Wednesday, July 05, 2017

More on waiting, cause really what else should we talk about while you're waiting!

Your recent blog posts about manuscript requests and R&R’s spurred me into action to respond to a longstanding response to requested materials. Here is the timeline of our correspondence:

I queried with sample pages.

A week later she sent a very complimentary response enthusiastically requesting the full. I responded that day.

She sent an immediate response, thank you, she had it and would get back to me shortly.

Three months later I sent a nudge and asked if she wanted to see a version incorporating some revisions.

A month later she sent a reply, she was very sorry she hadn’t got to this, but still wanted to read it, please send the revision and she would get back soon. I responded that day.

Three months later I sent a nudge, only to learn that she had switched agencies. Ack!

Three months after that I sent a nudge.

A few days after that I had a happenstance twitter DM conversation with one of her authors. The author mentioned that she had asked her agent about my MS, and that the agent had been very excited to read it, but had been very busy (selling this authors book for one, and changing agencies.) The author suggested I contact the agent again after Christmas.

I sent an after Christmas nudge. The agent responded after a month. Yes the transition to the new agency had been chaotic. She still wanted to read my MS, but in the transition had lost access to the version I sent. Could I resend? I replied that day. (Also perhaps this was some indication that the agency shift had not been an entirely happy affair?)

Another three months, another nudge.

A month later, since I hadn’t heard back, I sent another nudge.

All in all this has been going on for almost a year now.

Her author loves her, and they have three book deals in two years.  The agent is making good deals with major publishers, which I see as a great sign. She expressed a lot of enthusiasm on several occasions, thus I feel a sense of obligation to not just give up. But I also don’t want to be rude.

Q1 Should I continue to send nudges? If so, how often and how many before I give up?
Q2 I have maintained a twitter connection to her author and we have DM’d on several occasions. Should I discuss this with her via DM? If so, what should I say or ask?
Q3 The agent and I are mutual Twitter followers, so I could/should I break the rule and DM the agent on the assumption that my inquiries are getting lost in the junk-mail folder, and that she would want to know that she had lost track? I tried this one other time with an agent and it actually lead to a great conversation.

My hamster wheel is spinning full speed ahead, but the bearings are getting a little wobbly.

Q1: Yes, about every 90 days or so. Don't give up.

Q2: NO. Involving a client in this is the fastest way I can think of to get an instant pass and not because of your novel but because you overstepped a pretty clear line.

Q3: NO.

Your mail isn't getting lost in her junk mail folder. People have the weirdest idea that when their emails aren't answered it's cause we didn't see it. That's just not true. It's cause we have 400+ OTHER emails pending too.

I spent a good chunk of this past weekend winnowing my incoming email down to under 100 pending. Down from 400+.  Yes, a lot of those replies started with "sorry for the delay." And NONE of those were "hey I read your manuscript." Those are still pending.

You have NO idea what else is going on in her office. If she's selling things, that's her highest priority.  Moving agencies slows everything down too, even when the move is a very good thing. (And no, losing access to the email address at her former agency is par for the course, not an indication of bad feeling.)

I will also tell you this: right now a lot of agents and editors are having a hard time reading incoming work. I don't know why that is. I myself have a backlog of 40+ requested manuscripts.

I know waiting is just the pits, but right now, that's your job. Work on the next project. KEEP QUERYING. Get off the rodent wheel, and remember that YOUR priorities are not yet hers.

But, yes, this does seem like a long time, even with the special circumstances you describe.  I looked at my incoming fulls and I'm current on reading/responding/requesting revisions through 2016.  So, that means the longest I've had something is six months.

It's entirely fair to make some assessments about whether you want to work with someone based on how they begin the process.  She may be slow to read, but is she slow to reply? That's the metric I'd use to assess.  We're all behind on our reading. Not responding at all to email is a bigger problem (and yes, I'm guilty of that as well, so I'm not pointing fingers.)


46 comments:

Sharyn Ekbergh said...

I have seven books on my to be read table and I can't imagine that being forty, each with an anxious author attached.
yikes!

