Blogger: Wendy Lawton
Location: Books & Such Central Valley Office
Here’s one of the questions asked at the writers conference I attended last weekend: If an agent asks to see the author’s book proposal but then never gives any feedback, is it proper etiquette to email the agent and ask about its status? If so, how long should the author wait before inquiring?
Gulp!
Here’s where I get a huge #AgentFail. A number of times I’ve been impressed by an author and intrigued by the concept. I’ve asked the author to send the proposal. I receive it and put it in a folder that sits on my desktop. And in that folder it sits. And sits. And sits. Every time I look at that folder I cringe, but I’m caught between putting out a fire and reading a contract. Or one of my clients has a cover issue that simply cannot wait. This week is about truth-telling, but I can’t bear to tell you how long some of those proposals have been waiting. I blush just thinking about it.
I never request a proposal unless I am interested. That makes it hard to dismiss requested material out of hand. I am also aware that I ignore these at my peril. I still see writers at conferences whose work I love and lost to another agent because they were not as backed up as I was.
To answer the question: Give the agent a couple of months, and then, yes, you have every right to inquire. Be personable. It gives us another pleasant point of contact. Some of the fun of early agent-client-relationship building has happened in those email back-and-forth nudges. And don’t feel uncomfortable nudging over and over every couple of months.
We agents know we are in an untenable time situation, and we put writers in an uncomfortable situation because of it. Were an agent to write you off because you asked for a reasonable update, that’s not an agent you’d want representing you. This is #AgentFail, pure and simple, and when it happens it actually subtly shifts the power since those of us who are people pleasers know we have failed. Use it!
If you were an agent, how would you handle this? Anyone have any suggestions for me?
Wendy, your humble honesty in these blog posts are so encouraging. Thanks for being real. Your non-defensive attitude will put so many writers at ease. It’s good to know we all make mistakes! A great reminder that we all need to extend grace – from both sides. 🙂
It’s always easier to expect it all to go quickly and smoothly as soon it’s off *our* desk and on *their* desk for the next step.
I don’t think it’s that much different for writer, agent, or publisher.
We always know our own problems and emergencies, but of course no one else has theirs.
Asking questions should never be a problem, but being a pest and expecting everyone else to stop their world because you had a question should never be an option.
Rich Gerberding
Chillicothe IL
Those of us with completed “to-do” lists shall cast the first stone.
I was thinking what Katie said, that these posts this week must relieve a lot of fears and answer a lot of questions for authors.
You know how long I’ve been writing and submitting. I couldn’t have gone on this long if I hadn’t learned how to put impatience and anxiety aside. The only thing that works is to put my hope in the Lord. Not in my expectations, or what I want to see happen with my novels or my career, but in HIM. In His character. In His good plans for me. Whatever they are, however they work out, they’ll be good for me. Better than I could chart my course. That leaves me to do my part (write to the best of my ability in the time allowed; learn the market; submit; make connections where possible and natural), then release the outcome to God. Maybe I have to do that over and over again, but I know when I’ve snatched back my own expectations and stopped trusting Him. I get stomach aches.
This post made me smile because this is exactly where I am right now. I think if authors can’t handle waiting for a while, they need to try another business. Don’t get me wrong… waiting is NOT easy! But agents need to give first priority to their current client rosters. I’d appreciate that as an actual client, so I need to be gracious about it while I’m on the other side of the fence. Daily reminders that God’s timing is perfect help me to resist becoming impatient. 🙂
I understand your frustration and so appreciate your honesty!
Many writers have a day job that pays the bills. I run a just-me business designing custom homes, so I can relate to the conundrum of having clients who need my focused attention while placating a waiting list of anxious potential clients. Sometimes people who have been waiting several weeks must wonder if I am ever going to get to them. I’m VERY eager to get to them; they’re next month’s bread and butter, but I cannot give them full service until I have satisfied the commissions currently underway. And my personal “waiting list” of projects–which includes the writing I truly love–sometimes has to wait until the paying job is caught up. Add in growing kids and aging parents and, well, we all need grace to make it, don’t we? 🙂
Being honest and human with each other helps so much. Just hearing an agent express that the invitation itself is an expression of sincere interest and that you are also sometimes frustrated with the slowness of the process is more encouraging than you can imagine.
Perfect timing for your blog. Two agents have had my manuscript for two months now. I’ve been intimidated to contact them — but I like the “honest and human” approach that both you and Lori Dean mention. We’re all busy professionals!
Thanks for being so honest in your post! I’m in this state of limbo right now in the wake of the ACFW conference (as a writer, not an agent). 🙂 It’s good to know that an agent won’t throw me in their “permanently ignore” list if I follow up after a reasonable amount of time.
Wendy, thank you for being honest about the folder on your desk 🙂
>>If you were an agent, how would you handle this? Anyone have any suggestions for me?
