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?

Hi @NewWriter and welcome!!!

Amazing that you have finished writing your manuscript and are almost ready to send out!!! Such a huge achievement ❤️

I had another rejection from an agent who had the full manuscript but she gave really great feedback. She said she loved the premise and writing style but didn’t think the way I had written it from multiple perspectives was successful and asked me to resubmit if I chose to write it from one character. This would obviously mean rewriting the whole thing which would be so long! 😂

My grandma who’s a successful published author, read it also and she loved it but said there were easy fix errors which would put off agents and that I’d submitted too soon. So amazing that you’ve spent so much time on it before querying. I’m sure it will be perfect by May!

I also gave birth 2 weeks ago so obviously busy with a beautiful new baby and will get back to editing, writing and hopefully at some point querying again very soon!

How’s everyone else? ❤️

I sent mine to an editor - I wanted to use it as a learning experience. Have 3 more weeks left to wait, but found errors in there. Convinced it is rubbish.

Hi @Bex5490 thank you for the lovely welcome! Huge congratulations on your new baby - definitely take all the time you need to be with baby, those first few weeks are so full on! Hope you enjoy the newborn baby cuddles and get to rest when you can ❤It's great that you are getting feedback from agents and also from your grandma, sounds like you are right on track. I can't wait to start querying too - it's almost like that will make it more of a real manuscript, once I have sent it out.

@LuciferRising we can be our own worst critic - I bet it's not rubbish at all. Well done for writing your manuscript.

sorry @Bex5490 I tried to tag you in the above, don't know why it didn't work!

Congrats on being a mother @Bex5490 !
what’s more exciting than that? (Answer: nothing). Wishing you lots of success with your manuscript; looks like you’ve got a R&R, it’s so encouraging.
It’s great to hear others doing better than me. I’ve emailed 40 queries over three months and only received one partial request from a dream UK agent (still waiting for an outcome) and many form rejections. I’ve had beta readers loving it and an editor thinking it was good enough to submit but clearly I’ve missed the mark. Im torn between having the manuscript critiqued or just move on and start working on another novel.

How did you find Betas?

Betas are invaluable. I don’t think I could have done without. We’re looking inwards on our darlings and they give us a reader’s perspective. For me it was better to start with Beta readers to get a sense of validation, before moving to an editor. But what do I know, it’s only my second novel and I’m unpublished 😆

Hey All!

@LuciferRising I constantly flit between feeling really proud of my book to cringing at every word and feeling stupid for even thinking it might have a chance. You must have loved it at some point so I’m sure you’re just being hard on yourself x

@NewWriter I am really enjoying our new addition to the family but 2 small children is definitely a step up from 1! The cuddles do indeed make it worth it. On May 6th I’ll know the result of all the agents I queried as their silence will mean it’s a no. This gives me a good chunk of time to get used to being a walking milk machine again!

I’m so excited for you that you’re so close to querying and look forward to hearing all about your million pound book deal!! 😂

@HelloEverybody Thanks for the good wishes and being a mum definitely trumps being a writer!!

It only takes one person to understand and love it so crossing all my fingers and toes for you that your dream agent responds positively!

I’m fast approaching the day that means all me queries were rejected…I’ll probably try one more round of submissions before moving on to something else. I feel I need to make use of this maternity time or I’ll be too busy with work to write or query. X

@Bex5490 You've timed everything so well! Good luck, I hope you hear back soon and you end up with your ideal agent! Also if it offers any reassurance at all, the leap from 1-2 kids is hard during the newborn phase when you can't give as much attention to your eldest but I'm 8 months in and it has gotten significantly easier and seeing my eldest play with my youngest and her laughing at him is just the best 😭😍❤

Can I join? Right at the beginning of the querying process - sent off initial submissions to four agents at the beginning of this week. Historical novel that I have been working on for about 5 years! Have worked with a mentor and had beta reads, lots of drafts have been produced. Feel a bit like it is in the lap of the gods now.

