The long wait ...

[AussieBilly]

Here is something I ran across recently ... maybe someone out there can help me.

The question on another thread was posed: How long should a writer wait after submitting a query before inquiring about that query? Six weeks? Six months?

It appears some, if not most, agents simply ignore responding unless there is some interest in the offered ms. That means writers never know whether they are waiting for something that has been deleted.

Here's my sad tale ... two months after submitting the full ms, and working on a new story, I made an inquiry hoping to find out whether to write the new story to fit one publisher's guidelines or another's. The agency told me to have patience, my first ms was scheduled to be read early in October!
So, apparently agents are as busy as we're told they are and patience is part of being a writer. But that doesn't answer the question: How long should a writer wait after submitting a query before inquiring about that query? What is a logical period of waiting for some response? Are agents really that busy? Is it part of their profession not to respond, leaving the poor writer hanging in the wind? Are all of them that uncaring and cruel?

Why, oh why did I ever want to be a writer, anyway?

[Vanatru]

I'm sure I'm a bad person by saying that I never follow up on query. I figure if they were interested, they would have contacted me. If not, I move on.

I love to write, but I don't believe in stressing over it and playing games with the agents and such. If I get published, I get published. If not, then not.

Writing for me is a pleasure, not a business.

So, I say "screw 'em". Come over here and we'll have a few drinks and laugh about it and make crude jokes about agents. :)

[JeanneTGC]

Billy, my advice is to send out more than one query at a time. Each letter should, of course, be targeted to the particular agents, but the idea that you should wait to query agent two until after agent one has replied is nice, but not workable.

Some agents are fast, some are slow. I follow the advice my "how to get published" teacher gave me, which was send out a dozen queries at a time. Then write. Somewhere in that dozen you should get a requst for a partial or full MS, and if not, then you send out a dozen more. And so on.

As an example, I sent out 14 queries on my historical romance set in the Old West in mid-June. I have heard back from most of the agents, all rejections. But yesterday, I heard back from one -- and he wanted the first 50 pages.

On or about the time my full 14 are "back" or it's been too long (I say 6 months is about time to figure they're never gonna call), then I send out another dozen or so.

The idea is to always have something "out there" so that one rejection isn't a world-crusher.

Now, this is for queries. For requested manuscripts, particularly if you're asked for an exclusive, you would need to go back to the waiting game.

But, write, write, write while waiting.

ETA: Oh, and I never follow up on a query, either, unless I really think it was lost. I DO follow up on requested partials or fulls, and that depends on when the agent has estimated their return time to be. For shorts and such, the pubs usually list their turnaround time and if they want you to follow up or not.

[Jamesaritchie]

If the guidelines say nothing about response time, two months is generally where you should inquire about status.

I'm a waiter. I find there's nothing to lose and much to gain by giving an agent all the time she needs.

[AussieBilly]

I figure if they were interested, they would have contacted me. If not, I move on.

I love to write, but I don't believe in stressing over it and playing games with the agents and such. If I get published, I get published. If not, then not.

Writing for me is a pleasure, not a business.:)

Guess Vanatru has the right idea. I too don't know how not to write. Wanting to get published may be asking too much. To date I have a westerns sitting on an agent's desk (promises to get to it next month), two crime novels and one futuristic story ... the last three having been sent to at least two dozen different agencies over the last three months (maybe four dozen). I'm halfway into another western and will continue with it to see how the heroes make out. And then more writing and waiting and learning patience.

That, I guess, is the way its going to be so I'll just get used to it!

All together now, Hmmmmm patience, patience, patience, patience

[Vanatru]

Well, once you become an international bestseller, all those other stories languishing in your archive can suddenly take wing and be printed, or revised and printed. You'll be in demand and desirable. :P

And then you can buy me drinks while we talk smack about agents.

[AussieBilly]

Well, once you become an international bestseller, all those other stories languishing in your archive can suddenly take wing and be printed, or revised and printed. You'll be in demand and desirable. :P

And then you can buy me drinks while we talk smack about agents.

You got a deal ... I can hear the battle cry now ... DOWN WITH DISCOURTEOUS, ILL-MANNERED AGENTS!

by the way, is there another major storm headed your way? Buying you drinks will have to be in someplace stable, like the Sun Coast of Queensland.

[Vanatru]

Lordy, just so you know, I fall in line with this song.

Blake Shelton - The More I Drink
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=v7qdGQ4ieh0

[jordijoy]

I have never followed up--unless--an agent had first made some sort of contact after receiving my query or partial.
example: 'Hi so and so, I'm reviewing the partial and expect to get back to you at such and such time.' In this instance, they were clearly considering my MS. That only happened once. Once I was asked for revisions, and once for clarification. I felt okay emailing those agent for updates.

[AussieBilly]

One of my Manuscripts has sold!!! Stay tuned...

And when this happens the sun shines extra bright. Good on you ...

The bad news here is the rejection of my latest western, which Golden West Lit Agency wanted the ms and was the agency behind my original question. On the bright side, Vicki outlined what she saw as problems with the story.

Wonder if it's fixable ... hmmmmm ... and then who would I send it to? There just doesn't seem to be many outlets for westerns nowadays.

Back to crime stories, I guess ... once I finish the western I'm already working on.

[JeanneTGC]

And when this happens the sun shines extra bright. Good on you ...

The bad news here is the rejection of my latest western, which Golden West Lit Agency wanted the ms and was the agency behind my original question. On the bright side, Vicki outlined what she saw as problems with the story.

Wonder if it's fixable ... hmmmmm ... and then who would I send it to? There just doesn't seem to be many outlets for westerns nowadays.

Back to crime stories, I guess ... once I finish the western I'm already working on.
If Vicki outlined what she saw that was wrong and what you should fix, and you agree, fix it up and send it back to her, saying that you thought her suggestions had merit, you've made the changes, and you hope she'd be interested in taking another look.

Any rejection where an agent or publisher gives you real feedback is not the same as a "not for me", "the industry is really tight right now", "your work shows merit but I'm not sufficiently excited by it", or the other "thanks but no thanks" rejections. If an agent put in the effort to point out where she think it needs fixing, then they are absolutely someone you should go back to once you've made those fixes.