How Long Will It Take for an Offer of Representation
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- เผยแพร่เมื่อ 5 ก.ค. 2018
- A reader asks: Will checking-in on a submission ruin my chance at an offer of representation? Agents say offers can take months while authors always say theirs came in days, so what's the real deal on offers of representation? How fast do they really take? What should an author do to make them happen? Join Jessica Faust as she clears the confusion!
Jessica Faust’s love for books is what first brought her to open BookEnds Literary Agency. It is her desire to be an advocate for all authors that pushed her to create her blog, the BookEnds TH-cam channel and to maintain a vibrant presence on Twitter.
Jessica is proud to have grown BookEnds to an agency that represents authors of all genres for children and adults, allowing her to reach more readers and help more authors and illustrators achieve their dreams.
Connect with BookEnds!
Twitter: bookendslit
Instagram: bookends_literary
Website: www.bookendsliterary.com
Connect with Jessica: bookendsjessica
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This is gold. You can actually make a book from all these nuggets of advice in the videos.
Thanks. I've often thought of a book, especially after years of blogging, but I definitely am not an author. lol
I couldn’t agree more!! What about an online course?
Thanks Jessica ! This gives a lot of clarity to what happens when you’re not hearing back !
I really like the way you approach this vlog. I'm writing a novel now and need to "move forward and move on." A top agent liked my first query letter and cheered me on, said the subject matter was "gold." So I've been writing up a storm. Sometimes you just need someone to encourage you.
Thanks for making useful videos. I've seen others that gave generic advice. Your videos are informative and specific. Thanks!
So happy to help!
Thank you Jessica, for the “real deal!” 😅 Your team is so great about answering questions from writers. We all appreciate it.
I got a request for full manuscript within hours of my submission. It ultimately was rejected, but that was a huge boost to my motivation that I'm at least on the right track with my writing and a little more editing might help.
Jessica I actually stood up and applauded after watching this. Great job you covered every aspect of those questions and they were critical questions to anyone new to the industry or going through the submission process.
Much appreciated, coach. I've been watching and learning from your videos all day. Anna
We love that you've been learning! Thank you for watching :)
Yes!
These are great to listen to while preparing dinner.
Wow! You're really rocking these videos! I admire your dedication to your job and to authors. I wish you represented my genre!
Thank you! All of the agents at BookEnds are equally awesome (if not more so) & I bet one of them represents your genre. Good luck!
Check out our entire team and their submissions wants, needs & desires here: bookendsliterary.com/submissions/
Jessica, super helpful as always. Thanks for pulling back the curtain on this topic that’s definitely been running through my own head in recent weeks.
I try not to to worry about checking in. Many agents say that if you haven heard from them within a specified period of time, they're not interested. Honoring that keeps things simple for me and for them. Thankfully, there seems to be no shortage of agents to query. I'd rather try someone new than put an agent I've queried on the spot. And I've always known that my process would be arduous. If your book is unusual -- if it's not easily "slotted" -- then it will take a while to find people who have the energy and interest to be strong advocates. You need to find not one exceptional person who is on your wavelength, but at least two -- agent and editor. (Good info, as usual -- thanks!)
Watching your videos and finding them both enjoyable and very helpful. I like the sense you're enjoying talking to us. Thanks
Very informative and helpful.
I’m unsure about agents, but as an editor when a check in happens, if they get a rejection right after it’s because we’d already marked them rejected but hadn’t sent out (yet or normally don’t depending on the press) a rejection message. It makes us aware you need/want to know & so we let you know what we already knew: that you were rejected.
We would never auto reject someone for checking in, unless they checked in to a point of extreme (like daily or weekly without waiting our min 6 weeks posted clearly on the site) at which point we know they’d be a hard author to work with.
Merci beaucoup!! I love the specificity of your information.
Thank you! glad we can help
These videos are so helpful! Thanks!
This is a great video that answers lots of questions. Thanks :)
Sensible advice, thanks!
1:44 She likely knows that because there is an email add-on called Mailtrack that will inform you of when the email has been read and how many times it has been read.
Yes, I'm using it too, but 120 seems like a crazy number of opens!
Infromative. Thank you.
So helpful! Thanks!
I love these videos - and I also love the mug on the bookcase. :-)
Thanks for watching!
Loved the real deal!
