Ghosted by agent, querying hell (please ignore my previous thread)

[Writermum123]

Hi, I'm new and would appreciate hearing other people's experiences regards being ghosted by agents

I received R&R 5 months ago and had call with the agent. She was very keen and excited about my book. She sent some notes 8 weeks after we spoke on phone. I made the changes and sent to her in August but heard nothing since. I sent her a polite nudge 2 weeks ago and she hasn't replied. I've seen on QueryTracker that she has asked for couple of fulls recently and has been rejecting people, and so I know she's still working as an agent and alive!

I have found out that she has ghosted many other writers according to QueryTracker's comment section, and many of her successful clients have left her and gone on to sign with other agents. This is a huge red flag. I still can't help but feel disheartened though. She was so excited about my book and gave excellent notes, which has made the book better (silver lining). I knew it was too good to be true when I got the R&R a week into my querying journey!

I have queried other agents and in total received 6 requests for the full manuscript. 3 of these turned into rejections- 2 on same day which was soul-destroying. Still waiting to hear back on the 2 fulls and many partials. I've now ran out of agents to submit to!

I have taken the plunge and paid to have ms professionally edited just in case I'm luck enough to receive another full request. If I fail to get an agent I will submit the ms to publishers that accept unagented writers.
If I fail to get a book deal then I'll self-publish.

Querying has taken its toll on me and left me miserable. It has been so up and down. I'd really appreciate hearing other people's experiences, especially from those who have been ghosted and those who have gotten book deals without an agent.

Can’t you phone her?

I don't feel comfortable calling as I'm not signed with her. If I was a client then I would.

What do you mean by ‘R and R’? Are you saying you didn’t sign with her, but she sent you notes on the MS anyway, (which sounds very unusual to me — most agents wouldn’t put that much time into a book they weren’t representing)? Was the understanding that if she liked the revisions, she would sign you?

I had contact with an agent like this. She insisted on changes, but I wasn't signed to her. I wouldn't want to work with someone who treated me like that. It's completely disrespectful. I would just write a note saying thank you for your notes but due to your lack of communication over the last (state the number of weeks) then I will now be looking for representation elsewhere.

@Leavisite it's a revise and resubmit. It seems a lot of agents do these. They see something in the manuscript but want changes before they offer rep. I guess they don't want to offer rep unless they know the writer can make the changes.

@HollowTalk what happened with that agent? Did you make the changes?

Ah, OK. That’s quite cheeky. Were the notes useful? I agree with @HollowTalk. I would write to her telling her you’re seeking representation elsewhere now.

@Leavisite her notes were spot-on and the book is much better because of her - so at least something good came out of it.

That’s good at least! Good luck with renewed querying!

@Leavisite thanks.

Some of the changes she suggested were okay but others were completely out of sync with the type of book I was writing. She got fired a week later. I know it was nothing to do with what happened to me but maybe somebody else had complained. She was very new to the job.

Is it a case of don't ring us we'll ring you.

I think it's usual for agents and clients not to make unexpected phone calls because people do need to get their work done without being interrupted all the time. I would email my agent to ask for a phone call and she would do the same for me. I suppose if you are a very very important client, or think you are, then you might make a direct phone call!

It is considered unethical for an agent to ask an author to make changes when there is no contract between them.

@HollowTalk yeah I don't see the point of revise & resubmits. So many agents edit the novel with their client before submission to editors, so just sign the writer if you like the ms! So frustrating. I thought when she asked for a call that she would offer rep. She was saying she wanted to work with me and all the things I'd expect an agent to say if they offer rep. I didn't actually know what a revise n resubmit was until after the call! She has read my novel twice and made notes and so why waste her time? It's a mystery!

I'd love to know who she is! Is she an established agent? Does she work for a good agency?

Sorry to hear that OP. It is very common (though v rude and a massive red flag) for agents to ghost aspiring authors. The fact that she sent you a r&r without first signing you is a bit of a red flag too, but it’s great that it made the book better, so who cares!

You haven’t run out of agents to approach I’m sure - one agent says on their site not to give up until you’ve approached 100+ agents. The UK is a pretty small pool but there are many many more agents in America who are perfectly happy to work with any author who writes in English… Have a look on mswl. You can also approach some publishers directly, I nearly sold a book that way.

I submitted to agents for a year and, while it was fun at first, it swiftly became upsetting getting random rejection emails throughout the week, especially where they loved the sample and dithered about the full for months, one publisher spent six months sending r&r before turning down the book.

I decided to self publish instead and it’s so much fun. Not as prestigious but I was able to commission the cover art to my exact specifications, hundreds of buyers have read my work now, and that sure beats sitting around waiting for some patronising 21 yr old to find new ways to reject my work…

Depending on the genre you write, have you considered submitting to publishers directly? If the agent gave you some useful editing ideas and you write commercial fiction then some publishers do open submissions from time to time. The ones I can think of off the top of my head are Orion Dash, Aria, One More Chapter, Avon (OMC and Avon are part of Harper Collins) and Hera. There are probably others too.

@HollowTalk ha wouldn't it be good if there was a database of unprofessional agents to avoid! She's very established at good agency and launched careers of some very successful authors (some of which have since left her tho - I wonder why!)

@Skysblue I've submitted to bout 100 now over last 5 months. A lot of them were past month though as the last batch I submitted to loafs because had 4 full requests on my revised 3 chapters.

I've sorted backup and paid to have ms professionally edited. If I'm lucky enough to get snlther full request I can send edited ms, failing that I'll go direct to publishers in jan/Feb.

Sorry to hear about the r&r with publisher turning it down. Well done tho on the self publishing! I'm looking into it myself. Already looked at a few graphic designers for book cover!

@LouisaMayAlcott thanks for that list. Yes, will definitely go direct if fail get agent by January. Already paid to have ms professionally edited do one step closer to that route. Been looking at Bookouture, Bloodhound, HQ Digital, Welbeck, Oreanda and Red Dog. Those you mentioned going on my list! Avon would be my dream.

@writermum I'm with Avon and I was picked up by their open submission so it does happen! My agent offer came after my publishing offer, although I was already in talks with agent. Good luck!

@LouisaMayAlcott unfortunately they're closed to subs at the moment, but I'll definitely keep checking. Who did you sub to there if you don't mind me asking? Phoebe Morgan would be my 1st choice. Really admire her as both an editor and an author.

[quote Writermum123]@LouisaMayAlcott unfortunately they're closed to subs at the moment, but I'll definitely keep checking. Who did you sub to there if you don't mind me asking? Phoebe Morgan would be my 1st choice. Really admire her as both an editor and an author.[/quote]

When I went through open submissions you couldn't sub to any particular editor it's just one email address and then I guess an editorial assistant goes through them in the first instance and passes them on to editors.

@LouisaMayAlcott I'd rather fo that than sub to someone in particular. If it was rejected I'd always be wondering well what if I had subbed to someone else. That's how I've felt with agencies.