E.M. Goldsmith said...

Like Dena of sub-header fame, my TBR has its own postal code, and that's for books I read for fun. And I am not an agent. I would think evaluating a book for representation takes longer than devouring something for sheer enjoyment so yep, there is waiting. We wait. All waiting. It's worth the wait. OP, keep writing. Keep querying. You're getting very close to sweet zone #1.

Carolynnwith2Ns said...

Oh my, this post is so disheartening to someone like me. (Your rules are out the window today, Janet.) My hamster wheel has slowed almost to a stop.

This kind of truth deflates every sense I have to pursue traditional publishing.
Janet, please do not take offence, but getting projects read by traditional publishing is like waiting for the promise of a new drug, when all others have failed. It sucks. I’ll die first.
I’m in my late sixties and running out of time. (You think time passes fast when watching kids grow, wait until you get on AARP’s list).

(First 100 words)

I didn’t start late, I’ve been writing/published/and learning since the minimum wage was a little over three bucks.
Deep down inside my writer’s-angst I’m like most everyone here, I want to be the candy everybody can’t get enough of. I want to be the Cabbage Patch Doll and Spinner, toy stores run out of because I’m so popular, and yet, in all probability,
I
Will
Not.
And that’s okay because age is an asset, not a liability. Until all us boomers die off, I am relevant. Even if I write the book you want, over a year to be read?

(Second 100 words.)

Egads, I’ll be sitting in a corner of the room at the end of the hall, drooling over Dick and Jane and Nancy Drew while waiting for my Ensure. I’ll take chocolate.
I do not want my kids to reap the rewards of my writing relevancy after I am dead, thank you very much.
Have a nice day.

Colin Smith said...

I guess this is why you don't do exclusives. :) In Opie's situation, I guess I would, as Janet said, keep querying and if another agent should request, make sure she knows another agent also has the ms. It then becomes a question of who's first to offer. If one offers, let the others know and give them a week or two to push the ms up the TBR pile. If they don't have the time, then you go with the agent who offers. This might be the lucky break for the n00b agent with an empty inbox, trying to build their client list. Of course, you don't just sign with someone because they happened to take your ms with them to Ibeza and read it on the plane. You ask all the right questions to determine as best you can that the agent is fine, upstanding, and has your back. And while you wait, you keep writing. :)

Colin Smith said...

2Ns: I hear you. I may still be shy of 50, but time isn't slowing down for me either. And whatever age, none of us are guaranteed another day. Hour. Minute. I guess we all need to think hard about our options. Do we care so much about being traditionally published that we bequeath our unpublished ms and our agent list to our offspring? Or is there a point where being published by whatever method is more important than waiting on the giant tortoise that is traditional publishing? Perhaps another way to look at it is the investment of time (trad) versus the investment of money (non-trad).

One of the reasons I've taken a break from the novel to work on short stories is because they are usually quicker to write, and the turn-around response tends to be faster (though one notable mag took nearly a year to get back to me with a rejection). And if you have a good resume of shorts on your query, agents may be inclined to put your ms on a fast-track. At least, if I was an agent (which I'm not), I might clear a weekend to read a ms from someone who has had multiple stories in EQMM, The New Yorker, The Atlantic, etc. (to use extreme examples), simply because I know the person can clearly write to publishing standard, and has been through the editorial process, so my expectations of a good clean ms, and a good read, will be high.

Not sure if any of that helps you, 2Ns. I don't think there's a right answer to your quandary, other than you've got to do what you won't regret. :)

Colin Smith said...

One of the reasons I've taken a break from the novel to work on short stories is because they are usually quicker to write, and the turn-around response tends to be faster...

OK, so that's TWO reasons. I'm a writer--I don't do math. That's what agents are for! ;)

Lisa Bodenheim said...

My brain is moving glacially this morning as I enter staycation time tomorrow.

Kudos to you, Opie, for your gentle persistence. You're on the right track. Keep querying this finished story and keep on writing on that next story.

