I have an agent! And a question about cover letters to magazines.

So I now have an agent for my completed novel! She's nifty, a good communicator; been on the scene for a relatively short time, has sold books to the big guys, is part of an established agency with a good record. She wasn't sure on the first read; I offered a revision (there were some weaknesses in the plot when I first sent it, but by the time I heard back from her I'd come somewhat further as a writer and realized where the problems lay) and she said yes, by email, on the day before my birthday. That was one of the best moments of my life.

My question: submission etiquette. I don't have any fiction sales. I have a couple of poetry sales, but I went through a period of depression in which I wasn't sending things out, so the most recent is about a year old.
I'm inclined to send out a blitz of fiction and poetry and try to get it sold now that I'm feeling validated (and my neurochemistry is back in whack) but I have no idea what to do with the "I have an agent, but we just signed a week ago so she hasn't sold my book yet" bit.

How do I say it? ("My novel XXXX is being represented by So-And-So of the Such-And-Such agency as of (date)"?)

DO I say it or just shut up and stick to "i made a shtory. you can haz."?

The Lady said:

"i made a shtory. you can haz."?


I love that. I wish I had the nerve to use it some time.

Why not ask her? Your agent, I mean. See what she thinks. I probably wouldn't say anything about having an agent until you have the book sold, but that's just me.

But, what I really want to say is congrats on landing an agent.

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Thanks you and ACEnders for the congratulations.

I would really use the line -- IF I knew the editor had a penchant for lolcats.

Yeah, I probably will ask her next time she contacts me; but since this is magazine cover letter etiquette, on things too small for her to be representing them, I'm not sure it's worth bothering her about. Our contract *does* provide an option for her to represent my short fiction to larger venues. Some of it is good enough (and I'll be consulting her about that later), but some of it isn't -- stuff I think is still publishable, just not top-of-the-line -- and I still want to toss it out there *somewhere*...

Oh, certainly if I have something that I think would be appropriate for the New Yorker or even smaller "big guys" that's the agent's business.

waylander, your response pretty much tells me what I need to know. Thanks!

dgiharris, the Wikipedia entry on lolcats pretty much says it all:
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Lolcats

BigRed said:

Congratz! Now comes the hard part! (just kidding!)

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Naw, not so kidding. I'm well aware that getting the book actually published, and having some others out to join it, will not be a walk in the park.

But I did have this great "first day of the rest of my life" feeling when the news hit.