Hi everyone, I hope you don't mind me joining the conversation.
I had written two manuscripts before it clicked with me. I subbed to death my first - to about 50 agents. The second was a Nano, didn't even bother editing that as it was so weird. The third was based on an idea I saw in the newspaper, and I subbed the first three chapters to competitions, and that got me the attention of agents. Nothing came of that novel. The fourth novel I wrote thinking, this is never gonna happen, but I love writing. And this is when it happened for me.
Just wanted to tell you to never give up. If you love it and you want it, you will find a way, you really will.

@SheShedHeWants Welcome and thanks for sharing your story. It’s so nice to hear. No path is linear indeed. I’ve got to say, the hardest part for me has been for sure the (unsuccessful) querying process. But once I picked myself up, I realised that “failure” was inevitable at the beginning and was just part of the learning curve. I’ve also realised the importance of being marketable. Sometimes your subject is ahead of the curve and it’s okay to park it and revisit it later on.

Welcome @splothersdog and congrats on your subs! Take some time to celebrate this epic milestone. I think it’s so sensible to send 4-5 every time. That gives you the chance
to pivot in between responses.

Welcome @splothersdog and @SheShedHeWants !! Hope it's okay I joined too - I didn't think to ask!!

Congratulations @splothersdog on starting the querying process, everything crossed for you!

Thank you so much for sharing your story @SheShedHeWants it's great to hear and well done on doing it. Huge achievement!!

Thank you everyone. This is going to be a challenge for me. I have zero patience!!

Hope everyone is doing well! I also have zero patience @splothersdog , I keep eagerly checking the thread for updates!

My first manuscript has been accepted by a publisher without the need for an Agent. They use their own Editors so no cost there. I thought that was how this industry worked? They have asked me to work on another book, their subject choice, which I am deep in research for. Non fiction. Speciality publisher, who approached me.

First rejection in ....

Sorry to hear @splothersdog , hope you get some positive news soon. But still huge well done on having a finished manuscript, an achievement in itself.

@nevertrustanyoneagain a lot of publishers only deal with agents and won't accept unsolicited manuscripts.

@nevertrustanyoneagain sorry I should had - massive congratulations on being published!

@splothersdog - it must be difficult, but I guess it is part of the process, and you have a finished manuscript.

I got my feedback from the editor I hired - they really didn't like it. I now need to digest it .

Hi @LuciferRising I hope that you're okay, it can be so hard receiving feedback about something you've worked so hard on! Do take what they've said with a grain of salt though, it's only one person's opinion and they're just suggestions.

I wanted to post because... I've just finished my manuscript!! I finished my final round of revisions today (my fifth edit). I'm going to print it this afternoon then have the weekend off (I have two kids so I never really have the weekend off... But a weekend off from looking at my manuscript) then I'm going to do my final proof read of my manuscript on Monday/Tuesday/Wednesday... Paying special attention to the first three chapters...

I have drafted my query letter and synopsis so I'm going to edit that this weekend too.

Then, my plan is that on Thursday I want to send out my first queries!!

I was thinking about how this might be the most joyful part of the novel writing process. This part where I'm thrilled to have written a whole manuscript but haven't yet started receiving rejections or even worse just getting flat out ghosted by agents. So going to enjoy this moment!!!

I have never ever managed to write a whole manuscript before so I am really proud of myself. Not very cool to admit, but I am!

Hope everyone else is doing well. Sending lots of luck to all on this journey!

Ok I finally feel like less of an imposter on this thread now! Things went a bit quicker than expected so I have now submitted queries to 4 agents (2 yesterday and 2 today). Planning to submit 4 more tomorrow and then going to sit tight until next week. I'm v v impatient so even though I have only sent the emails out the wait is killing me. Let's see if I even get any requests for a full manuscript 😬

Hope to hear again from others on this thread. I know everyone is probably very busy editing and querying!

No news. One more sub in place of the 'no thank you'. Also subbed to three indie presses.
Made a start on novel 2 to keep me sane.

Good to hear from you @splothersdog , but sorry that you still haven't had any news yet! Hope you get some soon. I submitted to 9 agents this week and will do more next week. The wait is excruciating even though it's only just begun for me... Good idea to start writing another novel already - I will probably start another soon too!!