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.

Thanks, Miss B!

wasninah - that's awful and such bad practise, manners, business.... everything. How hard is a simple, 'thanks but it's not for me even with the changes'? I hope you come across kinder and more professional agents this time around and good luck with it all.

MissBattleaxe - exciting. Hope that phone rings with very good news soon.

Helmetbymidnight - have you managed to think of some comparable/influential titles? Can't believe you have to wait so long even at this stage...!

Madhairday - I really don't know when you should nudge. But I do think maybe telling the other agents you submitted to (if you haven't heard back from them) that it's being read is a good idea.

I sent that email we'd discussed here, to four of my top choice agents on Monday, saying that a full was being read elsewhere in case they were still considering my submission etc etc. My top top one's submission email address pinged me back an auto-office reply saying you know, the usual, thanks and if I don''t hear back in 12 weeks I can assume my submission hadn't been successful (had forgotten they presumably sent that to me back in March when I originally emailed them). Anyway, I counted the weeks and it had already been almost exactly 12 weeks so felt a bit stupid and embarrassed.

But then, last night, I got an email saying they liked the 3 chaps and could I send the rest. So my cheekiness/pushiness/chutzpah worked I guess. Maybe it just helped me land on a different person's desk this time, I don't know. (also have retweaked first chap a bit to make it more dramatic which maybe helped catch their eye?)

Brilliant wishful! You've clearly made your mss sound very desirable now!

Good work wishful- well played! Here's to lots of luck and not too much waiting!

Thanks all!

Sounds like everyone is doing well!

I finally finished my book last week and have sent it out. I've had 2 rejections already. The first was lovely. She said she thought I wrote very well and that I'dsent one of the strongest submissions they'd had recently, but she just didn't love it. She wished me luck finding the perfect home for it though. The second was a form rejection. Boo.

I'm waiting for 4 other agents to read it but I have a rule that each time the book gets rejected I send it to a new agent, so will get onto that on Monday.

I feel very pleased with the first rejection; it's given me a boost even if it was a 'no'

I do hate all the waiting, though! It's always so frustrating, isn't it?

Anicechocolatecake- that's an amazing result for a first query!

It's a great idea to do as you do and keep sending. The hard bit is keeping morale going and yes, the waiting. The endless waiting! Always the waiting...

Thank you. It was a huge boost to get it! My dread right now is that in six months time I'll have a big drawer full of letters saying 'very good, very good, but no thank you.' As you say it's about keeping morale up. It's hard to do!

It's very hard, because you've put so much work in and the power is all in someone else's hands and you have no idea how it's going to go. It's also so random. You could have the right book at the wrong time on the wrong desk, or you could have six months of rejections, or an offer just round the corner. there's just no way of knowing and it's SO HARD!

You just have to comfort yourself with the thought that people less determined will back down and give up whilst you keep submitting.

That's a brilliant first rejection letter anice - I know still a rejection but what a lovely one. I've had a few of those and while it's still so discouraging to be a rejection it's definitely a boost to get one saying they like your writing or whatever. Definitely keep going - a great start for you. :)

How's everyone today? I'm still waiting on agent with the full, and am going to send another round today, been meaning to for a while as I think I've strengthened it even more since last time. Keep going, and all that...

I've just had another 'like it but don't love it' rejection email (not from agent with the full ms) - I've had a few like this. Is it just another form rejection? Should we take heart from being told they like it/enjoyed it/thought the concept was great/were impressed at the writing (been told all of the above!) or just despair at it never being loved? What does it take to get an agent to love it? I feel like I've worked so hard at it and shaped those first chapters to the best I can, all feedback from betas is v good, I feel good about what I have.

So why don't they love it?

Oh Madhair, I'm sorry to hear that. If it's any comfort, I don't think such replies are pro forma, so at least an agent thinks it's worthy of a few positive lines. Most pro formas say "We do not feel we can represent your work and we wish you luck placing it elsewhere." At least mine did. In the past I have had a few handwritten lines in the margin, which was a plus, so at least they're not just rubber stamping it and saying "next!"

I'm a bit baffled lately, as I have seen at least two dreadful traditionally published books that have left me scratching my head and thinking "how the hell did that jump off the pile?"

You just never know. Like I said upthread, maybe right book, wrong desk.

What does it take to get an agent to love it?

