Waiting on agents

[Madhairday]

I wondered whether anyone else is in the pit of submissions and might like to join me. I was on a thread like this a couple of years back when I wrote a YA (I had some interest but it didn't end up going anywhere) - and now I've written an upmarket commercial fiction (up lit) book and just about to start submission rounds. Part of me wonders if I am mad, going through that hell again, the rejections and the waiting, but I know I'd be cross at myself if I never gave it a try, especially as I've had extremely positive feedback from readers so far.

So here I am, collecting myself up, trying to craft a synopsis that simultaneously sounds alluring and yet reads as a plain old synopsis, and a covering letter that sings. Then there's the researching of the agents. I have just one in mind so far, so a long way to go with that.

Anyone else want to join the ride?

Hurray! That's great news, @Madhairday. Well done taking the plunge.

I'm editing. Slower than I hoped but making progress. How do you know when you have finished? I'm feeling like I could keep doing it forever (and not in a good way!)

Hi, I have not posted for a while but just caught up. @Vanta it was really interesting to head your story - sounds exhausting but I really admire your perseverance and congratulations on the book deal. It must have been so exciting to finally get there! I posted upthread, but kind of had the opposite where I got an agent then there was a long drawn out wait of months before finally acknowledging was not going to find a publisher. So, on with my second book. Your experience really shows the importance of persistence, and how arbitrary and fickle the whole publishing thing can be.

@Madhairday that’s so exciting - good luck, look forward to hearing how you get on with your submission.

I have properly restarted the redrafting process this week.... feel like it will be very slow and, yes, how to know when to stop!?

Thanks @Drybird2020 and @celestebellman. How's the editing/redrafting going?

Can I ask a question to those who have/have had agents? How long did it take them to get back to you in the first place? I hear conflicting things - sometimes two months, sometimes two days (!) - and wondered if it's true that if an agent is going to get back to you it is likely to be within a fairly short time. I've only had my first two submissions in a week so I'm not worrying, just curious really. And I must start submitting to more - I've been working a deadline with my mom fiction this week so haven't had a minute.

How's everyone getting on?

Non fiction not mom fiction

@Madhairday the time it takes for an agent to read and react to your work varies enormously. Generally, I found that agents were pretty quick ( a week or two) to request the full MS but there were exceptions to that - one agent asked after a year! But generally if they read the pitch in the submission letter and love the idea they will pull your MS to the top of the pile. Agents don't read unsolicited MS during the working day so they generally have to do it evenings and weekends so you need to bear that in mind. After six weeks I used to prompt if the submissions criteria said you could do that but increasingly agents say if you haven't heard anything from them then it's a no. It's a pretty brutal process for the author. But as I said earlier, it's like dating and what one agent dislikes another may love. It's so important to get your submission letter and pitch right. It should be short, to the point and you should be able to explain the heart of the novel in a couple of sentences. They skim read so you really need to get down to business in your pitch quickly. Good luck I feel for you it's a nail biting time.

@Madhairday

Non fiction not mom fiction

Is Mom Fiction a genre? It should be.

I'm still editing. I am pretty sure the structure is sorted so I'm going over and over finding lots of horrible errors. Every time I go back I find something else. I submitted the first three chapters to a prize a few weeks ago and thought I had it all spick and span. But to my horror I found typos when I went back and read them again this week. It's amazing how easy it is to miss them, especially as I am a pedant and can't bear sp&g errors in texts I read.

Hi Madhair - redrafting is going slowly here, though keeping plodding on. I keep vacillating between thinking the whole thing is a load of rubbish and feeling more positive about it.... guess that's normal.

I found replies from agents varied enormously. I think the rejections came in quicker -guess they know pretty quickly if they're not interested! The agent who took me on took about 8 weeks to get back to me (may have even been a bit longer) and was apologetic about the delay. So I think not hearing anything yet probably doesn't mean anything in particular. But it is so frustrating and tempting to start second guessing.

@Madhairday no hard and fast rule about how long agents take before making an offer. If you look at the huge Agents thread from 2019/2020 you'll see how varied it is. Having said that, I do know someone who had five offers in one weekend after pitching their story at a literary festival.

