Thanks, Spikeman. And I'm sorry about your start to the year. Not a kid glove kind of agent, huh?
I'm seconding what krash said, btw.
I'm seconding what krash said, btw.
Spike, is it a genre your agent doesn't normally rep, so maybe she's hesitant? I have seen it suggested that if you're writing outside your agent's zone and the two of you agree, you could ask to find someone else to rep that particular MS/genre.
Or it comes down to what Put said: what do you want more? That MS or this agent? Did you discuss revisions at all?
Has anyone left an agent over "Creative differences" on a new MS after being on sub for something else?
Sorry to hear this, Spikeman.
I'd give yourself at least a week before you decide what next. Think about what vision the agent seems to have for your career, your genre, your style, etc. Is that a vision you share? (For instance, to take a concrete example, Ex-Agent did not think I could write first-person present tense. I wanted to try it anyway. My debut is in that format.)
If the issue isn't a vision difference, but more to do with the agent's perception of what sells and doesn't right now, that could be a reason to be more leery of going out on your own. Or not. Depends on how strongly you believe your book is marketable currently. (If it's not, shelving rather than trunking is always a possibility—and yes, I know how awful it feels to do that. Ugh!)
For what it's worth, I know several people who have left their agents in this exact situation. Some of them went on to sell that book, some sold a different book, and some haven't sold anything yet. But not a single one of them has regretted it.
It's YA. My other MS she is repping is also YA, so that's not really the issue.
She said she would be happy to send me revision suggestions, but that it would be a ton of work and that her opinion is for me to scrap it because it would be a tough sell anyway even if I made a lot of changes.
I think I'm more in love with the MS than the agent. And yes, we did have communication issues at the start. I almost left her a year ago!
I appreciate all of the advice!
How many of you got an agent through a partial-request? (Turning into full ofc) I’ve the impression that partial is code for “not really that interesting, but dang it, we’ll have a look”
I got my agent through partial-turned-full request. It wasn't the only partial-turned-full I ever had--they do result in more. It can often be as Shoeless said. It might be about how much time the agent has, or looking for that feeling at end of what you've sent that they have to know what happens. Or maybe it's going through an intern/associate/assistant first. No matter what, it's a good first step.How many of you got an agent through a partial-request? (Turning into full ofc) I’ve the impression that partial is code for “not really that interesting, but dang it, we’ll have a look”
How many of you got an agent through a partial-request? (Turning into full ofc) I’ve the impression that partial is code for “not really that interesting, but dang it, we’ll have a look”
I also got my agent from a partial to full request. Though mine was a partial to full to R&R request, then the offer. When I was querying, I had pretty much an even split between partials that turned into fulls and partials that did not.
My own experience with partials was actually pretty good. Usually if I got shut down, it was right at the initial query stage or AFTER they got their hands on the full. More often than not, if an agent requested a partial, that usually turned into a full request. Which still, y'know, amounted to nothing anyway if they rejected the full after all that, but oh well... Maybe this just means I write a mean 50 pages, but can't stick the landing on the entire book.
I’m crossing my fingers and hoping she’ll request a full. But it doesn’t look good on the QueryTracker timeline, if that’s anything to go by, there partials are most often rejected.
This is my first request, so hopefully I’ll become a little more blasé about it in the future.
Querytracker is a blessing and a curse, and I say that as someone who subscribed for several years. I'd still recommend it to anyone that's about to submit big time, especially if they've got multiple projects going. It can be FANTASTIC for getting good data on the submission habits of agents, but can also be demoralizing when you look at the rejection stats.
But yeah, you grow a thicker skin as time goes by. By the time I got offered representation last year, I was at the point where I'd be only slightly disappointed by a rejection on a full for 10 minutes or less, then move on.
On the other hand, when someone finally says "Yes," the emotional high for that can last for DAYS.
I've had partials turn into fulls, but my agent asked for the full up front (she asks for query with first ten pages initially).
While I'm not an agent, I'm a PitchWars mentor. I used to ask for fulls from any entry I was excited about (15-20 entries), but I give feedback for full requests. SO, this past year, I started requesting just the partial and synopsis, then weeding out from there. Less feedback expectation.
Maybe agents have a similar feeling about feedback for a full vs a partial? Those who still give feedback, that is.
Same. I've had a couple of non-responders on fulls (even after nudging), and I've never queried those agents again. I can forgive a form rejection, but ghosting is just not cool. I hope that doesn't sound petty, and being on the other side of it now I totally get that they need to give their time to their clients, but still....But a no-response agent would drop to the bottom of my future querying lists.
What did you do to celebrate when you got the offer? Must have been surreal!
Not much, actually. Mostly felt smug and quietly vindicated. A nice dinner for myself, and few other treats, but generally just basking in the glow.
Speaking of glows, here's something to take some of the shine off of that. Agent got back to me today with another rejection from a publisher. It was a very nice rejection, praising the pacing, action and world-building, but apparently the structure and some character development issues were the issue this time. Oh well...