Exclusive Submissions

GiddyUpGo · Jul 14, 2014

I just got a full request from an agent (yay!). His submission guidelines ask for manuscripts to be sent on an "exclusive basis." Which I am happy to do, but his request also said that I can expect to hear back from him in four to six weeks. That seems like an awful long time to not be doing anything with my manuscript.

Does a request for an exclusive also mean I should stop sending out queries to other agents? It does seem like it would be a bit awkward if I got another request and then had to say, "Well, I'd like to send it to you but there's this other guy who wanted an exclusive look at it ... " Anyone know the correct etiquette for this?

Thanks!

JulianneQJohnson · Jul 14, 2014

In my opinion, it's best to halt querying until the exclusive time runs out. If you have more requests from queries you have already send out, you can tell them about the exclusive, and ask if you can send the ms when the exclusive is over. When I was in this situation, agent #2 had no problem with waiting. They just wanted to be kept in the loop.

GiddyUpGo · Jul 26, 2014

Thanks for your reply

Old Hack · Jul 27, 2014

If you agree to the exclusive, it's important that you limit the term. So when you send it in, include an email or letter stating that you're giving them an exclusive for four weeks only (that's plenty long enough).

If you don't do this, you could find yourself unable to do anything with the ms for months and months.

GiddyUpGo · Aug 4, 2014

Thanks, that's very good advice ... and of course I didn't do that because I read your reply too late. Hopefully he'll get back to me within the promised time. Thanks again and I'll make sure to keep that in mind for next time ...

Exclusive Submissions

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GiddyUpGo

WIP: Still choosing the right font