2Ns, Dick was droolable? How did I miss that! But, in all seriousness, what you wrote about age being an asset not a liability...that and having relationships of love are key. For me, though I want my stories to be the cake or frosting, I sometimes wonder if my writing will be the little dollop of ice cream on someone else's apple pie!

Hm...time for more caffeine...

Unknown said...

OP, congrats on the request for a full. I agree with the advice to keep querying. After all this time, the agent could still pass. If you've been querying with no other bites for a year, maybe work on some proactive revisions. Or, start something new. Nothing makes time go faster than keeping busy. Writing stories is a good idea. It's quick and any publishing success is a bicycle pump for the deflated-I've-waited-a-year-already-ego. Good luck!

Craig F said...

>b>OP>/b>:

Are you still querying or did you stop when the full looked like the end of the rainbow?

It seems that sometimes the best way to move yourself up on that email list would be to say that someone else has requested a full too.

O.T.: when you are asked for a full can you send it as an attachment? My internet service provider has a new name, new owner and has taken a step backwards. Their new restrictions on the pop-server make that almost imperative. I also dread having to reformat the whole book for email protocols.

Amy Schaefer said...

Let me join the chorus of "keep querying", and add "keep writing". It's hard, but you need to turn the endless waiting into the background noise of your writing life.

Colin Smith said...

Craig: Those few times an agent has asked me for a full or partial, they've always asked for an attachment--usually a Word doc. The rule is never send an attachment unless requested. The first 5 pages in a query is not a request in this sense, so you copy-paste to the body of the email.

Carolynnwith2Ns said...

Janet, I apologize for my word count today but for me, the realization of a smaller audience has become a tipping point negating the purpose of my writing efforts as related to traditional publishing’s glacial pace.

I don’t want or need to sell thousands of books. I don’t want or need to be on a best seller list. I don’t want or need to get 5 stars every time someone reads my book. I need copies for each kid, grandkids, some relatives, the folks I work with, my editors, my loyal column readers, (two newspapers over five years), fellow writers, word of mouth friends, neighbors and, well...this is getting to be more respectable than I thought.
So I shamefully ask, (keys to Carkoon in my pocket), does this get me to the top of your reading list because when I get it back from my copy editor you’re first?
Just warning.
But a year, really?
Okay I’m done. Off to new WIP and boat to Carkoon.

Unknown said...

Friends, I'd like to share a "keep writing" ego boost of my own. I'm honored that Writer Advice published my flash fiction story Alzheimer's Anonymous! Take a read! Thanks Janet for the opportunity to practice flash, and to fellow Reiders for forcing me to improve my writing for every contest. It's paying off.

Jennifer R. Donohue said...

The time all of this takes is one reason I feel like I'll be self publishing the werewolves when the trilogy is done, rewritten, edited. I may not have time for the market to come back around, and I'm selfish; I want to still be alive for my success (or failure, but I'm really really hoping for some modicum of success). I don't have a definitive timeline, but I'm not really being melodramatic either; I had a profound health shift a couple of years back that I'm just living with and waiting.

It doesn't mean I'm not going to still query my other novels. It doesn't mean I'm not still submitting my short stories (one of which just received a form R a few days shy of it's 1 year submissionversary). But as more of my short stories are published, I'm also becoming more likely to do a collection with the published ones and some unpublished, because I am running out of markets for some of them.

Colin Smith said...

Kathy: First place, too! Congrats. Good story. :)

Elissa M said...

I feel fortunate that I have so many other pursuits and projects that it's no problem for me to send off my novel and forget it. I'm not currently querying (waiting to hear back from my final beta reader) but once I do, I'll need to make some kind of schedule to remind myself to nudge any interested agents who haven't gotten back with me. Nudges to nudge me to nudge agents, if you will. Yeah, I totally understand how easy it is to get buried in work.

Unknown said...

