Agent Response Time + Current Agent Rejecting MS

Hmm, I don't think it means that you have a bad agent, but it sounds like it's not a good match if they don't like what you're writing. Four years is a long time to not put anything out on submission! How do you feel about their feedback on your work? If you don't agree with what they're saying, it sounds like it's not a good fit for you.

Also, how long have you been waiting on a response after submitting your latest book to them?

This is such a tough question. It’s very hard to generalize. Sometimes an agent who is “good” for some clients is “bad” for others.

It comes down to one thing, though: an agent who does not submit your work cannot sell your work. If they can’t offer anything but vague hopes that maybe someday you will write something they’ll sub, maybe one of you should decide it’s time to part ways. My big question: Why didn’t the agent sub the ms. they signed you for? Was there any explanation for that? Does the agent keep finding your revisions inadequate, and do the reasons why tell you anything about whether the agent can be a good champion of your work?

I will say this: many writers (including me) had more than one agent before they sold a book. Many writers switch agents after they sell a book. As long as everyone behaves professionally, there’s no stigma on ending a relationship with someone who is not prepared to be a champion of your work.

I’m not suggesting an agent can or should champion everything their client writes—just that, if that’s never happening, you have a problem. In the end, it may be better to have a less powerful agent who loves your work than a rock star who won’t sub it.

Mixwriter said:

*Sigh* This confirms some of my concerns. I've had little to no feedback other than "I know I can't sell this" and "It's not right." Which doesn't jive with the feedback I receive from my team of readers. So I don't have a hugely editorial agent to begin with, but I don't get a lot of reasons why, which is a red flag, I know.

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What appears to be true is that you and your agent don't have compatible visions for your career. It certainly sounds like you're feeling like you're in perpetual querying mode, waiting for them to like something enough to sub it. What happened to the book that originally got them to offer you rep?

It might be worth scheduling a phone call and having a professional, crisp discussion about where they see all this going, but I suspect you're just going to be confirming what you already know.

Mixwriter said:

Can I ask in response, how long after you parted ways with your previous agent(s) were you able to find representation again?

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I'll let you know when it happens. (I haven't started querying yet.)

Mixwriter said:

And when you did, did you mention in your queries that you "previously were represented by so and so and parted ways because you were not a good fit"?

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Looking for an answer to this as well. If I did mention it, I'd be inclined to stick with "we parted amicably" without further explanation. One thing I have learned is that it's not uncommon for writers to end up with a different agent than the one they started with, so nobody's likely to think it's odd.

Mixwriter said:

Can I ask in response, how long after you parted ways with your previous agent(s) were you able to find representation again? And when you did, did you mention in your queries that you "previously were represented by so and so and parted ways because you were not a good fit"?

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I parted ways with Previous Agent in early 2013 (this was initiated by the agent, not me, but it can go either way), started writing a new book right then, and found a new agent for the new book almost exactly one year later. A few months later, that new book sold. There are a million possible variations, though.

I did mention my previous agent in the queries, and said we had parted ways amicably and the book I was querying had never been subbed. That was it. When I spoke with Present Agent on the phone, she asked for a few more details. I've seen opinions going both ways on whether you should mention previous rep in the query, but the really important thing is that the book you are querying is fresh and new.

Both agents I've worked with have given a lot of useful feedback, even when rejecting something. Without more info, "I can't sell this" is not helpful. It does seem to suggest the agent is not invested in the relationship, because they're not pointing you in the direction of stuff they might actually be able to sell. That said, I don't want to assume anything. I agree with Liz that a frank, polite phone conversation could be helpful here.

My CPs are tough, so tough I'm not sure I could ever write anything that would totally please them AND my agent and editor, because every reader wants something a little different. I try to weigh all the feedback and work with it. Find the common threads. But if you're not getting ANY substantive feedback from the gatekeeper in this situation, there's not much you can do except hope to hit on the right formula by luck, and that's ... incredibly frustrating. I sympathize.

ETA: Five weeks is short in editor/agent time, but given the situation, I do understand your impatience!

