Following Up on a Full Request

Vic20

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I'm hoping for some advice. An agent asked for the full manuscript of my literary novel, and after I followed up once (after a reasonable wait), he asked that I give him until the end of February. Now that it's March, I'd like to follow up again.

The agent has seemed enthusiastic all along, and I wonder if he might now be on the fence about the MS. I'd like to make a bit of a pitch for myself in my follow-up email, to encourage him to give me a shot. I might point out my platform as a writer (I provide content for a couple of fairly popular literary and pop culture websites), talk up my good nature and willingness to take criticism or make revisions, and point out my talent for public speaking. But might this approach be overbearing? Should I just let my work speak for itself?

I'd appreciate anyone's thoughts on this.
 

Stytch

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I'd keep it really short and sweet. "Hi, just checking in as you said to do after February. Thanks!" Maybe slightly more formal and professional. Inquire after the state of their day or whatever.
 

lizmonster

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1) I think if the agent specifically said the end of February, you're entitled to give them a polite nudge.

2) Under no circumstances should you do anything other than let your work speak for itself. The agent doesn't have to sell your platform, your good nature, or your talent for public speaking. They have to sell your book. None of that stuff makes a lick of difference if they don't think they can sell your book.
 

Vic20

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All right, got it. Glad I checked. Thanks, both!
 

cool pop

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Yeah, what they said. :)
 

fenyo

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1) I think if the agent specifically said the end of February, you're entitled to give them a polite nudge.

2) Under no circumstances should you do anything other than let your work speak for itself. The agent doesn't have to sell your platform, your good nature, or your talent for public speaking. They have to sell your book. None of that stuff makes a lick of difference if they don't think they can sell your book.

Liz, I am under the impression that agent are looking for authors that can help with the marketing and that already have an audience. and that despite what we want to think, it is not just the work speaking for it self. Will it not be helpful to point out these thing?
 

lizmonster

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Liz, I am under the impression that agent are looking for authors that can help with the marketing and that already have an audience. and that despite what we want to think, it is not just the work speaking for it self. Will it not be helpful to point out these thing?

While this is certainly true of non-fiction, where the writer's expertise is a selling point, it's absolutely false for fiction, despite it being repeated often. As I said, the agent needs to sell the book to a publisher, not a platform. Above and beyond the fact that publishers love to "discover" unknowns, most of a publisher's marketing happens before the book is published, and involves sales and review channels an author isn't going to have access to. (Short version: You can't help with sales as much as you'd like to think.)

It's another pervasive myth that agents are looking for any excuse to reject. Agents (who are open to queries) are very much eager to fall in love with something. If they're fence-sitting, they may offer you a R&R.

In OP's case, relevant publications should have been included in the query letter, but even there such credits, IME, only give you an edge in the request-for-full stage and would serve no purpose being disclosed at this point.

And it's my opinion that trotting out things like this after the agent is already voluntarily reading your work is not a good look. In this situation, the agent is less than two weeks overdue with a response, which in publishing time is like being ten minutes late for dinner. It merits an inquiry, sure, but not a mad scramble for attention. If the agent likes the work enough, there will be plenty of time to discuss the relevance, if any, of the author's other skills.
 

cool pop

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Agents are looking for books that can make them money. Point blank. They don't care about marketing but the publisher will. The pub will want someone who can bring something to the table no matter how big the pub is. Many want you to have a social media presence at least and some now even ask what you plan to do to help promote. Gone are the days of when you can just sit back, write and the pub does everything else for you. I don't care if you are published by Harlequin or Howdy Doody Publications. You will need to do some marketing because the pub is only going to do so much and these day unless they intend on giving your book a huge push, it'll be the bare minimum. Many pubs have also lost staff and don't have as many in-house publicists and PR people as they used to. Midlisters and below midlisters never got huge pushes anyway. You can tell by your advance whether or not the pub's gonna promote you (this is a specific time when having an agent with some pull can make things much better). It's the big authors or the ones who they feel have written the next Twilight or 50 Shades that will get the big push out the gate. Pubs put into a book what they feel they can get out of it and most books are published to fill out the publishing schedule not so much because they feel every book they release is going to sell. Pubs have a certain amount of books they need to publish every year and they also schedule certain books during certain parts of the year because depending on what season a book is released can affect how well it sells. There is a method to their madness. ;)

But, agents are concerned with whether or not they can sell the book. Marketing has nothing to do with them and that will be a discussion between you and your publisher if you get a deal. If you do get one, I strongly suggest you have a conversation about marketing so you know what to expect from the pub and what they expect from you so there are no surprises.
 
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lizmonster

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Marketing has nothing to do with them and that will be a discussion between you and your publisher if you get a deal. If you do get one, I strongly suggest you have a conversation about marketing so you know what to expect from the pub and what they expect from you so there are no surprises.

Quoted for emphasis. Talk to the acquiring editor about marketing before you sign the contract. That's not an area where you want to be surprised.

But yes, the agent isn't going to decide whether or not to read based on how you might help with PR. And they're not going to rep the book unless they love it enough to go to bat for it, no matter what your platform is.
 

lizmonster

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I thought the publisher's marketing plan for you should be negotiated by your agent?

Your agent will negotiate some of this while they're negotiating the contract (because we all know you never sign the boilerplate contract, right??).

But trust me on this: be involved. Be proactive. Have a conversation with the publisher before you sign, and do not outsource this to your agent. Have your agent on the call with you, and listen to their advice, but be involved. Have input. If something feels off to you, push on that - if not with the publisher on the call, then with your agent afterward.

And do not ever take "don't worry, they know what they're doing" as an explanation for something that seems off. There are market reasons for every decision a publisher makes; both the publisher and your agent should be able to explain the strategy to you. If they can't - great big red flag.

Your agent is being paid to represent you, yes - but this is your career, your name, your art. Nobody in this scenario cares about it as much as you do. Nobody. And nobody has as much skin in the game, either.

Most of us write because we love it. The second we decide to sell what we write it becomes a business, and we need to set aside our emotions and treat it as such. That means understanding everything the publisher plans to do with it, including the marketing. 99% of the time, it'll all make sense, but you do not want to be caught flat-footed if you're one of that 1%.