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!)

Well done, leviathan, that's great that they want to read more.

I got a rejection yesterday from the second agency that had asked for the full manuscript - it was so flattering and flowery, it took me a while to realise it was a rejection . I guess they were trying to sugar the pill but it has just left me confused... Onwards and upwards, I'm submitting to four more today.

Wow leviathan, that's really positive. What a compliment

And good luck Louisa and everythingcrossed! Hope you got some useful feedback everything. Sounds like they liked your writing even if it wasn't for them.

Got my first form r from an agent yesterday - I sort of expected it and am used to literary rejection but still feel a little dejected. What if they all form R me?

I would get over it of course and just get on with the next thing but in the meantime - pah!

Hi all. I am joining after a massive lurk. This thread is very good at giving a real-time account of the realities of submissions! I submitted a fiction novel to several agents around three weeks ago. I worked 1-2-1 with one of the manuscript assessment agencies and the mentor seemed very into the final draft. They also helped suggest likely agents. I do really recommend that kind of input despite being £££. But I am not coping with the fact it is all so random and beyond my control now! I haven't heard anything back yet. How long did anyone wait before responses for the full? How long before the first round of knock-backs?

Hi @EveryoneIsTooLoud and welcome.

In answer to your question, I got a request for my full within 2 days, but it was then rejected 10 days later. All my other submissions have been no-replies or forms - quickest rejection was about a week, longest was about 12 weeks.

I'm interested to hear you found a professional editing service was helpful. If you don't mind my asking, what sort of changes did they suggest, and how much time did they spend working with you?

The waiting and silence is awful in this game, but it helps to know I am not alone!

Thanks for that, it will be interesting to see how it pans out.

The assessment service I chose did a full read of the MS, then asked me what I wanted from the project. I wanted a commercially viable novel. So he suggested some quite big changes eg; tying it in more tightly to a traditional structure, changing the narrative tone a bit and making it fit more to genre expectations (gothic historical). I did a full rewrite but that did not take long. On the second read the changes were more niggly with things like wobbles in perspective. He also read the submission and gave feedback on the extract, synopsis and covering letter and on which agents I planned to submit to. I paid separately for each piece of feedback. It cost me money but less than a creative writing course and it was an extreme learning curve tailored to my knowledge gaps. I am tackling the first draft of my next novel with much more ease.

EveryoneTooLoud I think a lot of agents would be very busy around now with the Frankfurt Book Fair so I would guess it might take a bit longer for them to get around to reading new submissions until the end of October.

How’s everyone getting on? Feel like I haven’t checked in for ages. Is Captain famous yet?

I had a plot twist today. I got a full request after FIVE MONTHS. It was so far past the expiry date that I didn’t even contact that particular agent to withdraw it as I’d crossed her off my two months ago. Thought this might interest those of you who think it’s been too long since you submitted to hear any positive news!

Not yet! Novel goes out on submission to publishers in a few weeks so I have everything possible crossed it will sell!

That’s great about the full request - have you got anything going with self publishing yet or are you going to see what comes of this agent?

Aw, how exciting! Keeping everything crossed for you. Sure it will be snapped up sharpish

I’m just going to reply and be up front with her about it and see what she says. My book might not be flying off the shelves, but it’s selling steadily (despite me not doing any marketing beyond occasionally tweeting about it) and I’m getting really good reviews, so I’ve got nothing to lose. If she passes I’ll carry on merrily doing it my way!

That’s brilliant! It sounds like a good position to be in!

Well, I’ve replied, so let’s see what happens. I’m actually easy either way, to be honest, which feels really weird.

It’s all an adventure, isn’t it?

Wow that's amazing after 5 months!

Oh and captainbrickbeard fingers crossed you get a brilliant deal with a publisher!

Wow, you've already published your book cake? That's amazing, I had no idea it was so fast. Congratulations. And five months - sheesh .

I don’t mess about, haha.

It was already in a multiply polished state from submission, so I just formatted it which took a couple of hours, added the cover artwork and Bob’s your mother’s brother!

The full is with the agent now. If nothing else I am interested to know what her opinion is of previously self-published books just for my own curiosity. She’s asking if I have any other projects lined up so I guess it’s not a flat no. We will see!

Okay, so I have no further excuses to procrastinate (Very busy with dcs and house build recently but the bulk of the work is behind us). The first 3 chapters of my novel are as polished as I can make them. I need someone to proof read the rest (have a lovely friend for this) but I should really think about submitting this week/over the next week or two as I planned to do. I feel extremely nervous - is there ever a right time for this, I guess I've just got to have courage and press the send button.

Do it! But make sure the rest of it is ready to go too in case you get a quick request for the full. Then drive yourself crazy refreshing your email every five minutes...

Thanks Appropriate. I am guessing I wouldn't get a quick response but yes, I see what you mean. The rest could do with cleaning up a bit - it is definitely in fairly reasonable shape - does it have to be perfect for an agent to say that they like it with the caveat that you hone it like the beginning of the book. Every time I read it I make some sort of change - tweaks really, nothing major to the plot - the occasional restructuring of a sentence, rather than chopping things out. I would definitely want to go over it again if I were to self publish, just don't know how good is good enough for an agent to say there is something in it.

I think realistically agents get so many unsolicited submissions that you don’t want to give them a reason to say no. So I’d try to have it as polished as possible before sending anything off. When I was subbing my last attempt I got my one full request within a couple of days of submitting, whereas other responses were coming in for months afterwards.

I pitched five agents back in June. I'd just assumed the silence meant a big fat NO when I got three rejections this weekend. Two were form rejections, but the third agent graciously deigned to use my name and tell me that she hadn't found my chapters 'gripping enough' and agents needed to feel 'absolutely passionate' before taking something on.

Okay, but when you read some of what agents apparently were 'absolutely passionate' about...!

It's dispiriting. Good luck to everyone.

daphnesmate I think you should definitely have it all ready before you submit. When I submitted I had a request for the full from one agent less than an hour later. I would have been gutted if I couldn't send it straight off. Mind you I wish the response back to me about the full would come a bit quicker, I've been waiting a fortnight and refreshing my emails every 5 minutes!

Funny you should say that Gowk, cause I got a form rejection yesterday from an agent I submitted to in April (who said nudge us after 6 weeks, so I nudged in June).

It actually made me laugh. I had assumed it was a no a LONG time ago, but I guess it was nice of them to just not completely ignore both emails

sigh, I'm bored of agents now. Or rather waiting for them. Out of my initial send out I've had two form rejections now, and lots of silence. Hard to say on such little data if it's the submission that's the problem or just not what those agents wanted.

I've checked on querytracker and most of 'my' agent list is very slow responding or doesn't respond at all so I don't expect answers any time soon.

Maybe I need to query some more... if I can just find the energy!

Bit of a random question - if an agent asks to see sample chapters of a work in progress, do you think they would expect to see a draft version rather than something beautifully polished?