Wow, OP, kudos to you for your patience! But I think Janet has raised a really important point (as usual!). It's taken the agent almost a year to read -- that's a long time. And it also takes the agent a really long time to reply to a nudge -- days, or weeks or even a month. I don't think you have to give up on this agent -- there's no harm in keeping the channels of communication open -- but I would think hard about this agent's workload and communication style. I've gone through something similar, and it turned out to be a red flag.

And 2Ns, I am crying out in empathy. Most days, I don't feel young enough to wait for the folks in traditional publishing to pass their judgments. It's hard enough to look in the mirror. But I'm sticking with the traditional path for now, and maybe putting a time limit on it. I wish I had more insight than this. Or really any insight!

Jen said...

OP,
I know how frustrating it can be with a full out, with all the hopes that come with that full request, and yet not hear back. But I'm going to echo Janet (shocking, that) and say that communication with an agent is a better barometer for a successful relationship than how long it takes said agent to read a full. Clients are their top priority, and you'll appreciate that should you ever become a client.

That being said, I'm curious if you have other fulls out, or if you stopped querying once this agent requested. DON'T STOP QUERYING! You may find an agent who has less on her/his plate and not only requests a full but can read it quickly.

Don't give up!

John Davis Frain said...

I understand the cautionary tale here, and I wonder if this is one of the lessons. Summertime is backlog time. And for an agent, that means there's a higher bar on incoming queries because they already have such a backlog, so a query REALLY needs to stand out to earn a further look.

Now, I understand that you should make your query a "standout" anyway. And you should keep querying.

But if your eyes are set on long-term success, is there any wisdom in taking the project ready for query right now and shelving it for a few months? Write the Next Big Thing until September rolls around, and then jump on queries for the masterpiece you finished in June?
If you're waiting anyway, why not simultaneously increase your odds and lower your wait time? (Granted, you're waiting to get started, but I'm talking about waiting on responses.)

Carolynnwith2Ns said...

My God Kathy, what an awesome piece of writing. Loved, loved, loved it and it scares the shit out of me.

Sherry Howard said...

Kathy, that was great! Thanks for sharing the link and congratulations!

Like Elissa, I stay so busy with a variety of writing projects, and with kids, that it took today's column to make me check my nudge dates for the fulls I have out. I was overdue on a nudge. I assume that fulls that stay out so long are going to be a no, and keep on keeping on.

Steve Stubbs said...

I think Ms. Reid is right. If she is selling books by her clients, that is making her money. Activities that make her money are High Priority.

Activities that cost time that she could be spending making money are Low Priority.

She is not making money off you, or not yet, anyway.

That makes you Low Priority.

It is very kind of her to take time year after year to tell you she is excited about reading your book - some day. But based on the unpublished stuff I have seen, I suspect her excitement is more courtesy than sincerity. I would not read too much into that.

You can be immensely talented and make technical errors. Technical errors are fixable. No talent is not.

I suspect you will benefit if you get an honest (to the point of brutal) critique from a skilled critter.

One thing I do not understand is, I can see after one or two pages if an MS is major league crapola or not. If the MC is not Wonder Woman and she does something no human being is capable of ("Confronted with an angry mob, she jumped into the air and dove over their heads") that does not bode well. Yes, I have seen that. If I were an agent I would not need to read the next 400 pages.

If the author is obviously talented, but the MS is one revision away from being ready to submit (meaning it will require more editing than anyone could reasonably invest in something that is probably not going to sell anyway) that does not bode well.

If the author spends three paragraphs telling me it was raining last night (if it is relevant the characters should discuss that with each other, rather than an omniscient voice discussing it with the reader) that does not bode well.

If the sentences are so long and complicated I forget what the sentence is about long before (thankfully) getting to the period, that does not bode well.

If the story does not open (and the reader is therefore not going to take it from the news stand or the book store and lay down some filthy lucre for it) that does not bode well. The story simply must open. No ifs, ands, or whats.

If the writing is all tell and not show, meaning an editor is not going to pay for it (as the editors say, "No show, no dough") that does not bode well.

