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At the end of January, I wrote to an agent who asked me to send her my novel. She asked that I sent it to her directly by email which I did. It's now over three months and I haven't heard anything from her. Should I think of contacting her? She works for a big agency if that has any bearing on anything.
I would appreciate any advice.
I have been told by my friend who used to be a commissioning agent for an art publisher that I should regard the three month delay as a good sign.
What do you think?
I would write and ask her what she thinks of the work, carefully and nicely. 3 months? Sometimes they don't answer, but the agent I just contacted told me to nudge him in 3 weeks if he hadn't responded. I find they reply in about a month to six weeks, usually.
The only person I know who will be upset by a reminder is Roy Faiers at This England/Evergreen who actually says on his contributors guidelines if you ask for a decision you get the item sent straight back! I have had items published in Evergreen, one took three years, I think, to appear. Everyone else, a gentle reminder after 3 months should not look like pushing.
Hello!
I would get in touch and ask if they have any news for you - it does seem a long time for something they actually requested.
I've recently sent out a few articles via email, two of which (a proposal for a series of articles and a completed one-off unrelated one)are for a magazine I've written for before and had extremely quick replies from, now that is really hard! A publisher also requested by email some further chapters of my new non-fiction and her request came the same day she received the proposal in the post and she was very keen to read more, now I'm waiting to hear back from her and worrying - has she received the email? Has she forgotten about it? Is it doing the rounds with their other editors? Do they want it? OMG! The dilemma of how long to wait!
What a nightmare, I'm glad it's not only me who sits at home fretting about it. I would get in touch with the agent in question and it will act as a reminder and hopefully prompt them into action for you. The very best of luck, to anyone else who is 'waiting' too.
Its comforting to know that I am not alone. I almost took your advice the other day dorothy but another writer that I know pointed out that there has been the London (I think he said London) bookfair and that he knows this agent has been overseas in the time since I sent in my MSS. They suggested that I wait until the end of the month before contacting them. I am more than happy to do this firstly because I don't want them to feel like I'm hassling them and secondly I have to go away for a couple of weeks (with the day job) so reaching me could prove a little difficult.
I have contacted magazines in the past when they have taken a long time to reply but there is so much more riding on a novel than a short story that.
I'll let you know what happens at the end of the month.
I`ll second that about This England/Evergreen, Dorothy. I made that mistake many years ago and my article dropped on the map almost as soon as I put the phone down... :-( One way of getting rid of the slush pile, I suppose..
Comments
I would appreciate any advice.
I have been told by my friend who used to be a commissioning agent for an art publisher that I should regard the three month delay as a good sign.
What do you think?
I would get in touch and ask if they have any news for you - it does seem a long time for something they actually requested.
I've recently sent out a few articles via email, two of which (a proposal for a series of articles and a completed one-off unrelated one)are for a magazine I've written for before and had extremely quick replies from, now that is really hard! A publisher also requested by email some further chapters of my new non-fiction and her request came the same day she received the proposal in the post and she was very keen to read more, now I'm waiting to hear back from her and worrying - has she received the email? Has she forgotten about it? Is it doing the rounds with their other editors? Do they want it? OMG! The dilemma of how long to wait!
What a nightmare, I'm glad it's not only me who sits at home fretting about it. I would get in touch with the agent in question and it will act as a reminder and hopefully prompt them into action for you. The very best of luck, to anyone else who is 'waiting' too.
I have contacted magazines in the past when they have taken a long time to reply but there is so much more riding on a novel than a short story that.
I'll let you know what happens at the end of the month.