I sent out two queries this afternoon, about an hour apart from each other. The first was for Genesis Earth, the second for Bringing Stella Home. Both agents responded within the hour. Genesis Earth got a form rejection, and Bringing Stella Home got a request for the full manuscript. Yeah, I was shocked too.
So I was planning to query Bringing Stella Home all over the place in the next few weeks, but with the full out…I’m not exactly sure what to do. I know it’s okay to send out multiple queries, so long as you only send the full ms to one place at a time, but what about querying when the full is already out?
I’m assuming that it’s okay to keep sending out queries, so long as you don’t send a second copy of the full while the first agent is considering it. If someone else requests to see it, I should probably say “so and so is currently considering it, but I’ll let you know once they’ve gotten back to me.” Is that right?
Needless to say, this is very encouraging.
Yay for Joe! I think you’ve got it right, from what I remember from listening to your mp3 player on the trip home from Houston. Dang. That was a lot of ‘froms’.
It’s polite to stop sending queries when they have your full manuscript. It also prevents the awkward situation where, assuming you still send queries out and one of these agents/editors wants the full manuscript, you don’t have to reply with “wait your turn.”
I’d keep all your queries ready to mail/email, and if the rejection comes from the place that has the whole thing, send them all out then. Probably your safest bet, even if it is the one that involves the most waiting.
Then again, it isn’t bad to tell someone to wait. Lets them know the manuscript is popular.
So uh…your decision? 😛
Congrats on the fs request! I can’t remember from Brandon’s class how to treat that situation…both your thoughts and Nathan’s thoughts seem valid.
I’m curious…do you query your top/favorite publisher first, or was this just kind of a random selection?
Hold it! I thought we already covered this! You do NOT wait when an agent has a full. I repeat: you do NOT wait!
Things have changed. Agents no longer expect you to wait when they request a full. The only time that is acceptable (and I do mean, the ONLY time) is when the agent has requested an exclusive. Since you didn’t mention it, I’m assuming the agent didn’t request that and so you are free to send out as many fulls as you like and you just mention that the manuscript has been requested by other agents as well.
Now, if an agent offers representation, the game changes. The polite thing to do is to give all the other agents a week (or at least a weekend) to either read the full and join the fray or pass on the opportunity. They don’t like it if you accept an offer without giving them a chance to compete. That’s when they wish they had an exclusive. And it is also why this old rule used to exist, but since communication can go so much faster these days, the rule has shifted to the author letting them know when an offer has been made so they can read the full as well.
So, DON’T WAIT! Keep submitting. You have every right. Things have changed, due to faster communication (ie: email) and such, and that old rule no longer applies. So update!
If you don’t believe me, here are a bunch of links to agents saying the same thing (or mentioning why you shouldn’t do an exclusive which you are trying to do even though the agent never bothered to ask for it):
– http://cba-ramblings.blogspot.com/2009/09/querying-multiple-agents.html
– http://kidlit.com/2010/05/31/getting-offers-from-multiple-agents/
– http://blog.nathanbransford.com/2008/08/exclusives-and-literary-agents.html
– http://pubrants.blogspot.com/2010/05/sooner-rather-than-later-please.html
– http://kidlit.com/2010/01/06/exclusive-submissions/
I can get more but that should suffice for now. So keep submitting!
And everyone else who thinks the exclusive rule still applies: update people!! It’s 2011, not 2000!
Congrats! Now I’ll argue for the other side. I read the BookEnds blog, and they don’t like agents who ask for exclusives – think it’s unfair to the author. So, unless the agent specifically asked for an exclusive on that full, I would query widely and quickly, and if multiple people ask for a full, that’s ok (as long as everyone knows). If they asked for an exclusive, limit it to just a few weeks.
If you’re unsure about what to do, think about the two possibilities. If they say no, will you be disappointed about the time you wasted waiting to query others? If they say yes, are you ready to sign with them, or will you want to interview multiple agents to see who is the best fit (A pretty common occurence, from my reading)?
I can’t say I know anything about query-etiquette, but I can say, “Congratulations!!!!”
Joe, that’s awesome!! Man, I need to keep up with this blog! I hope it works out for you! Which agent was it?
AAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAH CONGRATULATIONS! 😀 😀