Exclusives- how long do I wait before assuming rejection?

[JuiceinLA]

Hi Nathan, I know you touched on this in a FAQ area in 2007, but I think my situation is a bit different, as in I am not sure (a) that I have been patient enough and (b) not sure that I technically gave the agent the exclusive he requested. In early May (the 2nd to be precise) I received the response every author dreams of, a request to see the first 50 pages of my manuscript from an agent whom I really thought would "get" me and my perspective. Here is the story, My actual questions are identified below in Bold.

In his correspondence, he requested exclusive review. I sent my 50 pages to his offices on May 5th. In my cover letter, I did not specifically agree to or reject his exclusivity request. I don't want to risk alienating the agent by simply assuming no exclusivity was granted, but on the other hand, its been almost 60 days with no response.

Around May 25th I sent a follow up email (to the special email address provided in his instructions for submitting the partial manuscript) trying to confirm whether he had received my package and to passive aggressively remind him of my existence, perhaps guilting him to reply: "Oh hey, yea reading your stuff, great great fascinating, give me a week or so." . In response, I received an auto-generated generic email response from the main mailbox indicating my email would be read within 24 hours.

Sigh. How did I let myself get schooled in my own passive aggressive game?

As of now I have waited about 60 days, without a word from him. Is it premature to assume he has passed on my work? I am thinking of sending another follow up email asking that he let me know if he is still considering my work, or indicating that I would like to start sending more query letters out.

What do you think? Will I alienate him by asking to move on?

thanks for your help and insight!

[HillaryJ]

If you're actually asking Nathan, you'll need to move this post into the "ask nathan" section.

[Down the well]

If you don't mind me jumping in, I can tell you from my own experience that three months is a typical wait on a partial of fifty pages. It's hard to accept, but querying authors just aren't the priority for agents.

Although, one time I sent a full in (a requested revision) and waited three months. No answer so I nudged with a "what's up" e-mail. I was informed they never received it and could I please send it again. Three months after that I got the rejection, so hang in there. It's a glacial process.

Best of luck.

[Mira]

Well, I think the important thing is, you never agreed to an exclusive.

I'm not sure why agents ask for exclusives when reading partials, but word on the street (even some agents say this) is that's not necessarily a reasonable request. Either way, you didn't agree to it. So, I wouldn't feel bad about continuing to send out queries.

If he responds and wants more, you can decide at that point if you're granting an exclusive or not. Either way, I think it's a good idea to tell him which way you're going. It is possible to tactfully decline an exclusive. If it comes to that, you could get suggestions here.

Or - if he's your dream agent - you could grant him one on the full. Or - something that I don't see many people doing - you could grant him an exclusive with a (tactful) time deadline - three months or something like that.

These are just my opinions, though, so please take them with a grain of salt and see what feels best for you.

Good luck!

[JuiceinLA]

Ok, thanks all for your input! Each of you are very helpful, and I genuinely appreciate that you took the time to respond. I will be patient and give him another month...its not like I can't use the time to edit, or research more agents.

cheers!

[bcomet]

Hi. I wrote Nathan a question about this. His answer might be helpful to you too. Here it is:

viewtopic.php?f=7&t=4&p=13022&hilit=exc ... han#p13022

by Nathan Bransford » 11 May 2010, 23:15

bcomet wrote:Hi Nathan.
I just got my first request for a 50 page partial, synopsis, and bio.
(yippeee yippeeee)
On the agency's website, it states that if they request a partial or full, that they expect exclusivity and to notify them of any other agent/agency under consideration.
I sent out a handful of queries. Should I notify them of these other queries? It has just been a few days and they were the first to respond.
Or should I wait until/unless I get another request?

(Sorry if this has been asked and answered already. I did a few searches and couldn't find an answer.)

Your site and help continues to be invaluable! Thank you for all your help!

If they ask for that info I think you'll want to give it to them (and I'd only let them know about agents considering the actual manuscript, not just a query). Also, personally I would think long and hard about granting an open-ended exclusive look and would try to attach a time-limit (1-2 months is totally reasonable).

[Nathan Bransford]

If you've already granted an open-ended exclusive to an agent without a time frame attached, I would give them two months, and then say something along the lines of, "While of course I hope you'll take all the time you need and am sure you're extremely busy (etc. etc. etc.), if I don't hear back in a month I hope you'll understand if I continue to query other interested agents, though again please take all the time you need to consider etc. etc."

You may honestly risk annoying the agent, but I don't think it's reasonably to expect an author to put their life on hold for consideration of a partial that stretches on for three months. That's more than enough time for them to make a decision, and at that point you should be able to move on to pursue other opportunities (while still keeping the door open if they want to consider it after that time is up).

[JuiceinLA]

Thanks Nathan, and everyone else! I just heard from him, and the request now is for an ms word version of my manuscript. I am a bit leary about sending out an editable document, but have posted a question on that issue in the "Ask Nathan" post.

again, its so nice to have feedback from you all, I thank you so much!

[Krista G.]

Thanks Nathan, and everyone else! I just heard from him, and the request now is for an ms word version of my manuscript. I am a bit leary about sending out an editable document, but have posted a question on that issue in the "Ask Nathan" post.

again, its so nice to have feedback from you all, I thank you so much!

So did the agent just upgrade from partial request to full request? If so, that's great! And as long as you're certain he's reputable, I don't see any problem sending him a Word document of the manuscript. A lot of agents request the same. In fact, except for one or two hard copy submissions, I've never sent a requested manuscript any other way.