My suggestion (though I think you’re a fabulous agent already) is to reward yourself. (My first choice is chocolate.) But I used to reward myself in little ways with time spent frivolously playing the piano (just for fun) after I dusted the house (a job I could happily do without.) Perhaps have different types of rewards for different jobs. One for finishing your clients’ needs and one for that folder on your desk. Can you hire an assistant? (That would be a reward in itself!)
And greater incentive – when you finish your week’s to-do list, a day at the spa! And no fair adding to the list on Friday. If you finish what was on your list on Monday, you get a break. 🙂
My 2 cents…(Love you, Wendy!)
Another great post today.
I’m right on board with many of these comments here. Katie and Lori both make great points about the need for grace for all involved (ever… anywhere) and relying on God’s direction and timing.
I find myself often becoming anxious in waiting to hear any feedback from an editor on one of my articles (whether rejected or accepted). When it’s close to or past the general time frame given for feedback, I typically turn my anxiety on myself and wonder if perhaps I didn’t follow submission guidelines correctly or the editor didn’t actually receive my work. I appreciate your honesty again here, Wendy, in helping us writers remember that everyone involved is quite human and perhaps has just not been able to get to the manuscript as quickly as either party wanted.
Your posts have been revealing and encouraging. Thank you.
Hmmmm. This is an interesting question.
The first thing that comes to mind is to make the proposals shorter. This would give you less to read which of course translates into taking less time. You would know instead of needing a half hour or hour to go over a proposal, you could look at it in say, fifteen or twenty minutes. (I have no idea how long it actually takes, Wendy.)
Determine what criteria you really use to make a decision on a proposal. Then rework the guidelines so that they reflect that. Maybe even stipulate a number of words for each section, or the total proposal. Ask for what is the most important to you and cut back on the rest. What good are five pages on plot, characterization, chapter sequence, etc, if the writing itself is something you could never represent?
Another idea might be to place your proposals into stipulated holders as they come in. One pile for the last two weeks. Another for the previous two weeks, etc. Instead of just one big pile of them. Maybe color code them, stick a colored label on them for when they come in. And work on the oldest ones as you go, giving yourself a time frame to have them done. Two months or whatever.
Use highlighters in different colors to mark on the papers as you read them over. Green for good or like. Red for poor or don’t like. Blue for maybe or needs improvement. If you’ve got one with a lot of green, the decision is easy to make. If there’s a lot of red and blue, it’s a sorry. Then click on your prepared rejection statement and send it off on the email. Done!
Just an idea. Life is way too complicated, I hope you can whittle out a little more time for both you and your work. Thank you for these posts. Very good to see how it is from the other side of the desk.
Wanda Rosseland
I really don’t know how you keep up. And then you lack time for other things, which we all need to keep balanced! 🙂
I know that you really need to see full proposals and that you almost have to wade through the proposals yourself–after all, you’re the one who has to work with said client. Building a relationship through conferences, emails, etc. prior to signing a client helps in figuring out if you can work with someone, and in his viability, so I just don’t know how you can make that process easier.
I use Post-It notes on hard copy manuscripts so I don’t have to mark on them. Just remember to take them off as you go back through. 🙂
I think you’re super at what you do. It’s hard to do “speed-dating.” These blogs really help agents to see personalities, I would think.
Maybe calling a friend a couple times a month (whom you don’t see often,) and not being so hard on yourself would help….
It’s great to hear that you mourn over the neglected folder. I have a neglected “pile” on my desk and when my eyes actually focus on it, guilt rushes in. And then I flick my eyes to the other side of the room until the guilt is forgotten. I try to dig into “the pile” once every two weeks or so. Usually I only deal with one or two items in the pile, but it feels really good to dispose of them.
Thanks for being honest! Sometimes it’s hard to remember that literary agents are only human beings too.
I am in that spot right now! Not with you, but another agent (no-name). I have been waiting for months. I’ve e-mailed a couple of times and had no response. I figured they didn’t like it. Maybe they are just too busy! That actually makes me feel a little better, thanks.
This just shows your human like the rest of us:)I admire your honesty and wish I had some great insight for you, but the truth is I think you’re doing the best you can. You allow your clients to come first but yet are open to new projects.
Good for you:)
Here’s the thing. With diminishing advances for the same amount of work, the only options are to take on more clients – which will eventually become impossible – or raise the agent commission above 15%. I have a feeling it will eventually have to be the latter.
Larry, I don’t foresee that in the near future. And, as long as an agent has some bestselling authors she doesn’t need to go above her client ceiling for financial reasons. The problem comes when we read something we’re crazy about or meet a writer we long to represent. That’s what causes us to go over our own arbitrarily set limit.
The time crunch comes in unplanned travel, illness, getting blindsided by unforeseen, time-consuming negotiations or problems, etc. Plus, though we can control the number of clients we choose to represent, we have no way to control the sheer number of queries that come in.
I’m an optimist. I’m sure I’m going to get it all humming along nicely before long. Right?