As Screenwriter still pluging away...only CHANGED my paradigm...l've given up on writing meaningful Art house films...just Commercial Pap. That way you can get your 10% and everybody's happy!...Also l love your voice; l think it's Sexy; l could listen to it ALL day...
It really all depends. You can check out agents on Query Tracker and see how fast they respond to full requests. Some will make an offer 2-3 months after receiving the manuscript.
I once had an agent message me with a rejection after two weeks. The funny thing was, he did so because (he claimed) he was really excited about the project and my voice, but the project wasn’t in his wheelhouse (which he’d openly acknowledged when I’d pitched to him in person, yet asked for material anyway); he was just letting me off the hook.
Awesome info. Thanks!
Thank you!
I appreciate your videos.
Thanks so much, Jessica, for this content. It's super helpful!
It also brought up a question: What are your thoughts on mentioning in a query how a novel touches on some current topic, especially if it's somewhat political, such as the MeToo movement? Since everybody "hates" preachy novels, I've always figured it would be the kiss of death to mention a connection between the themes of my novel and something like MeToo.
I think a brief mention of this is fine, but don't make it the focus of your query! Many people get lost in themes/relevance at the expense of a solid blurb.
How bad does it suck when you come to the end of your 300-plus-page novel of rewritten edits, and you can't find the last 3-chapters? To prevent writer's block, I do what famous authors in the past have suggested: "write each chapter as it comes to you." Here I am thinking that yesterday, I actually finished my rewrites, and I cannot find the three ending chapters that exquisitely fit into the ending. And although I remember the details distinctly, it's about 20-some-odd-pages missing from the 3-chapters. Bummer! Sigh... I called it quit's yesterday - I'll return to in some days! This is my 5th turnaround rewrites and edits, and it's where I can leave it alone and confidently send it out! Sigh...! I'm so ready to write this World War II book and be done with this novel - and now this! The book was 420 pages long that I finished last year. I've been intermittently rewriting and editing for about a year-and-a-half! I cut out all of the fluff stuff! At which I think, well it definitely seems now, that I deleted those 3-chapters along with the fluffy stuff!
There are many email trackers out there, where, upon opening the email it sends a notification to the person letting them know it's been opened/read/clicked on. 120 times is a lot though! wow! I'm curious what they were doing that many times with her submission. Also curious if it was the same person opening it each time, or if it was passed around.
I have a half & half genre book, murder mystery and fantasy. While there are things like Dresden Files out there, my setting is a low hard magic sort-of-medieval thing. I am also planning other books in the setting (and sequels to the mystery). If I were to submit would I put it into mystery or fantasy? I guess the broader question is how can a writer tell which genre to submit in if they are putting forth a cross-genre book?
I think for something like that you'd want to say that it's a cross between the two.
This information has been invaluable. After an agent has responded with a rejection, how soon should you consider submitting to a different agent from the same literary agency?
Whenever you're ready!
@@BookEndsLiterary, Would it be considered wrong though if let's say, someone from your agency said no, but the writer saw another agent that might be a better fit? Really love your TH-cams. I've gained so much insight fro all of the morsels of info!!
You can see more about our policy on resubmitting to BookEnds here: bookendsliterary.com/2018/04/10/bookends-policy-on-repeat-queries/
Not at all. Go right ahead! Good luck,@@syroneharvey6395
Is it easier to get representation with books that are following current trends or with unique ideas?
How do you manage all the reading required for your job? I always imagine everyone involved with publishing has eye strain all the time. Seriously, how many hours are you just reading? Do you have some sort of reading schedule? Thanks
Haha! Everyone works a bit differently. Some have schedules, some steal moments to read whenever they can, etc. etc.
Buford's awesome
He really is. Thanks!
Does the book need to be in the perfect finished form before looking for an agent?
Yes. You really want the book the absolute best you can make it before sending it to agents.
If a new author submits a book and you or one of your agent likes the story but thinks it needs work are they willing to work with the author to make those improvements or do you think they might reject it out right.
This depends on the agent, the amount of revisions, and even their list size. But we've all definitely done it!
this is a sober and informative video, unlike the usual silly pair who work this channel.
Same opinion, but was afraid to offend. I like James, but do you two record those after a three-martini lunch? Much too loud and boisterous to enjoy. You are GREAT on your own, please keep the solos up. Thanks.
the dog said, "my boy wrote two chimps and a chump and sticks & stones, and I wrote thank you for being my boy. visit - tenderbastard.com - to see them."