Querying the same agency

Paula

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Hello,
I was wondering, if you query a specific agent in an agency and, without reading pages, only basedon the query, they tell you "I feel this is not for me", is it ok to query another agent, who also represent our genre?
I ask this because we hesitate between certain agents and sometimes, we pick wrong.
I just read of an agent who didn't mind reading if a colleague in the agent had passed. Is this ok?

Thank you
Paula
 

ether

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It entirely depends on the agency.

For instance, Andrea Brown has a query-one-person-ONLY policy. If they think their fellow agents would have any interest, they'll pass the query on to them. Otherwise, a no from one is a no from all.

But Writers House has no problem with you querying another agent if one of them rejects.

(Please note, their policies could've changed since I last queried either of those agencies.)

Rule of thumb: Read their submission guidelines carefully. If they DON'T say not to query someone else after one has rejected, you're probably safe to send to another.
 

HoneyBadger

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Typically, if the rejection says "Not for me, thanks," you can query others at the agency, but if there's even a single "we" involved, strike the whole agency off your list.
 

kaitie

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This is one of those situations where I broke the rules and it worked in my advantage. I read a blog post by an agent at a "only query one of us" agency, and she had said that much as she hated to say it, she felt authors shouldn't always follow the rule. It came to her attention after a colleague had rejected a work that she went on to represent. As she put it, even when they pass on something to others that might be better suited, they don't always know one another's tastes to get it right every time.

In my case, I'd been rejected by another agent, and sent to my current agent (as a direct result of reading that blog post), and my current agent immediately asked for a full.

That being said, there are a couple of instances when I wouldn't do this. If the agency has one communal email address, for instance, or if they all share the same intern. But if each agent has his/her own email address, I don't think it really hurts. Just don't send them at the same time.
 

JSSchley

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Came in to mention that person on AW did this successfully.
Person on AW has posted regarding her success.

:nothing:

As with all things query, just don't be unprofessional about it. Don't bombard every agent with the same query at the same time. But there's no query jail, as Janet Reid likes to say. (In fact, I believe there's a similar thread here with the same question in which that was precisely her advice.)
 

Paula

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Thank you so much you guys. It's good to know that we have that option. Sometimes we are torn between two agents and when we receive a rejection from the one we chose, we think "Damn, I should have gone with the other!" Well, now I know there are cases where I can actually do that and don't have to scrap that agency all together :) Absolute Write is DA BOMB!
 

RainbowDragon

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No agent knows what another agent will like. Even if the agency THINKS they are all on the same wavelength, you will never know unless you query them individually (one at a time).

Worst they can do is say no and get a little snippy if they find out you "broke the rule". But (roughly) 99% of the time they won't notice anyway.

I'm not a wanton rebel, but this is a rule (that a very small minority of agencies have, I will add) I disagree with in general. The only exception is if you are made aware that a requested partial or full has been passed from one agent to another. Then a no from the second = a no from both.

The surest path to rejection is not to query.
 

writer_laurie

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It entirely depends on the agency.

For instance, Andrea Brown has a query-one-person-ONLY policy. If they think their fellow agents would have any interest, they'll pass the query on to them. Otherwise, a no from one is a no from all.

But Writers House has no problem with you querying another agent if one of them rejects.

(Please note, their policies could've changed since I last queried either of those agencies.)

Rule of thumb: Read their submission guidelines carefully. If they DON'T say not to query someone else after one has rejected, you're probably safe to send to another.


Definitely this. At least, as far as everything I have heard.