I imagine taste comes into it a lot. If you read that thread on here - rave reviews about crap books or something - you can see how often people disagree about books, (particularly 'One Day'!)

I quite liked 'One Day' but didn't like 'The 100 year old man blah blah,' or 'The Miniaturist'. So if I were an agent, I might well have turned them down...

I think finding an agent is a bit like internet dating: there are nice fellas with great profiles out there, but you don't want to meet them..Then one comes along, he may not be as handsome as the others, but you've got a feeling it'll work...

BTW I'm still getting rejections - bastards.

I think that getting an agent is less about writing a book they can love, and more about one they can sell.

Agents have a good nose for what sells and (should) have a close eye on what is and what isn't being bought right now.

They also have to get a sense from a writer that this novel isn't a one off as they tend to like repeat sales ( much easier).

Yes it must come down to individual taste and what the market will go for. It gets you down at times but we will persevere!

Helmet - still getting rejections? Must be so strange! But you can thumb your nose at them. has your agent submitted now?

I didn't like the hundred year old etc either. Found it tedious, but dh really liked it - different tastes again. I just read 'A thousand splendid suns' which is utterly heart rending and beautiful - a definite recommendation for that one.

I submitted to a couple more yesterday but do wish this one with the full would get back to me.... I'm on tenterhooks.

I agree GetAHairCut. It's the same with publishers too. Even if an editor wants it and loves it, if it doesn't get past the accounts and marketing people, it doesn't get anywhere.

I do feel lately that some books have been shoddily edited in a rush to get the tills pinging. It makes me sad. I can think of a couple of examples of books that have sold incredibly well, but are badly written. I'm very much enjoying the other thread about it!

Where is that thread, MissB? I agree - have seen some shockers lately.

It's a rare book though that has commercial success and no merit.

Even if it's not written in a style you like or a tone you like, it will usually have something that makes it resonate with enough readers (great structure, plot, characters, interesting ideas etc). Particularly target audience (you can't please all the people all the time).

For writers it's always worth trying to pick out what works as opposed to what doesn't IMVHO.

I just read (part of) The Teacher by Katerina Diamond. The punctuation, grammar, and POV was all over the place, yet it's a bestseller. Many reviewers agreed it was awful, but many, many more loved it! I don't know how an editor let it get out with so few full stops and so many hundreds of commas. But then again, nobody can argue with solid sales figures.

The thread is here www.mumsnet.com/Talk/_chat/2659425-Bafflingly-rave-reviews-for-crap-books?

I haven't read The Teacher so can't comment.

But what I would say is that many of the books on that thread I have read and even if I didn't love them, it's pretty obvious why they attracted an agent, sold to a publisher and then went on to commercial success.

Whilst I do believe readers are entitled to think what they like, I think that social media almost encourages people to rubbish things in their entirety. It's as if if it's the mark of intelligence and wit to pick something popular and dismiss it out of hand.

As a writer I'm almost always on the look out for what's right with a book, not what's wrong.

Question re agents. I'm writing children's picture books. I send one off to an agent and they say "thanks but no thanks"/"It's shit"/whatever, how soon could I send them the next thing I do? I've got 3 in the bank and a forth ready soon, but feel I should wait a bit between sending them off.

Did they ask you to re-send Tiggy?

If not, I'd wait a long time or change my name!

If they did, then go for it.

As a writer I'm almost always on the look out for what's right with a book, not what's wrong.

That's a really positive approach and I agree. I still can't work out the success of Fifty Shades of Grey though.

Madhair, I can't thumb my nose, just yet. Instead, it knocks my confidence! Now, I wish I hadn't sent so many out!

They didn't ask me to resend the thing I sent them. They tend to say that what I sent them is not right for them, rather than I'm not right for them, which implies they might think differently about my other stuff. I think. They might not like books about witches but like books about cows or snot.

If it's different pieces of work, then, yes, I would send it, Tiggy. They might not want item 1, but might like item 2.

The agent I have now turned down a previous book of mine, although it was very different to the book that led to representation. The submissions were about two months apart.

Yes, it does depend on why they didn't want the first one, doesn't it? If they're not looking for that sort of book, then you're better looking elsewhere, but if they felt that particular book wasn't strong enough, there's no reason why another couldn't be considered.

I'm laughing at "they might like a book about snot." That would be about the hardest thing for them to sell!