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.

Hey guys,

Long time no see. I’ve been through a bit of a rollercoaster. Got roundly rejected last time and rewrote the book on an online course. Just started subbing again and got a same day full MS from a smallish agency and waiting on six others.

Email refresh button doesn’t know what’s hit it! It’s so frustrating waiting. Anyway, great to see some success stories on here and others persevering. I’ve decided that if I don’t make it this time, I’m going to hang up the writing slippers. I’ll still write but just for myself not publication

And a dose of reality from CL Taylor

www.bookbrunch.co.uk/page/free-article/writing-the-dream-verses-the-reality/

Hello @Can'tFeelMyFace, great to see you. Fingers crossed for the smallish agency - and the six others. Are you happier with the rewritten version?

You can't hang up the writing slippers! Well, you can say that for a month or two but :)

This thread is over two years old! It would be great to catch up with some of the posters on here to see how things panned out. I won't tag them, but if they're trotting by...Hey...

I'm heading towards publication with the 2nd book I wrote on this thread (about the zillionth in real life). It's all very exciting and I'm thrilled and happy except...

1. Its overshadowed by all the shite in my private life - its funny that something so huge to me once (publication) now seems to pale in insignificance.

and 2. The/my goalposts change so rapidly. Now it's - what do the reviews say/amazon/netgalley/goodreads/will anyone like it/will I get another contract?...And that...will I get another contract? is a big one. It seems like writers can go back to square one v. quickly.

I am trying to enjoy the moment, honest, but its more fraught than I anticipated. :)

Anyway, wanted to wish everyone well, and hope to hear good news soon, Can'tFeel.

That's great news you're on your second book, Helmet.

I submitted to lots of agents and got lots of rejections, some more positive than others, had an agent appear interested but then never heard from them again.

I've had some interest from a digital imprint, they said they saw potential in my MS and offered me some suggestions for changes, which I agree with and which make the story better. So I'm just making those changes and hoping they like the revised version enough to publish it.

I do like the idea of having an agent and someone advocating for you, particularly as I have little knowledge of the world of publishing. But this sounds like it could be a great opportunity if they like the rewritten version. I'm just trying not to get my hopes up!

Has anyone else published with a digital imprint? And with no agent?

Hey don't wake. That sounds promising. I'm going to pm you.

Thanks Helmet

Great news Helmet, well done for getting published! I remember you getting a call in Sainsburys(I think!) and the ups and downs when it didn’t get taken up at first. So good to hear you got there in the end. Yes, I have threatened to give up many times but not quite got round to it.

Dontwake- no experience of digital imprint but it does sound promising.
This is the thing which I’m sure we bitter souls are all aware of now on this thread. Things can amount to nothing so like you, I’m keeping my hopes firmly under control but got it all crossed for us all...

Hi Can't, well done on getting a full request. Fingers crossed for you. It is so hard not get your hopes up every time isn't it? I've had so many rejections now I was thinking about giving up with my current MS and was working on something different, until I got the email from the digital publishers. So I'm back to my original MS - on draft 327 I think

Thanks Cantfeel, I don't think I was the Sainsbury phone call person, but I was full of ups and downs (mostly downs) :)

I hope you hear something positive very soon. Damn the Easter Weekend, eh!

Oops, it’s the name changes that get me-sorry! I am going to have to read this thread again to reacquaint myself with the old gang. In other news I’ve been short listed in a flash fiction competition-a much needed pat on the back when there is so little in the way of positive feedback as an unpublished writer. Even if I don’t get a prize, it’s encouarged me to keep at it

Hope other folks are doing ok on their journeys...

What is the average time it’s taken for you to hear back from agents? Really stupidly have sent out to 6 agents over book fair time which I knew was stupid, I just had to get it off my desk if you know what I mean!

Gosh, they will be out of radar until the end of April at least so I would add on 2-3 weeks to the average 6-8 weeks. My earliest response was same day and (on the last cycle) the slowest response was 18 months- a rejection, which I had kind of figured out so not sure why they felt the need 😂

Average 4-8 weeks for most...

Banana I've done six queries so far. Response time ranged from next day to 8 weeks, although the 8 week one got lost somehow (when I enquired after it), so I resubmitted it, then they rejected it, then a couple weeks later they rejected it again, just for good measure.

Average was 3/4 weeks - better than I expected. However, they were all rejections so I need to do a new batch, but I'll give the agents a bit longer to recover from the book fair.

What I have learned is to keep several pots on the boil - if I have just one query out, I end up obsessing over it.

Just had one request for a full thank goodness!

Well done Banana! 😃👍👍 What genre are you writing in?

I guess it’s upmarket/reading group/possibly lowbrow literary . I mean it’s got a story line and stuff so it’s not THAT literary.

Not to diss literary, I just read an amazing literary novel and spent the whole thing thinking ‘I could NEVER do that’.

