I’ve just done something I hope I won’t regret later, and right now I’m a hot, second-guessing mess.
Background:
I’d been trying to pitch my story, The American, for months. I was ready to give up. Then, last September, out of the blue I got a request for a full from an agent I’d queried the previous May with the first three chapters. Of course, I immediately sent her the full.
Then, crickets.
It’s been three-and-a-half months. Almost four, actually. And for the past few weeks, different options have been swirling, turning, fighting through my head:
(a) Maybe you should nudge her. But what if she hasn’t read it yet? You don’t want to be seen as pesky. But what if she’s forgotten about it? It’s not even in the Sludge Pile from Hell, it’s in the Invisible, Digital Sludge Pile from Hell! You need to nudge her to remind her that she has your heart and soul on a platter manuscript. But what if she hates the ending? It’s that cliffhanger, and other people thought you killed off your MC, but she wasn’t dead! But the other way it was too long. That’s okay, though, right? Cliffhangers are okay, right? You blogged about it and people reassured you that cliffhangers are just fine… sometimes…. Oh, crap!
(b) Maybe you should nudge her with the query to the sequel. Yeah, that way she’d know that the MC isn’t dead, and that you have more to offer as a writer. But what if she isn’t looking to deal with a series? I mean, series are so cliche. Everyone’s got a series right now. You don’t want to be seen as “one of those writers.” But what if she is interested? Um, that might be a problem, though, because you haven’t finished the sequel. In fact, you’re thinking right now that maybe you should go back to tacking-on what you have, and making it into the end of the first story, and making it a 500-page book. Is that just because you’re lazy and you don’t want to write? Wow. You lazy slack-ass.
(c) Maybe you should do nothing and just wait. Because you don’t want to be a pesky-pill. I mean, she’s probably super-busy. Wait, of course she’s super-busy! She’s an agent! And you’d be like an annoying fly buzzing around her head. And we just had Christmas and everything. And before that was Thanksgiving, and everyone gets super-busy around the holidays. Then again, what if she already read it? What if she hated it? What if she hated it so much that she just deleted it and forgot to send you a rejection e-mail? Yeah, that’s probably what happened. She probably already hated it and rejected it in her mind, and if you nudge her, she’ll be all like “Who?” and then she’ll have to send you an apology email rejection, and you’ll feel absolutely horrible about yourself, and it will be just awful.
The problem with fighting with yourself, though, is that nothing actually gets done. So today, right or wrong, I came up with a solution. Maybe a bad one, but at least I did something. I sent her the following email:
Dear (Agent-Whom-I-Will-Love-If-You’ll-Be-Mine?),
Per your request, I had sent you my full manuscript for THE AMERICAN (An American girl must rely on a shady Australian tour guide to save her life after she stumbles upon a secret mining operation in China) on September 22. I don’t know whether you’ve had time to read it yet. However, I have an idea that I hope will pique your interest. I’d written a chapter that was intended to be the first chapter of THE AMERICAN’s sequel, AMERICAN PRISONER, but I’m thinking now that it might be better served as an epilogue-chapter to THE AMERICAN. I’ve included the 7-page chapter, below. I look forward to hearing from you.
Sincerely,
Dawn Rinken
Maybe this was a good idea, maybe a bad one. But I just couldn’t sit still any longer. Probably my manuscript will get rejected (again), anyway. At least I tried, though, right? *sigh!* Why are we writers so co-dependent?!?
I’ve always wondered why I need approval so bad. I don’t know why!
Maybe she just got busy and your nicely worded letter reminded her of your great story. That’s my take.
Ps: this line literally made me laugh out loud > is that just because you’re lazy and don’t want to write? Wow. You lazy slack-ass. Lol.
I hope it reminds her… we’ll see! (Glad I made you laugh though. Is that because you do the same thing to yourself?)
Lol. Yea, I tend to say similar things.
I feel your pain. This does seem a long time without any word back. Good idea with the email. I hope you get an encouraging answer. Soon
Thanks, Pete. It’s always tough to know what to do in these circumstances. (BTW, I like your last name: it’s the same as my MC in the “For…” series, posted here, starting with “For Love.”)
Excellent naming choice
I think it was a great idea to follow up. It shows that you have a single person in mind to represent you and are not just sending out a hundred queries and waiting to see who bites. It shows that you are dedicated and keep track of submissions. I don’t know why the idea that all agents are cranky by nature permeates the writing world, but if they are anything like normal people, many of them probably enjoy being reminded about things and are grateful that someone took a moment to think of them.
“if they are anything like normal people, many of them probably enjoy being reminded about things and are grateful that someone took a moment to think of them.” –> Yes, 1 Story, it has been my experience that agents are just like normal people, and some of them are extremely sweet and nice. That said, I’ve had my share of snarky responses, too. But it seems, by and large, that many agents are too busy to respond to something if they’re not interested enough. I’ve had many, many queries go unanswered, even by agents who say they respond to every query. Also, I’ve had a good handful of partial-requests (and once or twice even a full-request) never get responded-to. Even though I’ve nudged (and nudged), and even though THEY were the ones to request it. I get that they’re busy, but it sort of comes across as rude. And I tend to get intimidated by this sort of thing. I’d much rather just sit in my hole and write than have to go out and promote myself. (I want to live in the stories in my head, not in the real world!
) This is why the process gets so disheartening sometimes….
Well I wish you the best of luck. If an agent thinks a follow-up email after almost four months is rude then maybe they are in the wrong business! Will you post here with what happens?
Probably…. Hmmm. If it’s just another rejection, maybe not. This is not my first rodeo; I’ve been playing this game for 5 years now — even had an agent once upon a time — and I’ve been rejected by the best of them (not all with the same MS). You’d think I’d get thicker skin by now, but I still take it so personally every time! We’ll see. Maybe if something good happens…? *fingers crossed*
And thanks for the good wishes, 1 Story!
Not pushy, not pesky, not demanding–good follow-up. I’ve been there, in fact am there right now. A publisher has had the first 3 chapters of my novel for quite a while now. I need to be a little more pushy, and you just may have inspired me to do that. You’re right, though, it is tricky to do. Hope you get a positive response soon. Good luck.
Yay, go Doug! I’m honored to have inspired you.
Good luck with your own nudgery!
It was not a bad idea. You have to ask for what you want in life. Squeaky Wheel and all that. I think it was a good letter… and a clever one.
Thanks, Ted. Hopefully she thinks so, too….
When I first started working in Manhattan I applied for a job as an editor and I was so interested in getting the position and hated not knowing if I got it or not, so I decided to write a thank you note, (yes, this was way before the interent and email…snail mail was the only way to correspond!) and in my note I thanked the gentleman who interviewed me and I told him I hoped he was planning to offer me the position because I really wanted the job….and you know what? He called me after opening the letter a few days later and he told me I had the job…later on he told me no one had ever sent him a thank you note before and he was so impressed…lol…he also became a very good friend and still is all these years later! So, no, I don’t think you were crazy to want to shake your publisher’s tree to see if it would end up being fruitful for you! I thought you were clever in the way you did it too, and I do hope the reader liked it and you get a great deal! I’ll keep my fingers crossed for you! xoxo
Thanks so much for sharing that, Maureen. It made me feel a little better about my decision to nudge. (Even if it doesn’t work out.) You’re right: better to have tried to shake the tree than to sit and wait for the fruit to fall. Hugs!