Agent/writer etiquette

[DrAndy]

I am working with an agent who has not yet offered to represent my book. The agent is fantastic, with a strong list full of well known clients and large deals. Two of her clients are friends of mine, a third recommended me to her. As if that wasn't enough, we seem to be very much on the same page regarding the business of writing and writing itself. If she can become my agent, I doubt I could do better. However, I'm not sure I'm reading the signals right and wouldn't mind a second opinion.

Here is a summary of what is going on: According to Query Tracker, this agent asks for 5 full manuscripts a year, out of around 500 submitted. She asked me for a full. About three months later, she sent two responses in the same day, along with two versions of my ms, both loaded with notes and corrections. She said it wasn't ready yet, and that I should keep working on it. A week later, she engaged in a very long social media conversation (5500 words of it), discussing my book. I shifted to an email to answer some questions and mentioned a book I'd started writing while I waited for feedback on the first one. She said it sounded "viable" and asked to see it. Meanwhile, I started a third book based on the questions she asked on social media.

The result of these communications is that I am unsure if the agent is considering me seriously as a potential client, or if she's just trying to mentor me into becoming a better writer. Or, in a worst case scenario, she's just generous with her comments in general or because she knows I'm friends with a couple of her other clients. Based on Query tracker, that doesn't seem to be the case (rejection due to silence).

My concern is that at the moment, I am only seriously considering submitting to this one agent, even the book I finished and sent her, despite the fact that another agent might be willing to take it. If this is the way writers find agents, I'd rather this is the agent because she is my top pick. However, if her actions don't represent serious interest, I can ill afford the lost time that could be spent submitting to other agents.

 

[mccardey]

I am working with an agent who has not yet offered to represent my book. The agent is fantastic, with a strong list full of well known clients and large deals. Two of her clients are friends of mine, a third recommended me to her. As if that wasn't enough, we seem to be very much on the same page regarding the business of writing and writing itself. If she can become my agent, I doubt I could do better. However, I'm not sure I'm reading the signals right and wouldn't mind a second opinion.

Here is a summary of what is going on: According to Query Tracker, this agent asks for 5 full manuscripts a year, out of around 500 submitted. She asked me for a full. About three months later, she sent two responses in the same day, along with two versions of my ms, both loaded with notes and corrections. She said it wasn't ready yet, and that I should keep working on it. A week later, she engaged in a very long social media conversation (5500 words of it), discussing my book. I shifted to an email to answer some questions and mentioned a book I'd started writing while I waited for feedback on the first one. She said it sounded "viable" and asked to see it. Meanwhile, I started a third** book based on the questions she asked on social media.

The result of these communications is that I am unsure if the agent is considering me seriously as a potential client, or if she's just trying to mentor me into becoming a better writer. Or, in a worst case scenario, she's just generous with her comments in general or because she knows I'm friends with a couple of her other clients. Based on Query tracker, that doesn't seem to be the case (rejection due to silence).

My concern is that at the moment, I am only seriously considering submitting to this one agent, even the book I finished and sent her, despite the fact that another agent might be willing to take it. If this is the way writers find agents, I'd rather this is the agent because she is my top pick. However, if her actions don't represent serious interest, I can ill afford the lost time that could be spent submitting to other agents.

My god, she sounds lovely! I'm assuming you've checked her out on Bewares etc?

It sounds to me as though you have enough interest from her to shoot her an email and say what you said here. Worst case scenario, she says I love your work but it's not quite ready yet. She's not going to say Stay Away From Me And My Son. And she's not going to say Don't Sub To Anyone Else. Those are decisions you'll have to make yourself.

But she does sound very approachable. I'd expect to keep subbing to other agents, but if she was my first pick*, I'd tell her how I felt about her and ask whether I should keep subbing regardless - and I'd trust myself a little bit more than I did last week.

Good on you, as we say down here. Sounds like things are working well

ETA : *Assuming you've checked her out on Bewares etc

ETA 2 : **Starting a lot of books in a quick minute is not a good thing. I'd probably not push that info too hard.

 

[DrAndy]

ETA : *Assuming you've checked her out on Bewares etc

ETA 2 : **Starting a lot of books in a quick minute is not a good thing. I'd probably not push that info too hard.

She isn't listed in Bewares, but I know three people she's worked with, and know of about 20 of her other clients (probably more). I'm not too worried on that score.