Yes, I’m always reading stuff like that and thinking WTF? How did their brain even?...so yeah, firmly in the commercial camp also All the best, hope they like the full!

Hello! Just rediscovered this thread and wondered how you are all getting on.

Helmet - fantastic news about 2nd book. How's the publication process going?

Cantfeel - how did the full ms request go in the end?

Anyone waiting right now?

Helmet, what you said earlier about the whole process resonated a lot. I always thought that getting a publishing deal would kind of be the apex, that everything would be great from there on in, that my confidence would be and remain sky high. But since getting my (non fiction) contract it's been a rollercoaster. I was on a massive high and came crashing to earth with my editor's first round of suggested changes and criticisms of parts of the ms. It was ouch :) Then we had a dance of editing, beta readers, me feeling great about it, me feeling like it was utter crap and what on earth was I doing thinking I could write?

And alongside that I've still been doing the odd submission for my YA. A bit disheartened as from the last round of 5 I sent I have heard nothing. Nada. And this was around 3 months ago

It's an up and down road and the ups are fantastic but the downs are rubbish. I'm at an odd place right now; my ms is finished for the non fiction and with the copyeditors and designers ready for launch in November, and I don't quite know what to concentrate on next. Had a little tinker with my ya ms yesterday and might go for another round. Or even self publishing. Gulp.

What does everyone here do in terms of social media? I've had to build a platform for my non fiction stuff but I don't like doing it, and the thought of doing more for the fiction terrifies me a little. I could mix both but the audiences are completely different so don't think it would work...

Hi mad!

Good to see you're still around! And can'tfeel, it's half a quiche

Rejection is so soul destroying isn't it? I've finished revising draft 1 of my new ms (if u fancy more editing? ) and going to a writers festival in a few weeks with the plan to revise again based on that advice and then look at subbing.

But having just done a Twitter competition for a week and got nowhere I'm feeling like I'm just not gonna be good enough to ever get close to published and not sure I'd cope very well with the highs and lows u describe anyway!

It's hard to know how long to keep going for isn't it?

(Tho mad in your case definitely keep going, book 1 was great!)

Hello guys, good to hear from the old gang!

This up and down business is really resonating with me. Early April, I signed with an agency and was cloud 9 for weeks. Agent wanted to do an editorial and I was expecting that back in May but its been delayed and I completely understand-existing clients and their publisher deadlines but feel out of touch with the book and starting to doubt myself a little. (Also my agent mentions other clients and how their books are so enthralling that she forgets to edit and just reads, I start getting a horrible feeling she'll be sourcing an axe for mine ) So, just trying to keep positive, snooping around some research, writing shorts and waiting...slowest business in the world.

Mad, what you are going through is totally normal, I'm feeling it too. Keep thinking, has my agent made a mistake? I've read your stuff and you're a great writer so keep at it. I got rejected so many times, I've lost count, keep resubmitting, its about finding the right fit.

Stripy-you remember the quiche!! your book was great too and hope you're not too down about the comps comps. There can only be one winner so good ones have to lose too, this is the problem with them, hugely deflating as its all or nothing....I have lost too many to mention...

Hello,

Can't feel: that is a great position to be in - agent going to do edits and then going to submit?! I hope she bloody hurries up with it! I think its normal to feel distanced from it, but when it comes back and you see that someone is taking it really seriously, it'll draw you back in again. Quality wise, a gap between writing and editing is really good, I reckon.

Hey Mad, exciting to be publishing in November - I bet you'll learn a lot from that about what works and what doesn't, that you'll apply to the fic when that happens.

Stripy, it IS an endurance test. Keep going, keep going.

Re social media, I started twitter and FB in pen-name, I dunno how effective it is...Its certainly effective at wasting my time. So now I write a bit, MN a bit, tweet some shite, FB some shite, (and compulsively check my rankings on this site called Novelrank.com - check it out!) not very productive. Ho hum.

Helmet you made me laugh, that's exactly how I feel about social media - a bit of a drain on time posting shit - it does sometimes have some return but so often you feel like you're trying to get people in a massive crowd to hear you and they just don't. It's a bit soul destroying at times...

Stripy! Great to see you and exciting news on new WIP! Is it still dystopian stuff - the follow up to your first? Or something different? Keep on plodding on. My experience with those sort of Twitter comps etc is that they are pretty hard to get noticed at all, I've never got anywhere with those types of things. You can do it - you've shown so much determination already and come so far!

Cantfeel, that is such fantastic news about signing with an agent but I do feel your frustration about waiting. Hope your agent gets back to you soon. It's very exciting! Can't wait to see your stuff in print :)

Thanks both for your encouraging words :)

Mad and Helmet, thanks. I agree, social media sucks up hours. You post something and either everybody ignores it or if people do interact, you reply, like something, retweet and before you know it, a day has gone ‘twittering’ about. I’m only doing it as was advised it’s wise to have some sort of presence.... 😁