That does not even begin to cover all the things I have seen. But if I were an agent I could figure out in a few pages whether or not to send a form e-mail that says, "Gee, pal, I am very excited about this and I am sure someone else, somewhere, somehow, will be excited to rep it, but I have temporarily taken leave of my senses and am going to have to pass. Man, am I dumb. Good luck and don't bother to reply." I would not say, "Gee, the damn thing doesn't open." I would say I was very excited and hope I did not go to hell for lying.

Claire Bobrow said...

I'm close to being in the Query Trenches for the first time, but still a few weeks away. Accordingly, I have nothing to offer OP except encouragement. I hope the advice provided by Janet and the Reef helps you out - good luck!

As for the ongoing debate about the glacial pace of traditional publishing, I suppose every author reaches a tipping point. If it's more about the ride than the destination, no worries. However, if it's important for a particular person (or persons) to see your work in published form while you're both still walking the earth, then why not self-publish? My father did that. It gave him great pleasure to give his book to family and friends, and to sell a few at a local gift shop. Of course, you can be much more successful than that with a self-published book, as has been discussed many times in this blog. It comes back to personal goals. We all know that writing is not a get-rich-quick scheme - it's about the need to tell stories.

Kathy Joyce: Congratulations! Great piece. It gave me chills.


Karen McCoy said...

It's impossible to know about timing on the other end. I just queried one of my dream agents only to find she was out with a stomach bug on the exact day I sent the query! Time is on my side? Not quite!

It's a bit discouraging to know that this is also a bad time for agents and editors to read new material. But I will continue querying anyway, in the hope of a chomp. I'm still very early in the process, but I think I've finally gotten my query to where I want it (with some very useful critique from a published author friend).

All we can do is put our note in a bottle, and let the ocean do the rest. Good luck, Opie!

BJ Muntain said...

I'm not moving very quickly myself these days. I'm not querying as much as I should be, but I'm querying as much as I can at this time. Still, I've decided that I want to be just like my great-great Aunt Pearl (RIP at age 112), so I still have another 60 years to go...

For those bemoaning the speed of traditional publishing: While traditional publishing is slow, the best way to speed it up is to keep busy yourself.

- Query lots and often. It's okay to be cautious at first, only sending out a few queries here and there, but once you're confident in your query, send that sucker out. Get it across many desks. If you run out of agents, set it aside and query the next novel. A year later, see if there are any new agents who may be interested in your first novel, and query them. Query agents who may not seem to be the best fit, genre-wise, because you never know.

- Keep writing. And query that. If you're able, write short stories and try to sell those.

Yes, this is lots of waiting, but waiting is a lot easier on a person when they're too busy to ruminate on it.

The secret to getting published is getting the right manuscript across the right desk at the right time. First, you have to hit that sweet spot with an agent (usually), and then with a publisher. Luckily, the agent will have a better chance of doing that with a publisher than you will.

Your chances of doing that increase with the number of desks the manuscript crosses.

I'm not a spring chicken anymore, either, and I've been querying for a long time. So yes, I've been breaking a rule or two here and there. There are science fiction publishers who will look at unagented manuscripts. If I can't get an agent for this series, or I can't get a large traditional publisher to look at it, then I'll have to decide if I want to go with a smaller publisher (I've had a few request submissions/queries/partials) or self-publish it.

I think I'd rather self-publish, myself, because then I'm in control of making it the best book I can (physically and electronically, as well as literarily). I'm in control of how fast the series gets published, and I'm in control of the content. I don't have to worry about a small publisher going out of business, not getting my books out, raising the prices on my books exceedingly high, or trying to control *how* I promote it.

SELF-PUBLISHING IS A BUSINESS CHOICE. If you feel traditional publishing is moving far too slow, then it may be the business choice you want. You control the speed of self-publishing. Or, you can get a traditional deal for your first book, or a different book/series, and then self-publish other things on the side. Or if you go the traditional publishing route, and things don't work to your satisfaction there (publisher dumps you, publisher treats you badly, agent abandons you - I've heard of lots of these things), you can use the success you've built there to push into self-publishing then.