I’m also baffled about why your agent hasn’t subbed the book s/he signed you on for?! I agree with the other posters about it sounding like you and your agent not having the same vision for your work. I would have a very honest conversation about what is it exactly that your agent is looking for, and if it’s not a good fit with what you’re writing, then I would part ways.

I was in a similar situation with my ex agent. After my first MS failed to sell, they didn’t like my second MS, but my beta readers loved it (though not to the point of tattooing the MC’s name! That’s amazing). I asked a different agent for advice, and he said, “Do you have more faith in your agent, or in your MS? Go with whichever one you believe in more.” I decided I had more faith in my MS, so I decided to call it quits.

FWIW, I’ve parted ways with three different agents, so I think I’m probably quite ruthless when it comes to agents. And I haven’t had difficulty getting requests when querying. I just mention “I was represented by Agents X and Y but parted ways amicably. This MS has not been submitted to any editors.”

I'm echoing what others have said but I'm mystified as to why your agent didn't sub the book he or she signed you for - surely he or she must have signed it thinking it could be sold?

I'm sure your agent isn't a bad agent, but it may just be that he or she isn't the right agent for you. And if that is the case - and it appears to be four years and several books down the line - then you could be trying to write something that works for this agent forever. I'm a little surprised that your agent has let you write so many books and not subbed them - did you keep in contact with the agent when writing to check he or she was onboard?

Either way - there is no point sticking with an agent who won't sub your books, even if they are by all accounts a good person to be signed with.

I am currently in somewhat of a similar position to you - I signed with my former agent in 2009 and published three books with a big publisher. For various reasons more to do with the publisher than either me or my agent, stuff went south, and I took the opportunity to stop writing thrillers, and try other things (I first published books when pretty young and sort of got pushed into a genre I didn't love). Agent didn't like either of the two books I wrote after that, despite making promising noises at the start of each, and said she felt she just couldn't sell them. I decided I could be waiting forever to write a book agent did like and we agreed that maybe my writing has just moved in a direction that no longer works for her.

I'm currently hunting for Agent no2 and all I am saying in my submission letters is "I was formerly represented by an agent but we have parted ways amicably" or words to that effect. If they want more information they'll ask. I do think it is worth mentioning you've been repped, especially if your current agent is a name most agents would recognise.

Having said all this, I do think first you need to have a frank talk with your agent before making any decisions - don't be afraid to ask the questions you want to. It can be frank without being confrontational.

Just chiming in to say, been here done that. I personally don't think it was healthy for me to stay in my first agent relationship as long as I did. It had been so hard to find an agent (and it is...) so I clung to the wreckage.

Your situation feels very similar. My ex agent has some clients that are doing brilliantly with her, and she adored them and their work. She loved my first book, but didn't love my second. I reworked it for many years to try and please her, and her feedback was also always very wishy-washy as to what wasn't working. Very vague ideas of how to make it better - sometimes one line about the whole book. She was simply too busy... and, yes, I totally understand: agents are busy.

I'd suggest you do the following: Write and ask politely when she thinks she'll be able to get back to you by - perhaps say you feel you've really cracked this book and you're so excited to see what she thinks! It's true. You might be surprised, this one might be the one that she loves. I know waiting on feedback from an agent is painful.

Then, send your book out to a brand new beta for a different perspective. I'd offer, but I'm too busy at the moment. Look in the beta reading section to see if anyone is offering in your genre at the moment. See what someone who doesn't know you - or your work at all - says. Maybe try 50 pages first to see if you're a match. No point getting someone who doesn't get your writing at all to read it. Reading and writing are so subjective. A different perspective can be a brilliant thing, also if you land up parting ways, the new betas feedback could help polish your book for querying. Querying is really tough at the moment, agents are bombarded with queries, so you really need to have an incredible book lined up to query. It could be your favourite one of your four.

Finally, if you do part ways, just say what Putputt said above. I didn't mention the name of the agent, and my lovely second agent who offered representation did ask in the telephone conversation. Second agent loved the book that first agent didn't. Yip, all horribly subjective, but as Putputt said, "I asked a different agent for advice, and he said, “Do you have more faith in your agent, or in your MS? Go with whichever one you believe in more.” I decided I had more faith in my MS, so I decided to call it quits."

