When an agent expresses interest & is then silent

[MrsMojoRider]

Hi Nathan,

Recently I had an agent (via assistant) ask me to revise and re-submit. I did. A few weeks later Ms. Agent herself emailed to say she was liking it and asked if I had it out with other agents. I said yes, but of course expressed my appreciation of her interest. She said she would keep reading, but asked that I talk to her before signing with anyone else. Three weeks have now gone by and I am wondering, what process do agents go through when considering representation? I know 3 weeks is not super long, and agents are busy taking care of their clients, as they should be, but what should I be thinking here? I fear she will hold off until someone else makes a move, but I hope such an email would not be sent lightly in the first place. What is a reasonable time frame for her "to finish" and what else might she be doing other than just reading it before she gets back to me?

Thanks

[Nathan Bransford]

Hi Nathan,

Recently I had an agent (via assistant) ask me to revise and re-submit. I did. A few weeks later Ms. Agent herself emailed to say she was liking it and asked if I had it out with other agents. I said yes, but of course expressed my appreciation of her interest. She said she would keep reading, but asked that I talk to her before signing with anyone else. Three weeks have now gone by and I am wondering, what process do agents go through when considering representation? I know 3 weeks is not super long, and agents are busy taking care of their clients, as they should be, but what should I be thinking here? I fear she will hold off until someone else makes a move, but I hope such an email would not be sent lightly in the first place. What is a reasonable time frame for her "to finish" and what else might she be doing other than just reading it before she gets back to me?

Thanks

I'm afraid there's no real rule of thumb and it varies a great deal from agent to agent. Just be sure to keep following up once a month and keep submitting in the meantime if you haven't granted an exclusive.

[MrsMojoRider]

Well thanks for the prompt reply. I am still querying and still getting requests. The ms is out with a good number of agents.