How do you stay sane while querying agents?

[CakeRage]

I finished my first book earlier this year (after saying for years I was going to write it), and started submitting to agents 3 weeks ago.

I’ve had a couple of replies, both really encouraging, but ultimately both rejections, and I feel like I’m losing my marbles. How do you keep it together while waiting? Not sure I can take the emotional rollercoaster

The first agent replied within hours to ask for the full manuscript, emailed again the following day to say she was halfway through and absolutely blown away by it, then a few days later to say she did love it, but thought it needed a few changes making. I revised the whole thing (10,000 extra words of work), then she replied just to say it wasn’t working, and she wouldn’t be taking it further.

To be honest I’ve been pretty gutted by it. How do you stop the little judgy voice in your head which tells you you were an idiot for getting your hopes up?

The second agent replied to say she was really impressed by my writing, but didn’t feel I was a good fit for her list at the moment, and recommended another agent (different agency) who she thought would like it. I handled that one much better, even though I guess it was more of an abrupt no.

Please tell me how you cope with this stage - or come commiserate with me at its horribleness!

(Sorry for my crazed rambling - feeling all my feelings this week!)

Thanks Cake for this thread, it has been brilliant. Especially showing the reality of querying agents. I thought I should stop lurking and join in the conversation.
David Higham Associates have another open day for under represented writers in Jan 2020, the closing date for submissions is Monday 16th September.
www.davidhigham.co.uk/wp-content/uploads/DHA-Open-Day-Poster-2020.pdf

A writer friend of mine attended the last one and got some brilliant critique on her YA novel and she is able to resubmit when it's done.

Something quite fantastic happened last week, I attended my first SCWBI event (if you write for children, MG or YA join) and two days later I got a personal email from an agent asking for my full manuscript. She hadn't even attended the event - someone just told her about my pitch. Even if she hates it or it's not for her, it won't dampen my spirits because someone actually wanted to see what I had written!

Daphne on the editing question, I think it varies between agents. I submitted to an agent who is very editorially hands-on and since signing with her I have done two more drafts, totalling an additional 21,000 words on my original. I actually needed to do some quite significant work on my protagonist’s character arc. If I’d submitted to a different agent, maybe they would have turned it down on the basis that it wasn’t ready. So I think doing as much with it as you can and getting it to the point where you feel it’s as polished as you can make it is important, but not all agents will expect perfection.

Soma, that sounds very promising!

Soma, that sounds really exciting! Hope you get some good news from it.

So I may have been a total bust with my querying efforts, but at least I managed to achieve something - one epic thread

That’s so cool, Soma! Fingers crossed.
Yes, agree, Mouse - agents who are eager to make their name and are building their list will presumably have more time and hunger for debut novelists. But equally, they might well have less experience and fewer contacts than ‘bigger’ agents. Presumably the ones to aim for are agents at the top agencies but ones who are newer and say that they’re actively building their lists.
Although personally I’ve had a lot more near misses with more established agents - I think that my manuscript doesn’t appeal to people in their twenties - so I think an agent’s age is another thing to think about!

That sounds really promising, Soma - fingers crossed for you!

Fingers crossed for you Soma.

Lurking, I wish I could give you advice about agents but I too am in a dilemma about the best way forward. All I know is that self publishing is certainly an option worth exploring.

Captain keep us posted!!

Captain, do you mind telling me which agent you submitted your work to? P.M me if you'd rather do that? Of course my work may not be suitable for them but I am building a list (albeit small) of possible agents. Anyone else written uplit? If so, which agents did you submit your work to.

Joining this thread very late! I have recently finished my first novel and started the second. I’ve entered a couple of competitions and was placed third in one (not the whole manuscript, just a few chapters) and got some feedback. I have a suspicion I will need to do some more work on the manuscript but for now I’ve sent it to three agents just to get a sense of the market reaction. If I get a flat out no from all three quite quickly, it will tell me straight away that those opening chapters or the pitch needs work. If I get a yes, brilliant, then I can do the same with the manuscript.

Radio silence, I will carry on with my second novel and see where I get to in the competitions later this year...

Fingers crossed Soma, the person who originally heard the pitch must've thought it had a lot of promise!

Good luck leviathan - the competition placing is great! Hope you mentioned it in your queries? Because I write genre I don't enter many competitions (I don't see the point if the judge loves literary fic) but they do well for a lot of people.

I've sent off partials to about 6 agents now and complete radio silence in return... I expected it but also think I am spoilt after submitting short stories to sf/fantasy markets over the last year. They can be slow but usually reply, and there are a couple of markets that nearly always reply in a couple of days, so you start off getting feedback right away.

Still getting my head around potentially never hearing back!