Thank you @Vanta, @celestebellman, @Soma and @Drybird2020 - sorry for late reply, this week has been a write off. Really interesting to read your experience of agents coming back to you/or not! I've done four submissions so far and heard nothing, I so hate this waiting period. Everyone I open my emails I'm hoping, but I really need to lay it aside. I need to get a few more in as well but we had bad news this week so nothing has been done.

Drybird I know what you mean about typos - nothing worse than spotting one after you've submitted. I spotted one in a cover letter once and was mortified, I'd been through it with what I thought was a fine tooth comb. I think our brains often cover over things when we see what we expect to see.

How's everyone else getting on?

At the risk of outing myself here (although I'm publishing under a pen name so not that identifying), I've just had an author's copy of a book through! Unfortunately that copy of the book is all I'll ever make off this story but it is a publishing credit.

I've been submitting constantly to competitions. I tell myself it is to hone my craft but actually it is probably to avoid submitting the novel further than I have and to avoid starting the sequel properly. I have sent the novel off to various first chapter or first 10000 words type competitions but no word there from anyone and they are a bit of a cop out on actually getting down to going through the Yearbook to start the serious work of submitting.

Heh... All that said I've really had some fun with a few pieces this weekend.

A love story over 2500 years with an Angel who is falling and one who is trying to stop the fall. They visit famous poets through time and there is a heartbreaking twist ending.

A blatant rip off of Callan but with American protagonists set in modern times (and with different names). Not based on any specific story but just the difference between David and Meres, the failed hero and the psychopath. Nasty ending, twist of the the knife but great fun to do.

Finally though, what I have really loved, is to do a sort of prequel to the novel I wrote. The main protagonist mentions a dark period in his life and his ex only gets a passing mention in the book. I strongly imply that she was a friend of another character too so we see all of that. It was also nice to openly write about a part of the character's life that wasn't relevant to the plot of book 1 and will only come up in the sequel (to do with his sexuality). It was also great to revisit the guy as a slightly younger man, in a different domestic situation (and without a serial killer stalking his patch in lockdown). I know the 2 paragraphs on the issue were what the novel needed but the 2000 words today felt like I got to know the character better. And it was really nice to meet his ex for the first time, she will definitely show up in the sequel.

Does anyone else ever explore around the sides of their stories at all? Not like keeping lists of details (I kept copious lists of character names and details as well as a strict chronology for the novel) but, like, ever just playing with them in different environments? Almost like fan fiction of your own work.

Sounds like you're very busy and productive, @Hippyshubbie - all sounds very interesting as well, though fantasy isn't my thing in general. I like the idea of fan fic for your own characters. Occasionally I've done an exercise where you put your character in a completely different setting and situation and see how they act - it does help round them out a bit more. I never seem to have time to do much though in those kinds of things.

Right now submitted to 6 agents, 4 just this week. 2 of them almost three weeks ago but nothing yet so I'm kind of in the doldrums of it as I've heard that if they really want it they reply really quickly. Mind you I'vee read through the whole agents thread on here and it does look like while that's the case for some, at other times they come back weeks or even months later. So I can keep a bit of hope going.

Anyone have an opinion about how many agents to submit to before you give up? I've had several beta readers who have given axing feedback and all loved it, so I do want to pursue it, but don't want to cope with the inevitable rejection either.

Amazing, not axing! I promise I proofread my submissions 🤣

Well done on getting on with submitting. I did 2 first 3 chapter competitions to agents today and two other agent submissions. Three to six months on each. I used a lot of stuff from here to help. I do need to read more contemporary fiction so I don't keep comparing it to Thomas Harris. What I did today was research one of the publishers, found what they were publishing and then read the opening chapters of a few of them to find one that fitted.

I also discovered this week that what began as a play on Callan turned out to be the missing piece from the sequel to the novel. They've moved on from where I started but they are the true antagonists of the tale.

I had some fun today writing a 1500 word radio play!

You sound very busy!

I got my first response from an agent today. It was a rejection but not a form one, it was a really nice personalised one. She said the sample was 'very well written' but felt the material might not appeal to so many readers at the moment because of covid (the novel is set in a hospital and does talk about illness in some depth.) She was really nice about it though.

Bloody covid, spoils everything!!

