Now What? - Informing the Other Agents

So you wrote your novel, queried like crazy, talked to agents, received multiple offers of representation, and chose your agent…what do you do now? While some of you may still be in the querying process, and are hoping for even one agent to make an offer, it’s always good to prepare for the best.  Eventually you’ll need to know what to say to an agent when you’ve gone with someone else.

It’s a strange feeling, having the balance of power shift slightly. Only you can decide who is best for you…so take a couple of weeks. It’s a big decision and you don’t want to rush it. After you decide, inform the agent you want first…and make sure they get back to you, before you inform the others. Maybe I’m just super cautious, but I wanted to make sure my agent knew I wanted them before I started turning other people down.

Next, send out a quick email. Yes, email is perfectly acceptable. We’ve all gotten enough rejection letters to be familiar with the content. Mine went something like this:

Dear agent so and so,

Thank you so much for the great talk, but unfortunately I have chosen to go with another agent. Thank you for your time.

Me.

Short and sweet. A couple of agents emailed me back, asking who I decided on, so I told them. There’s no reason not to. That email looked something like this:

I've decided on an agent named Katherine Boyle at Veritas Literary. Even though you have a million things going for you, I really connected with Katherine. Her editorial advice was spot on, and I kind of wanted to go with a smaller agency. This was seriously the toughest decision; I think it was easier to decide what college I wanted to go to! I think no matter what agent I chose, I will always be thinking, "what if?" but I had to go with my gut. Thanks again.

Okay, so with this one I prattled on a bit…but you get the idea. Always be polite and tell them why you went with the agent you chose, not why you didn’t go with them. Also thank them…everyone appreciates a thank you.

Next time – Advice on editing…which is what I’m doing now!

Why I Chose My Agent

As I mentioned earlier, I spoke with several agents this time around. (This was quite a bit better than my last attempt at finding an agent, which resulted in me speaking with a whopping zero.) Although they all seemed great, I really clicked with the last agent I spoke with, after I’d already thought my mind was made up. Here’s why…

1)      She was enthusiastic about my novel. I think this one is a no brainer; any agent who wants to represent your work needs to be enthusiastic.

2)      I thought her editorial comments were spot-on. You know that one critique partner who gets what you’re trying to do and makes insightful suggestions to make your work better? Yeah, that was her. One other agent I spoke with wanted to change things too much and another thought it could be sent out as it was...but I wanted to make my work the best I could keeping with my original vision.

3)       She took the time to explain the process to me. We spoke for over an hour and she went through what would happen next step by step. She explained how advances work and how much say I would probably have over my cover. She also told me what would happen if we don’t sell this particular book. I felt like she was open and honest and not just trying to woo me.

4)      She sounded excited about what I’m writing now. Now only did she suggest making In the After into a series, she made it clear that she wanted to represent me, not just my book.

5)      We just clicked. Sometimes you have a connection with someone and you want that with your agent. One agent I spoke with seemed a bit awkward on the phone…and if she was awkward with me, I wondered how she’d be with publishers.

In addition, she’s been an agent for a while and has her own, long established agency. I could go on, but you get the idea. Hopefully this is helpful when you all choose your agent.

Tomorrow – After you choose, what do you say to the other agents that didn’t make the cut?

The Call - Part Two - What to Ask

When I talked to the first agent who offered representation, I had a list of questions I got from the internet…which was basically a bust. I asked if she had publishers in mind already (of course she did, or she wouldn’t want to represent my book.) The following are the questions I thought were most important:

1)      What do you think is the strongest thing about my manuscript?

2)      What do you think is the weakest thing about my manuscript?

3)      How much editing do you think it needs? A few tweaks, or a complete overhaul?

4)      What are some of your favorite books?

5)      What happens next?

6)      Will you help me with a blog/website?

7)      Will you go to New York to pitch my project? (If they aren’t already in NY)

As you can see, I was mostly interested in editorial suggestions and ended up picking the agent I thought had the best insight into my manuscript. You may think other things are more important, like being NY based or belonging to a large agency.

The main thing to look for is if you click. Over the course of your conversation, you'll get a feel for the agent and can see if you're on the same page. There is no perfect agent, only the perfect agent for you. With that cliché, I’ll leave you to it.

Next week…more on choosing an agent.

The Call - Part One - What to Know

Just because an agent has asked to speak with you, doesn’t mean you’re in…not yet. Sometimes an agent wants to “feel you out” first, to make sure they want to work with you. Sometimes, especially if they’ve requested a full, they want to tell you why they’re not making an offer of representation, and will tell you that you’re welcome to query them again. Sometimes they just loved your work so much they want to snag you before anyone else can…let’s all hope for the last one!

Before you speak to any agent you should already know the following:

1)   What is their track record? Do they work for a reputable agency and have an interest in your genre? Have they recently sold books in your genre?

2)   What other authors they represent? You can always ask them to email you a list with specifics before you talk. You may know a couple (or you wouldn’t have queried them) but it’s good to see the whole picture.

3)   How long have they been in the business? This can usually be found on their website. Are they established as an agent, or new to the game? A new agent isn’t necessarily bad; do they work for a bigger agency?

4)   Do they have a web presence? How google-able are they…might help later when it comes to promoting your book.

Remember: Do your homework. You should already know a lot about an agent before you query them, but make yourself as familiar as possible with them before you speak to them.

Tomorrow - The Call Part Two - What to Ask

Offer of Representation – What the Hell Do I Do Now?

You’ve sent out your full manuscript to an interested agent and you get an email back. They love your work and want to speak with you on the phone, or maybe they offer you representation right there and then.

So what do you do now? Well, you can do your happy dance and jump at the opportunity, or you can take a deep breath and think about things. Was this agent your first choice? Who else has a full? A partial?

The polite and professional thing to do is to speak with the agent (tomorrow I’ll talk about “the call”) but tell them you need a week or two to decide. Then alert all the agents who have a full or partial that you’ve received an offer of representation and would like to give them the opportunity to finish your manuscript before you make your final decision. Give them a time frame. Two weeks is probably the most you want to keep the original agent waiting.

A couple of things could happen. 1) They can say that they are still interested and would like some time to finish. Once you let them know someone else is interested, they’ll put your manuscript to the top of their list. Or 2) They’ll pass because they don’t have the time or do not want to get into an agent race.

Once they read the manuscript, they still might pass, but it’s good to keep your options open. An agent may ask who made the original offer. This may seem rude, but really, they just want to know who their competition is and that you’re not being scammed by a fake agent. I would say tell them. There’s no reason not to.

Even if you loved that original agent, speak to each one who wants to represent you. There’s a tendency to go with the first agent who shows interest, but it’s good for you, as a writer, to hear what multiple agents have to say. I actually went with the last agent I spoke with. You never know who is going to be best for you until you weigh all your options.

Tomorrow – The Call - What to ask and what to know