If it gets to that, you've got to decide, and that's only a decision you can make.

WAIT A MINUTE!!! This agent hasn't sent anything of yours out on submission in FOUR years? Did you know this all this time or thought they were sending out your work? That is unacceptable for them to sit on your work all this time.

Dump them. You've wasted enough time. If the agent hasn't sent out your work in four years then that proves you're not a priority at all. I am confused as to why the agent accepted you if this is the case. There had to be something about your work they liked and the only way they can know if it will sell or not is by sending it out. I've never known an agent to sit on work this long. They usually begin subbing to pubs right after you get with them. The agent wasted a lot of your time. You could've used the last four years to find another agent who would do right by you or even a publisher. You might be published by now!!!!

You're more patient than I am. I would've been livid in the first year if my agent hadn't sent out any of my work. What in the world has the agent been doing????

Good luck!

Mixwriter said:

This is great insight. What is the typical editor time frame? Six months is clearly too long, but even 5 weeks seems too long. What's your median expected timeframe?

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Oh, that is a tough one. My agent is fast, with feedback in roughly 1-4 weeks, depending. Editors, in my experience, are slower. Five weeks to eight months for notes on a draft you've sent them. Which doesn't mean they actually work slowly, just that they have tons of other stuff to do, and you never know when you're catching them in the publication cycle.

cool pop said:

I've never known an agent to sit on work this long. They usually begin subbing to pubs right after you get with them. The agent wasted a lot of your time. You could've used the last four years to find another agent who would do right by you or even a publisher. You might be published by now!!!!

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We-llll actuaaaally... hur hur. Sorry to "well, actually" you, but I don't think most agents sub to pubs right after you sign. AFAIK, most of them require some editing. My current agent's superhuman fast, and he's subbed my MS within a week, but on a different MS, we've gone a few rounds of editing on some MSs, which took a couple of months. With an ex-agent of mine, she took four months editing it (five rounds of edits) before subbing, and with a different ex-agent of mine, they took 1.5 years editing (which is why they're my ex-agents). I've heard of authors editing for over a year with their agents before going on sub. It just depends on the MS and whether the agent has the same vision you do, and the agent's workload, and the market, and and and...

(That said, four years is weirdly long. )

Mixwriter said:

This is great insight. What is the typical editor time frame? Six months is clearly too long, but even 5 weeks seems too long. What's your median expected timeframe?

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To add my thoughts - and it varies, obviously - in my experience, when my former agent put my books out on sub, we'd get the first negative responses in a month. Positive responses or "we need more time" responses dragged the process out to two months. I should state, though, that I was subbing over the Christmas break, and that definitely delayed things. However, it does sound like my experience was pretty quick - perhaps because I'm UK based and my books are YA so shorter than some epic Adult ones?

To give you an idea of my timeline prior to subbing - I signed with agent end of Sept, and we worked on the book Oct-Nov (mostly fairly surface stuff) and it was subbed start of Dec. But depending on how busy an agent is and how much work the book needs the editing time could be much longer than two months.

I'll chime in with my timelines, in case the data is helpful:

I signed with my agent in mid-December (2016), she sent me edits right before the holidays. I took about 6 weeks to revise and send back, she read and approved edits and we were on sub by the end of March (so about 3 months after signing).

First response from an editor came within a week, others trickled in every few weeks after that through the summer/fall, and we ultimately decided to stop sending it out around September or so, with three editors yet to respond even now, over a year later.

Mixwriter said:

We're just over five weeks from the last book and I'm a little impatient to have feedback and feel like "surely this will be the book" but I also don't know if I should feel that way.

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This seems like a strange situation. Does your agent have an assistant or anyone who can give you some insight into the problems with your work? I can completely understand why an agent wouldn't want to send something out that isn't absolutely perfect. But it seems like this person doesn't seem that interested in helping you make that happen.

Maybe you need someone with a little lower profile who would have more time to work with you.