Waiting on agents

[Hazelwood63]

Hello. I'm just looking for company on this long waiting game. Anyone else waiting to hear back from agents at the moment? I sent out five initial submissions at the end of January. So far I've received a really encouraging rejection and two requests for the full. Nothing from the other two so far. It's coming up to a month since I sent off the first full ms, and just over three weeks for the other one. Has anyone else waited over a month for a response to a full and been offered representation, or is it maybe time to think of moving on?

Thank you , she recommended two. I am also in the literaryish space xx

That’s great news @Hagstones ! Can you tell us about your book? And amazing stats to get three offers of rep from 17 queries. Inspiration for us all. Is this your debut? Did two of the offers of rep come after you nudged agents that you’d had the first offer? Would be great to hear more about your timeline—I know you shared a bit above. Am I right in thinking that if agents are interested in a full they’ll get back within a few days? I’ve had two full requests, both very fast. Anything else has been a rejection or most often no reply.
Is it a myth that agents don’t read submissions before London Book Fair? Yours was obviously still doing so, ditto the other two offers of rep.

Would be very curious to see everyone’s query letter (and first three chapters!)

Thank you. Yes, debut. Yes, two of the offers came after I nudged when I’d had the first offer. No, the timings of full requests varied from two days after I’d queried to a month later. There didn’t seem to be a pattern. No real idea about the run-in to LBF, but I imagine most agents are busy with existing clients then, and are probably not reading their submissions much…?

My query letter was entirely standard, I think! Title, genre, word count, hook, summary, comp titles, why I was querying that particular agent. Single page.

Thank you @Hagstones, it’s helpful to hear. Hoping some of your gold dust rubs off! When did you start writing? Have you done any courses?

I've always written, but only started taking it seriously a few years ago. No, no courses -- they always seem freakishly expensive, and never likely to teach you anything you couldn't learn yourself from reading, if I'm honest. (But as I've never taken any, I may well be wrong. I'd be interested to hear whether anyone who has taken a course found that they learned things they genuinely couldn't have managed any other way?)

How long were you working on this debut? Did you get beta readers? I’m in awe of the ease of your transition from trenches to representation and how confidently you dealt with it all. I realise now I queried too soon, as soon as I’d finished my second round of edits. I got one full request, later rejected, then nothing. I revised my query pitch after that, when I should have revised my chapters. There’s so much online about creating the perfect query and I got swept up in that (“this is the query that got me four offers of rep in four days” kind of stuff on BookTok).

I’ve revised properly now and started querying again late Feb. One same day full request and now waiting on that and the others.

I’ve just started a 12-week course with Faber and enjoying it very much. It includes one-to-one feedback with the tutor of 1,500 words from a current project (as well as ongoing feedback on short assignments). That’s been especially helpful. The tutor is a successful genre author and absolutely brilliant. The fee of £665 was affordable compared to the four-figure novel-writing courses which go on for longer. This is my first creative writing course. While I was writing the novel I dipped in to a lot of content on YouTube which has been helpful. I like BookFox a lot.

Also, agree with what you say about reading! Each time I read another book I love it reminds me there are so many ways to write and how subjective this all is. I do wonder whether many of the novels I love most would ever have made it in the current world, where agents/editors “jump on” one-line high-concept hooks and the conflict has to start in the opening chapters. I’m glad the Romantics were published in gentler times.
I’m making a conscious effort to read fiction from the last five years now, as well as my favourites.

P.S. Should say the £665 was affordable for me as my treat to myself over the four months of the course. I know it wouldn’t be for everyone and that’s a privilege I’m grateful for

Oops I mean three months 😁

Got a really nice personalised rejection today, which described my work as powerful. Another agent has agreed to a chat but think this may be as she was friends with my agent who left.

@ferntwist that sounds great! my partner got me an editing course with Arvon for my birthday in November, and it was intensive but good. My son spent the week biting his friends though, so maybe I shouldn't have gone.

They gave some intensive advice.

I'm looking for one or two critique partners in literary/bookclub fiction if anyone wants to swap manuscripts and critique?

have any of you done the Curtis Brown courses?

Was the agent who left Lucy Luck from C&W by any chance? I noticed she’d disappeared off their website. Such bad luck for you when you were part way through your edits. I’d have thought another agent at the same agency would have taken on her clients but it seems not? Really hoping you get alternative representation soon

@ferntwist, I think I started it in November 2023, but I took about nine months of that time away from it completely, and had a very full-on job. I don’t write fast and everything I write is terribly baggy, so the novel sort of needed to be carved out of the drafts. I have one friend who reads my work and I do hers. The kind of brutally honest reading where one of us can say ‘The last 10,000 words don’t work’. Or ‘I just don’t believe in Andrew’.

Yes, I noticed Lucy Luck had vanished too! (If she has left the industry, there are going to be a lot of good writers seeking new representation…)

No, a different one

I actually had a nice little rejection from cw earlier this week

@theotherfossilsister Sorry to hear about the rejection from C&W but glad they were nice. I never seem to hear back from anyone ! I do find that side of it hard.

I’d be interested in partnering up to beta read each other’s work—please DM me!

@ferntwist ill send you my number as lots better at WhatsApp these days xx

I had a nice rejection this week.
I had been looking at an agency, and thought I knew who I was sending it to, but when I looked again there was another agent that sounded quite fun. I thought I'd checked all they said really carefully but I clicked send and immediately saw that they'd said not the genre I write in. So I immediately crossed them off my list as I thought they wouldn't bother responding, but they did, and it was really nicely worded, while saying it's not their genre.
As most agents don't seem to respond at all, for them to send a nice personal email showed what a lovely person they are.

Anyway I've decided to rewrite my manuscript changing my main character to one I've used in other stories. They're based on my dd who has a minor disability, so will be interested to see if that gets any more interest.

Have been lurking for ages and just wanted to say thanks to you all because I have just completed my novel to beta-reader stage. The Creative Writing board has spurred me to work to a high standard, on the basis that there will be people who will want to read it, so it's worth putting the time in.
Congratulations @Hagstones - I love the idea that one day I'll be browsing in the bookshop and there will be a new book and it's by a Mumsnetter.
@theotherfossilsister good luck with your book - if you are still interested in another draft swap we might be well-matched. Mine's women's/ literary fiction.

@ThunderFog is it ok if I pm you? I do better on WhatsApp than Mumsnet cx

Good luck @ThunderFog and welcome!

So useful to hear about the way you work @Hagstones. How long is your manuscript? Has your new agent suggested edits and how do you feel about that? Did the other two who offered also do so? Would be fascinated to hear about the process from here. It’s one reason I’d love to be traditionally published, the chance to hone the book with the guidance of those who know the market.

@MargaretThursday Great to get that personalised rejection, especially if it helps with your revision. Wishing you luck with that. How motivating to base your MC on your DD

Anyone doing commercial fiction? I'd be happy to swap too!

I didn't realise that a couple of deadlines fall this week... but it's LBF week! I guess either my replies will be delayed or I'll just never hear from those agents. Oh, well.