Just be sure your traditional publishing contract reflects your goals - there's a fair termination clause; the publisher isn't tying up your characters, your future work, or your time; and you are free to use your work/characters/world any way you want to. MAKE SURE OF THIS BEFORE SIGNING ANY CONTRACT. An agent will help you with that. If you can't get an agent, then a publishing lawyer or someone else who knows publishing contracts very well can help you. Janet has said she can offer suggestions of people who are competent and willing to read contracts for writers for a one-time fee.

Sorry for the essay. I just got passionate when people seemed to be losing hope. There is always hope, no matter which way you decide to go. And there are other ways into traditional publishing and into self-publishing. THERE IS ALWAYS HOPE.

BJ Muntain said...

Craig: Heavens, yes. The agent will tell you how to send the attachment (it may be to a different e-mail address, it may need to be a specific format) but no, I sincerely doubt a manuscript will be wanted in an e-mail text. E-mail servers (sender's and receiver's) do funny things to e-mails. Even if you have your e-mail formatted somehow, it still may look weird in her inbox. NO ONE wants to read through something like that for hundreds of pages.

John MS Frain If an agent has had a manuscript for nearly a year, I don't think 'summer' is the wrong time. A lot of agents actually have more time in the summer, because editors take summer time off, meaning longer wait periods; because they take time off work, and often read during that time, whether at home or on vacation; because Fridays tend to be much slower in the summer, so they may use that time to do their reading... A lot of agents have to read submissions on their free time, and many actually have more of that in the summer. If an agent doesn't have that time, or wants to use that time to catch up on already-submitted items, then they close to queries for the summer. If they don't close to queries, then yes, query them in the summer, in the fall, around Christmas, around holidays, during spring break, etc. THERE IS NO WRONG TIME TO QUERY, as long as the agent is open to queries. After all, if you wait until September, then you'll be up against all the other people who have waited until September, thinking that will be a better time. If it takes an agent six months to read through her submissions, then sending that submission in January will probably get it read in June or July, Sending it in April will get it read in October, sending it in June will get it read in December, sending it in September will get it read in the spring. So it doesn't really matter when you send it in - it's still going to take six months. Queries *usually* take less time than that, though (there's a lot less to read, for starters).

The agent will get to your query when the agent gets to it. No matter what time of year.

Mr. Stubbs: The one-to-two pages is what gets sent in a query. A full request - which this is about - is an entirely different beast. The agent has already read the beginning, and likes it. The agent has committed to reading this novel, when she can. When she does read it, she'll find out about further plot stuff or other things that may or may not affect her ability to sell it as is.

Beth Carpenter said...

I don't know if it's the same for everyone, but my publisher is even slower to respond to submissons than the agents were to queries. It's important to keep working on the next project so when you finally get that yes, you have something else to offer while enthusium is high.

Timothy Lowe said...

OP: Got nothing for ya, other than this is pretty much the norm. Really makes you value the agents who have timely correspondence (if not reading times - the ones with fast turnarounds on manuscripts absolutely blow my mind).

Kathy: Wonderful work. I LOVE "A fifth of dessert waited at home." Enjoyed the read!

Take care everyone, and happy writing! Weather is almost too beautiful here. Almost.



Karen McCoy said...

Thank you, BJ! I needed that. :)

Jennifer R. Donohue said...

Kathy: CONGRATULATIONS! That's a story that grabbed me and dragged me along with it, wow.

Beth Carpenter said...

Kathy: Wow! That is a powerful story. Not sure I'm glad I read it, but strong writing.

Theresa said...

2Ns, my goal is to be the next Helen Hoover Santmyer.

Karen McCoy said...

Great story, Kathy! Bone chilling.

Cecilia Ortiz Luna said...

Kathy, fantastic story. Congrats!

Melanie Sue Bowles said...

OP, All the best to you.

2Ns, Add me to your list of fans who want a book from you.

Kathy, Congratulations! First place - terrific!