Thanks everyone for your kind words. I'll definitely keep you all posted.
I saw this on Twitter and thought of our writing community on this thread, I hope this helps.

Nate, The Storyteller
‏**@NathanRedhart**

So after 88 rejections, 16543 teardrops and three long years, I finally got a publisher. Well two publishers, both small presses with their own bestselling authors. Please don't give up, my Friends in #writingcommunity. The excruciating heartbreak you feel

@NathanRedhart
Sep 14
when reading that horrible word "unfortunately" in your email will be replaced with the bliss of seeing "happy to let you know." And no, it's not my second or third book. It's the very first book I wrote that is now being accepted for publication. Rewrote it a lot of times buthanks everyone for your kind words. I'll keep you posted.

I can't decide how many agents to submit to!

I've sent the partial/synopsis off to eight so far, doing one a day, occasionally tweaking the letter a little along the way depending on agent requirements.

Should I wait for at least one to reply (or for them all to go past two months) before submitting any more, or is waiting just wasting time?

I've signed up to querytracker (prob a waste of money for most but I like data) and I can see it's probably going to be a couple of weeks before I get any response at all, so I don't know why I'm being impatient. I suppose I feel like I should be doing something?

I think maybe do one batch of eight to ten submissions and then try to put it out of your mind by getting on with your next project? And then wait and see what the agents have to say. You might get signed from your first round of submissions. If not, you might get some useful feedback that you can act on and you might want to use it to re-edit your manuscript before sending out another batch of submissions. Or not... But maybe worth waiting to see?

I submitted to four agencies last week - got one request for a full manuscript literally within a couple of hours and then another one the next day. All very exciting but then the first agent passed a few hours after that and nothing from the second agent... Nothing from the other two, I'm going a bit insane checking my inbox so no tips, only angst to share.

Welcome to the newcomers and well done on your full requests everythingcrossed! You must be doing something right.

It's time for me to bow out of this race now - after all my research I'm finally sure that continuing to pursue the trad route is not the right choice for me so I'm going to take matters into my own hands. I wish all of you the best of luck with your query journey. Hopefully this thread will bring luck to some more people!

Is it good form to formally withdraw queries? I'm definitely going to for the agent who still has the full, but should I do it for the unexpired queries too?

I’ve sent you a PM, Daphnesmate.

I probably would withdraw formally if you have made a final decision, Cake. There are a lot of really inspiring success stories with self publishing so I hope it goes really well for you.

Good luck, Cake, please let us know how self-publishing works out. Thank you for starting this thread, I've learnt so much even though I have barely contributed

Thanks Captain. And I'll be looking out for your book, of course, now that we pretty much all know who you are! Hope it sells in a multi-way auction for a ridic amount of money

You're welcome everythingcrossed! It's been a brilliant learning experience for me too, even though the things I've learned in the end weren't at all what I thought they would be. Onwards and upwards, right?

Good luck Cake.
Thank you for starting the thread.
And would love to hear about your self pub experience!

Oh cake please stay on this thread! I’m very invested in your story (which tells em you are a very engaging communicator!) I’m fascinated to see how it goes for you!

Thanks Elle

Carshmar - that’s so lovely to say, thank you. I’ll definitely still potter about on this thread to see how everyone else is getting along. Hopefully we’ll have some more exciting moments!

Had a call with an agent today. She wasn’t that positive about my WIP (thinks the subject matter is problematic) but she loves the writing and has asked me to send over anything else I am working on, even if partially completed, as she would like to read more. So a bit disappointed not to have a better outcome for this novel, but actually I have been reflecting on it anyway and I think she may be right, so am happy to get started on something else.

But leviathan, you said you only sent your ms to a few agents, and you got a call so quickly because she loved your writing?? That's amazing! Seriously most submissions are quickly rejected - that's a really good sign even if it feels disappointing right now.

I haven't heard a peep from the 8 subs I have out right now. I'll start sending to more tomorrow I think.

Yes, thanks, IndefatigableMouse, I am delighted with the comments on the writing. I think she’s probably right, though, about the content.

That sounds very promising, leviathan. If you've only sent it to a handful of agents, I would really encourage you to send it to more before you consider shelving it entirely. Different agents will be looking for different things, and you really can't tell a whole lot from the response of one or two.

Ive decided to finally stop lurking and join in on this thread. I'm just doing line edits on a dual timeline historical novel and will be sending out to agents later this month. I belong to the Romantic Novelist Association new writers scheme so I've had a critique from a published author and it was very encouraging. And I had a one to one at a conference with an agent who asked to see the full but I have no idea who else I will submit to. I'm off to the library tomorrow to peruse the W&A yearbook!

So, hello everyone!