Why wouldn't you tell agents you've had a request for a full even if you haven't?

[AllOutWar]

So fed up with the wall of silence. What wouldn't you just lie and say you've had a request for a full even if you haven't, just to nudge the people you are waiting to hear from?

Agents talk…

They definitely talk. And - not talking about your manuscript here - they can tell if a manuscript isn't any good that it's very unlikely another agent is interested.

Don't lie to them. Send it to agents who are actively looking to fill their lists and particularly look out for agents who love to work with debut authors.

Don't do this! As previous posters said, it's a small world and word can get around really easily. It's hard to have perspective on your own work - particularly if it's your first novel - and you could easily be telling an agent that you've had full requests on something that isn't at the point where it could realistically be picked up.

There's also the risk that you lie to one of the agents who asks who else has the full. Not many do it, but I've heard of the odd one. More might ask at the offer stage.

It's also a bit pointless. If there's a reason why your submission isn't getting past the form rejection stage, or getting responses at all, the issues are still going to be there in the full. Focus on other ways to get feedback - it's vanishingly rare for agents to offer it on a rejection. Find a Facebook group that will critique your submission package, or look for a beta reader swap or similar.

It's really tough for submitting writers at the moment. Response times are very long - the big surge of submissions off the back of books written in Covid is probably still having an effect - and not responding at all has crept in over the last couple of years. But don't risk getting your name known for the wrong reasons.

If and when you sign with an agent, it's a really important relationship that creates the foundations of your writing career. Starting it off on a lie would be a very bad idea. You need trust and honesty between the two of you.

Hearing nothing back is extremely frustrating, but it's also something you have to get used to as an author - publishing is very fast or very slow and there are always long periods of waiting.

Good luck with querying, I hope you hear something soon.

You might also provoke them into stepping aside like that — they might think that if someone else already has a clear vision for it, they might as well not bother trying.
Even if it worked and they request the full, it won’t get you any further along if they don’t think they could sell the novel.