And Janet, Every time we're reminded of your incoming fulls, your reading list, and your overflowing inbox I am RE-blown away by all you give of yourself. Thank you.

John Davis Frain said...

BJ,

I wasn't referring to the letter writer. I admire anyone who can type THE END, and I admire them more if they have a pending full. But I won't look to them for advice on timing queries.

I was referring to Janet's response--
"I will also tell you this: right now a lot of agents and editors are having a hard time reading incoming work. I don't know why that is. I myself have a backlog of 40+ requested manuscripts."

Statistically speaking, there's a better time and a worse time to query. Without access to numbers, we can't create the proper statistics to identify those times. But anecdotally, Janet just gave us a hint. It's human nature that if you have a backlog of 40+ of anything, it's gonna take a mountain to move you to add to your backlog. So, right now, it strikes me that it'd be easier for an agent to say no to an incoming query.

Just trying to come up with a way to align some horrible odds a wee bit more in my favor.

Janet Reid said...

ok youse guyz....we're creeping WAY past the 100 word limit here for some of you.

If you find yourself posting long-ass comments every day, I suggest you write them out first and EDIT/REVISE/PRUNE.

Also, you don't need to repeat what's been said by other commenters.

And when I start hearing "the comment section is too long to read" I'm going to start making some executive choices here that no one really wants.

Ok? Got it??

John Davis Frain said...

Busted.

(And this will help bring my average down for the day.)

Susan said...

::Slinks in late, reads post and comments, crafts a reply, sees Janet's comment, looks at usual 100+ word monologue, erases all::

OP: Keep persevering and don't give up! Especially if this is the path you foresee to your dream. As you can see, there are many reasons for publishing, and many successful paths in its pursuit. No matter what, patience is the ultimate virtue in this industry. Hang in there.

Kathy: A hearty congrats! Three cheers to celebrate your story!

And done.

::slinks back out::

Unknown said...

Thanks all for the kind words. I feel motivated, and will share. OP, gale force winds of motivation coming your way! Anyone else, reach out and grab what you need.

Megan V said...

Congrats to Kathy.

Best wishes to OP.

And now, cake for me, because nobody should wait for cake.

Lennon Faris said...

The encouragement to nudge (appropriately) is always a good reminder. It's so hard not to feel like a pain doing so. Guess we all have to be our own advocate & number one fan, though. Appropriately, of course.

Congratulations, Kathy! Very well done!

Steve Stubbs said...

BJ Muntain ...

Yes, you are right. The book is probably good or it would not have got a full request. I have met lots of people in the business world who are extremely enthusiastic about doing deals, and nothing ever gets past lunch and a margarita. I could not maintain enthusiasm for something I got a year ago and never looked at after collecting numerous other fulls since. That is why in that situation I would (1) get an opinion, and (2) revise as advised, and (3) query others if still waiting.

Very best wishes, OP!

LynnRodz said...

Ay ay ay, aïe, aïe, aïe, oy vey, and all the rest! Agents live in a parallel universe to ours.

When we query, our manuscripts take a quantum leap. A few of the lucky ones go through a wormhole and make it to the other side in a nanosecond, but many of the unlucky ones end up in a black hole and are never heard from again. Still others are like OP's, they're keeping company with Schrödinger's cat. Is my manuscript alive or is it dead? We don't know because the agent hasn't looked yet. I feel for you Opie and I hope you've continued to query far and wide across the universe.

Congrats, Kathy!

Morgan Hazelwood said...

I haven't even nudged the agent with my full. Since she asked for it in September.

But I'm also 2 weeks out from finishing a full round of revisions. Right now, I'm contemplating if I give her a heads up, or wait til I'm done to offer the newer version.

Panda in Chief said...

What Beth Carpenter said is true, at least for me. In September my graphic novel will have been out on submission for a year. My agent has assured me that some editors are still reading and haven't said no yet. In the meantime (so I can keep from driving agent mad) I am working on the second book, and have it at a place where I can put it aside and start working on fleshing out ideas for book 3 and 4.