Hi all, I’ve not got much to report as still just redrafting (which could take a while…)

Sounds good to get positive feedback and not just a form rejection @Madhairday - sounds like you are going in the right direction. Interesting view about hospital settings not being marketable in view of current situation - I’m sure there will be loads of ‘covid literature’ in years to come….

Good luck with your other responses!

@Madhairday I hope you don't mind me resurrecting this thread, but having read through everything I was wondering, how are you getting on since your last post here? Have you heard back from the agents you submitted to? I'm hoping you have your own agent now!

I'm just about ready to go through the process. Very happy to have found this thread! I have some experience submitting short fiction to literary journals so have had my share of rejections there, only I know they will hurt so much worse this time.

Hello @Coucou2021, I'm glad you thought to resurrect the thread, I was coming on to say that I finally made my first submission today. It feels like the end of a very long process, and I hope it will be the beginning of a new one.

It's my first novel so I have no points of reference.

Interested to know how other people are getting on.

That’s brilliant @Drybird2020! Do you know how long it typically takes to hear something back?

It is a long process isn’t it? I thought writing the book would take the longest but all the editing took ages as well. I’m wondering what to do after sending it out finally. Start on the next one I suppose!

Good luck! I was in submission hell for a loooong time but had tonstop as I found it to emotionally draining getting random rejections emailed to me throughout the day, usually from women 20 years younger than me. I self-published on Amazon instead and although I’m not earning much yet I do love logging in each day and seeing on my dashboard that someone is reading my book.

@Coucou2021 it can take weeks and weeks, as far as I can gather from reading threads on here! I'm not holding my breath.

I've found it hard to stop editing. Just doing a final read of the entire MS and then I'm going to set it aside. I've got an idea for a new book and I'm desperate to get started but I don't feel I can until this one is put properly to bed.

@Skysblue I've had Amazon publishing at the back of my mind as another option but haven't explored it yet. It must be a good feeling to know that someone somewhere is reading your book! Which genre is it?

@Drybird2020 that sounds similar to submitting short stories - the longest time I had to acceptance for one was 288 days! (I had it logged on duotrope, wasn't counting honestly ). I think it'll be much harder to put it out of my mind while waiting this time.

I know what you mean about it being hard to start on the next one before the other one is properly put to bed. I finally stopped editing and want to get started on the next one but even though I'm excited about it I can't seem to get going yet. Instead just find myself faffing about doing more research (historical fiction). The house could use some attention too...!

I've got a question for those who have gone through the motions before. If you've received a request for the full manuscript and you let the other agents you've queried know about it, should you tell them who has requested the full or are you supposed to not say?

Sorry if it's a silly question!

@Coucou2021

I've got a question for those who have gone through the motions before. If you've received a request for the full manuscript and you let the other agents you've queried know about it, should you tell them who has requested the full or are you supposed to not say?

Sorry if it's a silly question!

I didn't and nobody asked. When I was signed and I told the others who had the full that I'd had the offer of representation only one asked me who that was.

Hello
I've just found this thread and am glad it's still alive!

I submitted my novel to 5 agents back in January and had 3 form rejections and 2 silences. I kind of knew at the time that the book wasn't ready but I was just so keen to move on and leave my stressful job that I sent it out anyway. Fail! I also stupidly sent it to my 2 dream agents, so they are now off the table :(

I put my book away for a few months and then went back and read it. It really showed me what was wrong and I feel now it really is the best I can make it. I spent 6 months crafting a query letter (hell) and started submitting again 3 weeks ago. I've sent out 6 this time, and am following the 'traffic light' system, so not all were agents I was crazy about. I got my first rejection yesterday - the dreaded form rejection, and I just feel so despondant about it all.

My book has been read by several beta readers, including people who don't personally know me, and the feedback has been great. It seems it's far more commercial than I imagined - which is good.

On the downside it is very original and I've struggled to find books to compare it to so wonder if agents can't see a place in the market for it? I also worry the synopsis makes it sound far more complicated than it reads. It's dual timeline and I found it really hard to give both storylines their due.

I haven't been on a creative writing course - and can't really afford to, but I'm wondering if it's worth getting into debt for? I'm toying with the idea of applying for the Faber course and putting it on a o% credit card if I'm accepted. What do people think?