, fine, but it is not unreasonable to bug your agent once a month if you haven't heard. I've sent email requests for info between every 6 and 8 weeks - which seems entirely professional.

But on the silence issue, I realized I was failing to actually ask for what I wanted (monthly updates) instead of getting stewed that I wasn't getting it. Then in the silence I was spinning all kinds of catastrophic scenarios. Not good. I turned to forums like this to try and get some idea what to expect, but realized it just might help a teensy bit if I spoke to the agent, instead. sigh.

In a recent exchange I felt reassured that, even though my book has taken a long time to sell, he is doing what can be done. My agent's work style comes across as "gentlemanly. Maybe that slows things down, but just as likely not. He has a really good rep from over a long career, so it seems in this case that I need to 1) chill, 2) be clear about what I need.

Thank you all for listening. This forum has really helped me deal.

In this scenario, may I suggest the following tactic: calling the agency and hanging in 'til you get a person (receptionist?). If s/he says the agent isn't available, and offers to put you into his voicemail, decline and say, "I do need to talk to him. Is there a good time to call back?"

I've been a receptionist, long ago. It's very difficult to deny a client when they ask for this. At least, it was for me.

I hope it works for you and you end up happier in your agent-dealings than you seem at this time.

Good advice in general, Deb.

In my case, it turns out the problem was my own fevered imagination - fed by silence. As soon as I asked for what I wanted (a detailed list of past actions, with the promise of monthly updates of future actions), I got it. On seeing the list, my fears about the agent died.

Yay!

I'm glad this turned out to be less than it seemed. Good for you, though, for hanging in there & getting what you wanted.

relenat said:

Good advice in general, Deb.

In my case, it turns out the problem was my own fevered imagination - fed by silence. As soon as I asked for what I wanted (a detailed list of past actions, with the promise of monthly updates of future actions), I got it. On seeing the list, my fears about the agent died.

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Thanks for sharing your outcome, relenat! That's extremely useful and encouraging information.