I agree about starting loads of books, but I do tend to finish them. I have three other books I've finished that she doesn't know about. It takes me about 2-3 months to write an 80k word novel, a little longer for NF, which is what the agent is looking at. My principal worry is that I shouldn't be treating this as an exclusive, but she really is my top pick, so if there is a decent chance of success, I'm happy to extend that courtesy.

 

[mccardey]

My principal worry is that I shouldn't be treating this as an exclusive, but she really is my top pick, so if there is a decent chance of success, I'm happy to extend that courtesy.

Two things: if she does represent you, you're going to have to get very comfortable about treating her as a business partner, so I'd start right now. Also, you shouldn't treat it as an exclusive unless it's an actual exclusive, because agents are business. So I'd ask her.

If you're right in your reasons for wanting her (and I'd assume you are) nothing she says or does in response will be because you asked her.

Writing Is Art (Discuss) but dealing with agents is business.

 

[jonxihama]

So I'm not an expert on this stuff at all, but it sounds like she gave you a Revise & Resubmit (RnR). From my understanding, you expects you to make the changes she mentioned and resubmit the first MS. Generally, I read that by default agents assume you are submitting to others. Unless then explicitly ask for an exclusive submission, agents know you are shopping your MS around.

If I may give some unsolicited advice, as you mentioned, publishing is a business and I'm sensing an attachment to this agent. It'd be bad for business for to only have one option, so I would keep shopping if I were you.

 

[DrAndy]

So I'm not an expert on this stuff at all, but it sounds like she gave you a Revise & Resubmit (RnR). From my understanding, you expects you to make the changes she mentioned and resubmit the first MS. Generally, I read that by default agents assume you are submitting to others. Unless then explicitly ask for an exclusive submission, agents know you are shopping your MS around.

If I may give some unsolicited advice, as you mentioned, publishing is a business and I'm sensing an attachment to this agent. It'd be bad for business for to only have one option, so I would keep shopping if I were you.

Thanks for the comment.

The agent and I went through several more conversations by email or social media exchanges since my last post. I now know she won't be my agent, so I will be looking elsewhere. She specializes in highly commercial non-fiction. She thought I had made an important discovery in my research that could be turned into a book. However, I write non-fiction as a hybrid between research papers and memoir, which isn't a combination this agent found commercial. I'm sure she's right, which means I'll either have to learn how to write differently, or find someone to sell a less mainstream book.

It's finished, so I hate to do nothing with it, but that may be what happens.

 

[DrAndy]

Another update: the agent remains interested. This is driving me crazy. She is giving a lot of help in the form of frequent advice and thorough edits of samples sent to her. The issue as I see it now is that she knows what sells (as evidenced by her list) and that is very tightly written almost generic coverage of non-fiction topics. I don't enjoy that type of book myself, though I own a few (including some written by this agent's clients). It is the difference between Raymond Moody's Life after Life (huge bestseller) and Dr. Ian Stevenson's "Children Who Remember Past Lives" (not a bestseller).

I much prefer Stevenson to Moody because his work includes the detail needed to be persuasive. Moody is the intriguing headline of the story that could be the basis for a 60 minutes interview, but isn't sufficient on its own to persuade. Oddly, although Moody is shorter and a faster read, I find it tedious because of its ultra-simplicity. I much prefer, and will invest the time to read, a book with far more detail, even if it is more dense, provided it is interesting.

I have also recently discovered that this agent's approach to me may be the way she normally interacts with authors. That is, she sees what she thinks is an interesting story, makes contact, then determines if the person can write. If so, then sell and publish. If not, mentor until the desired product is made, then sell and publish. She's telling me that I shouldn't worry how long it will take, suggesting it may be two years. That is a lot of time to gamble on a book, but since most of this agent's sales are extremely large, it would be worth it if it works out.

My guess is that I probably could sell my book as-is, but if I did, it wouldn't be worth nearly as much as if I continue to work with the agent, which is why I am continuing to do so.

 

[Woollybear]

Hiya,

I think you are making the right call. It sounds like she might sign you after all, in some future where the book becomes sellable to her eye?

Tangent: Regarding bestseller status: It occurs to me that of the two titles (Moody and Stevenson), one is an implicit promise that we survive death and the other is basically saying children have strange memories-- Put another way, the first title has a draw that the second title does not.

I hear you, about the power of detail in the actual book itself, but sales can be driven by the window dressing. Cover, title, blurb, etc. Marketing budget.

Anyway, keep on keeping on. If the manuscript is continuing to improve with this mentorship, it's a winning situation, yeah?