Another dive into the archives for this bit of advice, from January 2008 — before we’d even opened kt literary, at least officially. Some will complain about the glacial (or worse than glacial) pace of publishing, but at least there’s an upside — most advice stays valid, even a few years down the road! So [...]
It’s President’s Day, so I’m not really here, but robo-Daphne is always up for another round of Ask Daphne! Today, Jen needs to know, “What if a writer has a manuscript already under consideration with a publisher and then by sheer luck, finds an agent interested in representing that writer while the book is still being considered. Would the editor be offended? Would the agent be more willing to sign on with the writer since half the work is already done?”
Daphne shared with me a question from Gabby, who emails, “I’m writing a book… I was wondering if you have any advice on literary agents or any you recommend.” Normally, a question like this sends me running for the hills — there’s just SO much I can say — but in the spirit of the holidays, I’ll answer it.
Famous big shoes for Paula, who writes, “I recently submitted my first book to several agents. This is my first time, and I really wasn’t sure what I was doing. I got names off the internet. Anyway, two of the agents requested a partial. One of them requested the full the next day, and the day after that called me with an offer for representation. She was nice, and guided me through the q&a. I haven’t heard back from the other one yet, and there are still queries out there. Bottom line: I’m hoping to be with a bigger agency, even though she and her agency have plenty of sales in my genre. How long can I keep her waiting for an answer? She didn’t give me a timeframe. I’m thinking of using this offer to try and get the other agencies to offer. Is that appropriate?”
Some super expensive shoes for Susan, who writes, “I recently received an e-mail from an agent who said she would like to represent my book. But she also pitched her writing workshops to me. When I said that I wasn’t sure I could commit to her workshop, but had already hired an editor who is well-known in the subject of my book, this agent replied that she can also help me with edits on a one-on-one basis–for a fee. Do you think this is a conflict of interest: representing my book and being my editor for a fee?”
