Want an auto-rejection?

Something that surprises me is when, on receiving news that I have passed on a query, some writers immediately, by return of email, query me with opening chapters from another manuscript of theirs.

Why is this the wrong thimg to do?

Well, firstly I expect you to send me your best (and most likely your most recent) work in the first place. And secondly, if I liked your original submission and wanted to find out what else you had written, I would ask. So when I receive a second submission immediately I am already primed to reject it. Of course, I will look at it, just in case, but I don’t believe I’ve ever requested further material from a situation like this.

So what if you do want to send me something else?

Leave it six months or more, by which time I am highly likely to have forgotten your previous submission and will be looking at your work with fresh eyes.

Reading day

I have been having a reading day today in an attempt to catch up. This involves, you guessed it, reading material all day, and especially requested fulls from The Pile and also from existing clients. Today I’ve finished two scripts and am half way through another which I hope to finish tonight although I admit I am going a little pie eyed so need a break.

I already read almost every evening, on train journeys once or twice a week, and then also during the day when I get the time but stuff has been piling up at a faster rate than I can read it. How many novel length manuscripts do you think I’ll read in a year?

Should I use a pen name?

When querying an agent, no. When you send in your sample chapters and synopsis, I am looking only at the writing, not the writer. It does not matter:
- whether you are male or female
- how old you are
- what you do for a living (if anything)
- whether you have three heads or a penchant for musical keyrings, etc.

Thus, there is no need to disguise yourself with a faux name. I’d prefer to be sure that the person querying me is a real person, and therefore name, address and telephone number please.

How long should writers wait?

When I’ve given talks, I’ve often been asked about how long writers should expect to wait to hear back on submissions and whether and when it is ok to chase. If you disagree, I’d love to hear from you but I think the answers are:

1. Agents are normally quicker to get back to you than publishers.
2. Agents usually respond to a query within a couple of weeks. If you’ve waited a month, then its in order to give a quick chase (by email rather than by telephone). In the US the system is a little different as you typically first query agents without including a sample of your writing. Here in the UK, its usual to include sample chapters with your first approach. I am certainly aiming to respond to queries within 1-2 weeks.
3. If you have been asked to send in a full manuscript to an agent, the wait is likely to be longer. I’m aiming to respond to fulls within a month, but am aware I’ve already broken my own rule!
4. Publishers may respond to you quickly, but you may equally well be waiting months. A wait of six months is not unusual, and in some cases it may be even longer. I waited ten months on my last sale of my own work. I would say that if you’ve not heard anything, it is perfectly in order for a polite chase after six months. Naturally, as an agent I am highly likely to chase publishers well before this time, but a writer without a agent unfortunately has less scope to bypass the slush pile system.

Early days

I’ve decided to start the agency as a sole trader as my experience with a limited company is that it only makes sense if you have a certain turnover and the way the book trade works it’s going to be a while before that happens. An agent only gets paid when their clients get paid and preparing and selling scripts takes time.

Yesterday I gave an interview to a magazine about setting up the agency. Not sure when it will be out but I do want to get the word out and find great writers to work with. Submission guidelines are on the ‘About’ page here if you would like to submit or know anyone looking for representation.

In the meantime I have been putting the word out via word of mouth and have had numerous queries and currently have five full scripts waiting to be read. If yours is one of the five, sorry… I am hoping to get through them as quickly as possible but the ones I am really interested in I am reading with my editors hat on and making notes and this all takes time.