Waiting on agents

[IceRoadDucker]

I'm a regular but frequent name changer, if that matters to anyone.

My first novel went out for query at the end of last month. So far I have a great success rate - 11 rejections, 3 partials and 1 full. The first partial only went out on 5 Feb but the wait is already killing me! I've been taking the rejections really, really well but I know a rejection on a partial or full will sting.

I'm trying to put my energy into writing my third novel - 48k words in - but I can't write continually and whenever I have a spare moment I'm impatiently drumming my fingers on any hard surface I can find.

No reason for posting this thread except that I need to keep my hands from refreshing Gmail every 10 seconds even though it's way too early to expect replies, I have desktop notifications AND it updates itself automatically.

Ah, Don't rock, once you've done the first one, the others come easier: you'll find yourself cutting and pasting letters all over the place soon. I agree with others, best to get a few out there - otherwise you're putting your eggs in one basket, etc, etc.

Madhair, how excruciating. But it's only been just over a week, right?!

Imperial, I got the idea that the publishing industry shuts down for much of July and August?! So its either submit sooner or in September.

Im making a few small changes and hope to return mss to agent (for last time?!) end of next week. We'll see!

Thanks all - imperial good point about the letting others know if full manuscript requested - though tbh not really anticipating that!

Yes I know I need to submit to a few agents, planning to do a few more next week, it is finding a few free hours to do so that is tricky!

Good luck madhairday - hope you get good news soon!

dont welcome to the 'submission, not heard' club good luck-hope you can send more off. I've done two batches now and I'm going to wait to hear/not hear before doing more.

Good luck to Mad too, fingers crossed

I've moved up into the ' submission, one rejection' club as of this morning, guys. It didn't hurt as bad as I thought it would possibly because of being mentally prepared from hanging out on this forum so cheers guys 😃 x

P.S And I've hit my daily 'WC' already 😀

Every No leads you to closer to a Yes. Well done, at least you're out there! Think of how many aspiring authors haven't even finished or will never finish. You're already way ahead of all of them.

Cheers MissBattle 😃 x

Can't feel, you'll soon be in the 'submission many rejections' club too, don't worry ;)

And what an illustrious club it is!

Only need to hook one though...We can do it!

Glad you er hit your daily WC this morning?! That is good news!

Im procrastinating before afternoon school run. Ho hum.

Helmet sounds like you're close now, how exciting! And yes to the submissions/rejections club. We're all in it - it's a rite of passage. I wonder if any authors have never had one rejection?

Cant well done for taking it so well - my first one hit me hard, but then I realised I was being daft. Still hate the feeling when that email comes through, but it all gets us closer...

It's been nearly two weeks for me now :( I'm kind of giving up on this one. I'll keep on submitting, though.

Why thank you Helmet it's really important to develop a regular 'WC' habit and I would be only to happy to bear the brunt of a few more rejections just to join your illustrious club.

I am also flagging in the face of impending school run plus the biscuit tin and kettle are making eyes at me...here's to indefatigable optimism! X

Hello everyone, can I join the submission/ rejection group please?

I am going bonkers here. I decided to go for the scatter gun approach and submitted to 15 agents in two batches; the first lot nearly two months ago and the second lot at the end of April.

Out of those I've had three rejections which came through pretty quickly but nothing since. One of those rejections was a 'nice' one; another was a form no and one gave me some good feedback but basically said my protagonist was annoyed her!

I know the London Book Fair would have slowed things down but I'm getting to the stage that I just want to stick pins in my eyes and I feel like such a bloody failure and that nothing good is ever going to happen. Two agents from the first batch got back to me when I first submitted saying oh this sounds good, I'll have a read this weekend and never heard back. And now I can't help thinking that after two months none of the responses from anyone will be positive and I'm just looking at loads of rejections coming through in the next few weeks plus - even more maddeningly - radio silence from those who don't reply if they're not interested.

Anyway, just wanted to have a moan really. This is the third book I've written - the first was shoved away in a drawer never to be seen; the second came close with one agent who had the full MS for ages but ultimately said no. I sent this one to the that agent, but same thing, had who the full MS for a couple of months then said no. Don't know if I've got it in me to do a fourth book.

Gawd, I've written an essay. Sorry!

I was talking to a good agent at the weekend, and she said that she wouldn't personally submit to an agent between the end of Feb and the London Book Fair, and a similar no-fly zone in the lead up to Frankfurt. (And add in Bologna if your agent does children's, obv.)

God for you, Can't - just shrug it off and keep going. So many people's first published book is far from the first book they've written, but don't think of the others as wasted. I can think of someone I know recently whose first published novel was the fourth she had written, and the second published was the first she had written...

