querying a new novel when i still have fulls out

lindyhop

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Hi everyone! Hoping for some querying advice. I queried agents for my contemporary gothic romance this past year. Almost all of my full/partial requests have since turned into rejections, but I still have two full MSs out there in the aether. I sent both during the summertime, so it won't be time for the three-month-nudge until Oct/Nov. Meanwhile, I have been following the usual wisdom and have written a new book, an edgy contemporary erotic romance. I'm probably going to be ready to start querying my new romance by December. Two questions:

1. When I nudge the agents who have my gothic in Oct/Nov, do I tell them I have a new MS and ask them if they would like to see it? Is that rude? One of these agents is closed to queries normally (I pitched my gothic to her at a conference) but I flatter myself that she'd really like my erotic romance, and she is a total dream agent. I don't have much confidence in my gothic anymore so I'm not optimistic about an offer of rep based on it.

2. I'm going to be querying a lot of the same agents again for this new book. Should I be pessimistic about querying the folks who form-rejected my last book? The new one is different, but there are some overlaps with the setting (small towns) and of course my writing style... Would love to hear how this has gone for you guys.

Thanks!
 

mayqueen

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It can be challenging to navigate querying a new book while your old one is still circulating, but it's awesome that you have something else ready to go.

I would advise against pitching the new book to the agents still considering the old one. You want to only pitch one book at a time. I know it's tough to wait, but I would recommend waiting to see what they say. Then query them with the new book after an appropriate amount of time.

I wouldn't worry about agents who rejected your old book. If they rejected just the query, don't mention it. If they requested pages, it might help to mention that in your new query. Agents get hundreds of queries. Unless you stuck out somehow (you wrote a hate-rant to a form R or they read your last book or something), I really doubt the agent is going to recognize you just on name/email alone.
 

Becca C.

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Don't query the agents who have your older project with your new one. I would wait about 6 months between querying agents for different projects, and I wouldn't mention it if you never got past the query stage. If they read a partial or full manuscript, definitely mention it.

I've always been surprised at how well agents have remembered me. There's one agent I queried three times. She requested the first two MSS but passed on the third's query, but her rejection felt like she was emailing an old friend, calling herself "a long-time fan" of my writing. Another agent, I'd never gotten past the query stage with, but she remembered me and on the third book I queried her with, she was just as complimentary and friendly as if she'd read the others. So they may not remember you, but they may.
 

lindyhop

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Thanks for your responses, everyone! Thanks for letting me know about the waiting period between querying different projects. I wouldn't have thought of that, but I'm glad to know it now. I will double check when I sent out my last few queries and make sure to leave six months.

For the agents that still have my fulls, if they send me a email rejection (instead of a CNR), can I ask them about the new project in my reply? I would keep it low-key... something like, "thanks for letting me know/thanks for your feedback. Would you be interested in seeing something else from me in the future?"

As for the other agents, I feel a little self-conscious mentioning to an agent that she passed on a prior project of mine... but I suppose it does show that she liked something about my writing. I'll try to get over my awkwardness and mention it. I've definitely never sent any hate rants, but there were some Rs on fulls/partials that I didn't respond to. In retrospect, I probably should have sent a quick thank you. Oh, well.

Thanks again!
 

mayqueen

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I only respond to Rs on fulls/partials if I got helpful feedback rather than a form. :) I don't think it hurts to mention that they're read your work before. Something stuck out to set you apart before, so why not mention that now? Just frame it positively. "In [DATE], you requested the full of my manuscript [TITLE]. Your comments about [Specific thing they mentioned, if anything, in the rejection] resonated with me. I hope you will consider my new manuscript [TITLE]."

If the agents currently reading do reject you, I wouldn't mention a new project. I'd just wait a bit and then query using the formula above. :)
 

JoyMC

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I went through this a few times, as I queried five manuscripts before I got my agent. I had a new book ready about every six months, so invariably there would still be agents reading fulls when I was ready to query the next. I actually did nudge agents who'd had fulls for a while with something like this: "You requested my MS X six months ago, and I just wanted to keep you in the loop and let you know I've completed and begun to query a new MG contemporary manuscript. I'll let you know if there are further developments."

I treated it like a way to keep things clear and above board, so as not to confuse them if I nudged them with an offer for a different manuscript down the line. I didn't ask them if they wanted to see it, but as I recall, every time I did that, they would write back and say, "Oh send me the new thing" and/or give me an update on where they were at with what they still had.