Got an offer from a small press. A bigger publisher has also expressed interest. I've already nudged the bigger publisher to tell them I've had interest from others. Could I nudge them again without coming across as annoying?
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It took me 5 years to get FIX ME published. It was a horribly long and soul-crushing experience because I was really really close so many times, it was crazy to think it took me that long. I tried 100s of agents, big publishers and small. I was all over the place too, just as you are now. I've had a couple of offers along the way, but passed because by then I had worked with a few small publishers for my first couple of books and that, like I mentioned wasn't worth it. And also by then I had my fourth book published by a mid-size publisher and got a nice advance, so I was expecting that and more for my next book. I got that publisher all on my own too. Had agents in the past that didn't work out. So I continued to drag it through querying and submissions to publishers for 5 long years. I searched far and wide and Googled to the 35th page, reading and finding all I can. Submitted to places that opened for submissions, tried contests like PitMad and everything, all for this one book.
I was on my last straw with the book, and in doing my search, yet again after all these years, the best opportunity opened up for me when my publisher decided to open to submissions after always wanting only agented work. So cleaned it up as best I could for the last iffin time. And I pretty much threatened God, if you don't do this, I'm finished pushing it. I was sweating it out horribly, I really thought that if it didn't work, my book would be finished at that point. My publisher requested the full after 6 weeks and then 5 days later I got the most incredible email of my writing career. It was an offer to publish the book, flat out and they were setting it for their fall catalogue.
So if you're getting all this promise after all these years and feeling desperate. Don't be. I think you're in good hands at getting it published. Just keep those queries and subs fresh and write the next book in the meantime. You've been so determined as these years, it will happen. But like others have said, don't settle. Not on a book like this.
Also, you can virtually send to agents like forever, lol. All you need to do is keep a look out for new agents on QueryTracker. There's always new agents popping up. Sometimes it gets slow and you feel like you've exhausted the entire agent list. It's not possible to do so. The only thing that will stop you from querying is you. Good luck. You got this!!!!!
Maybe others will weigh in, but wouldn't this be a good time to nudge the agents, rather than the mid-size press, to let them know that you have an offer in hand? Then if one of them decides to rep you, they can help you with evaluating the small press, whether or not to nudge the mid-size, and maybe even send your MS to some larger presses. Good luck--it all sounds promising!
Thank you so much for this reply. It gives me hope. My experience, to date, has been almost exactly like yours except I haven't gotten an offer yet, and if I do I'll probably have to pay my former agent a commission, which sucks (but I signed an agreement that says they get a cut if I get a deal at any stage with a publisher they submitted to and they submitted to most of them). So right now I've been pitching the book to agents and to as many publishers as I can, including following up with a few submissions my agent had sent but the editors emailed me back to stay they never got and to resubmit, etc. This mid-size publisher seems like my last chance at a good deal, so I'm really hopeful and nervous about it. But as I've come so close so many times before, don't want to get my hopes up!
The mid-size publisher wrote that they were enjoying my manuscript and had been looking for a project like this for a long time. They said they'd kick it into high gear and get back to me soon. That was 3 weeks ago. I'm a bit worried they might have loved the first half of the manuscript and will cool on the rest. But not sure. And I have no idea what high gear means or how long I might be waiting now. It's been three weeks since that message.
I wish I could decode the language they use to try to determine when they might get back to me lol. It sounds like they'll get back soon, but in publishing terms, I know this could be a long time.
If I were you, I would use gentle wording like “If you’re still interested in the ms., I hope to hear from you soon.” Or possibly “I hope to hear from you by the end of the month” or however long you gave the small press. They will correctly interpret “I hope” as “I need an answer from you relatively soon because I don’t want to end up with no offer, but I’m willing to do some reasonable waiting.”
IMHO, their request to “keep me in the loop” justifies polite nudging. I would not name the small press unless it has a great reputation.
An agent would know better about this, though. Agents are aces at navigating these types of situations.
Disclaimer: not an agent here! But I think I would cut the middle two sentences in your first paragraph. Possibly substitute “I intend/hope/would like to make a decision by the end of the month.” I don’t know, what do others think?
They know that once you have an offer, time is limited. If they’re still interested, they may ask about the time frame, but I would wait and let them ask. And don’t say anything about what you’re telling or hope to hear from the other publisher; they don’t need to know.
Cool pop makes great points about researching. Forgive me if you already mentioned this, but how is the small press’s distribution? And the midsize publisher’s, for that matter? (“Midsize” can mean a lot of things. I’ve seen my publisher described as “midsize” because it’s not Big Five; it puts books on shelves worldwide. I’ve also seen much smaller pubs with less reach described that way.)