Wishfulblinking, you said, "Two agents from the first batch got back to me when I first submitted saying oh this sounds good" - did one of them have the initial Z by any chance?

wishfulblinking- Welcome! Don't take rejection personally. It might just be the wrong desk at the wrong time. It might not be you. If you do get feedback, it will be constructive.

Forgive me if you're already doing this, but are you targeting your agents? i.e finding a book in a similar vein and finding out who their agent is? Imperial shared a list of agents who are building their list upthread, and sometimes they are a better bet than more established agents who already have a long list of existing clients to look after and who therefore move more slowly.

Sometimes silence doesn't mean a cold shoulder.

Sorry, the handy list Imperial wrote is on the thread entitled "How to be visible on Amazon KDP".

Errata - I think that means combined with the summer and xmas breaks there's about a four month period where we can submit! Hmm maybe those agents are trying to tell us something?

ImperialBlether - one of them had the initial S!? I fear I do a good pitch/ cover email but the actual book sample lets me down....

MissBattleaxe - thank you. I try not to get too bogged down in it but I do get very impatient. Waiting is not my strong point which doesn't bode well for wanting to get into an industry which seems to be all about The Long Wait.

I did target the agents I approached, yes. I focused on those who already rep authors who deal with commercial womens fic in the same vein as mine and then to newish agents who handle commercial and are building their lists. I checked Imperial's list and have already sent to three of them (got a rejection from Elinor very quickly) and the other two are on my to do list. Just need to sit it out and wait!

I think that's what's depressing me - I'm worried I've burnt most of my bridges. There are probably another five or six out there I could submit to but then that's it.

Thanks so much though everyone - nice to know we're not alone in this craziness and other people are experiencing the same thing.

wishful- I can tell you from experience that The Waiting hasn't even begun yet! It is a VERY slow industry.

Wishful, you're still waiting for 12 - and then there's 5 more you can send to - plus there's the US and other routes too.
Don't be disheartened - tis early days yet.

I think I said on another thread, my agent took about one month to request full MSS and about 6 weeks to get back after that. She also said that virtually the whole month around book fair, she hadn't read anything.

Having said that, I'm disheartened too!

I'm thrilled I've got an agent - it is a wonderful feeling - but I'm very mindful that I was in this exact position 12 years ago, (with a different book and different agent) and nothing happened. Sigh. So I feel like, meh, if this goes wrong again, it'll probably take me another 12 years to get my shit together again.

Well, that's enough positive thinking for today!

Helmet, thank you for your kind and encouraging words. I'm sorry you're discouraged. It's wonderful that you have an agent but I'm sure there's frustration and worry even when you reach this holy grail. Are they submitting to publishers now? You're obviously talented so I'm sure everything will work out but the one positive you - and we all - can hang on to, I suppose, is that e-publishing is now a very real alternative to the usual agent/mainstream publisher route. And from my hours of agent research slash procrastination there seem to be quite a few successful authors who are rep'd by agents but self publish. So you're right, there are lots of other routes to try.

I'm just about to return MSS to her with a few changes - and then, fingers crossed, she'll start submitting.
I don't think I can bare it.

Yes, things have changed massively in the industry - agents and publishers aren't the gate keepers that they used to be which is good news for the bold. (Petrifying for everyone else!)

So exciting, Helmet.... Looking forward to hearing what happens next.

Wishful- don't lose heart. I have had more rejections than I can count. A previous work I sent was rejected around 14 times until I decided to put it in a drawer. A previous full length novel I wrote several years ago was rejected about 12 times before I put that to bed too (it was pre email and I spent £££ on postage!). This is not counting all the short stories I have sent to magazines, which have all been rejected.

Last year I wrote something completely new and the first agent I sent it to took me on. The very same day I was signed, I got a short story rejected by People's Friend for being "too predictable".

It's a rollercoaster and it's random. Your quest is far from over. You really never know what's around the corner.

Just visualise all those writers falling by the wayside as you keep leaping over the hurdles, leaving them in your wake. It's a marathon.

If you have to bare it, Helmet, you've got the wrong agent.

I'm laughing here at the thought of the People's Friend wanting an unpredictable story. They must have finally got sick of the predictable ones!

Doh! Bare is one of those words that always slips through spell-check!

Just visualise all those writers falling by the wayside as you keep leaping over the hurdles, leaving them in your wake. It's a marathon.

Thats no good. I'm lousy at both hurdles AND long-distance running.

I also wince at the running/hurdling parallels, being deeply unathletic. I tend to think of myself just outlasting other writers by sheer dint of stubbornness.