What are the Odds of Getting an Agent?

>Great post! I think a problem that many of us have is that we love our books so much that we struggle letting go. I queried for the first time in 2010. After a few partial requests, I had to tell myself that the book wasn't working. I struggled with this, because I loved the characters, so I tried fixing the book. Unfortunately it took several months for me to let go of the book.

>I currently have four agents looking at my book. I had an editor and an agent reject the novel last year. I took their advice on what wasn't working and worked on it.

I'm hoping that work paid off, but if not, I'll learn what I need to fix next.

Like you said, it's a learning game, no matter what stage we're at.

Thanks!

>Rachelle, I have a question on this topic. What if you receive feedback from a publisher or agent on aspects of your novel that could/should be improved? After making those changes, should you re-submit a query to agents you've already tried with–or has your chance passed, and go ahead and move on to new publishers or agents?

>I'm just starting to query a new book after realizing my last one wasn't good enough to get me an agent. So far no requests, but it's very early days, and I'm being a lot more careful and systematic about how I query this time around.

>My first round of queries garnered me many rejections which were hard, but accepted. I also received 4 requests, 2 fulls & 2 partials. When they were all turned down with little or no feedback, I pulled back, stopped querying & took the next 3 months to make some revisions, especially in the area of backstory. I read countless blogs & addressed those areas the experts advised, like the first page conflict, tension & action. I'm finally ready to query again & hope to learn even more this time around. But in the meantime, I'm moving onto my next project which I'm hoping will be easier since I've learned so much in the last year.

>I have received requests for partial and full manuscripts. I do not have an agent. I have proceeded by starting a new novel. I am almost finished with its first draft. I have also been sending out my short stories, four of which have been placed in the last six months.

>I have two MS out with fulls and partials in the hands of different agents.

Now, after 8 months to a year, three different agents won't respond to my request for status on the manuscripts. This makes for a very frustrated writer.

>I subbed in batches, several each month. I got many requests for partials and fulls. It still took me a year to find an agent (I had a lot of feedback and revision requests and I worked on the manuscript during that year).

Here is what I've learned so far from my ten-year journey in which I've studied how to write and sell books.

You have never arrived. The day the editor calls doesn't mean you're locked in and will be published. The day you win the contest doesn't mean the editors will now be beating down your door. The day the powerhouse agent asks for a full doesn't mean you're going to sign with him the following week.

And I'm guessing the day you hold your published book in hands isn't the first day of a "happily ever after" life.

The joy is in the journey.

I love stats. But thinking too much about the odds smothers the satisfaction that should come with creating stories.

>Love this post! It confirmed I've made some of the right decisions in the last six months.

I queried last fall and got a couple of partials and two full requests. Two of those came back with a "just didn't connect with the writing" and a "you're close but get more eyes on it to tighten things".

And that's what I've been doing. It's amazing how much a good critique partner can improve your work! I loved my book before, but now…it's gone places I didn't imagine in the beginning. And it's better than ever.

Plan to test the waters again this summer. *fingers crossed* I'm also starting a new project *cue excitement*

>Thanks for this post. It's very relevant to my situation right now. I've had four requests for my MS so far, two of which have turned into rejections. One of those came yesterday and had some very helpful feedback. Unfortunately, now that I'm aware of the problem, I'm expecting that the other two agents still looking at the MS will have the same issue with it. If they both come back with rejections I'm going to have to make a tough choice about how to proceed. I could edit the MS and send it out to agents I'm less excited about, or I could keep working on my latest project and send it to the same pool of agents when it's ready. I don't want to limit myself by being super picky since I know there are a lot of fantastic agents out there, but on the other hand, if I've made connections with some of my dream agents through this round of querying and they've invited me to query again with my next project, then I don't want to give up the chance of working with one of them. Do you have any advice? Am I being boneheaded in my reluctance to consider a wider pool of agents or should I hold out for the agents I really like?

>Thanks for this post! I started reading your blog because I wanted to learn how to get published… but my biggest takeaway is that I need to put more effort into writing before I even think about publishing.

>I'm in this boat. I sent out queries and received partial and full requests from close to 30% of the agents I queried. I heard back from the last of them a few weeks ago. One agent suggested areas to revise and offered to look at it again when I've edited. However, I decided that book needs to go in a virtual drawer for now, while I work on the other books I've started in the interim. The feedback for my writing was excellent–it was the story in this one which was the problem. What I've noticed is that my writing has improved dramatically since that first book (the one I queried was my first ever fiction writing), as has my ability to develop characters, plot, and arcs of both. I believe I'll have better luck with a different one.

What I learned from all this is to just keep writing, no matter what. It might not be the first book that hooks an agent, and sitting around waiting for responses just wastes time.

>Ditto what Stephanie McGee said! It seems such a difficult thing nowadays to even get that look-in. The push is on-going, and so I feel like, "Why would I submit when I'm not sure how good this MS really is?" I mean, I LOVE it. The feedback's tremendous, it's more and more polished all the time. Am I stepping off the deep end of faith, or stepping on a landmine of serious cases of reality biting?

Time to put the faith where the mouth is (or the pen) and just send the dang thing off!! God knows procrastination's a killer.

I am determined!!

>Thanks for saying this, Rachelle. It needs saying as many times as possible. There are no "odds," because this isn't a lottery.

Vanity publishers like to tout the "odds" angle, as if there were nothing a writer could actually do to improve her chances.

Where I am in the process? I have several books out from a major publisher, and have just gotten an agent.

And oh, yes– it's a lot easier to get requests when you're published. But the final decision still comes down to the manuscript.

>I've put aside the 3rd book in my series, just for now, and I'm working on a book that I wrote several years back. It's nearly ready and I'm hoping to start the query process sometime right after the 4th of July holiday.

>I received 2 requests from agents for fulls (well, one was a partial, then a full).

I don't have an agent yet, but my life went kinda crazy shortly thereafter so I haven't really followed up well or tried to "get" an agent since then, as I didn't feel I could devote the time needed this past year.

However, my baby is HOME now, and I am home too to care for her (I used to work full-time at a corporate management job, now I do contract/project work from home) so I'm praying really hard I can get into a good writing/work routine and restart the agent search soon.

How to proceed? I'm not sure yet. I need to take a little time to take "stock" of where I'm at and pray about my next steps.

But that "urge" to write has come back, so I'm really excited to put words to, uh, screen? again soon!

>Very true. Thanks for pointing out that there's probably a problem with the ms if they aren't getting beyond the request for full or partial.

>I found most agents would not give me the time of day. I apparently can't write a query,but I can write books.
I followed the advice of friends and self-published (I have my own professional editor and a graphic artist.) Now agents want me but I no longer need them. So what do I do, I tell them politely "no thank you" and reap the benefits of my own work alone.
Amanda Hocking did it for years and I may need one down the road, but for now I am happy with the way my writing career is going.

>I'm preparing to query very soon and am pretty nervous, like most, but I must admit I'm incredibly excited! Regardless of the outcome, I'm loving the process of it all (though rejection can be so disheartening). I'm open to suggestion and can't wait to see what type of feedback I'll receive.

>I don't know if you remember my query "Rockin' Revelations" and our follow-up, but it eventually failed because I couldn't pull off the copyright permissions.

I read in Sunday's paper that the TV show Glee pays between $15,000 and $30,000 per song on their show, more if it is a "popular" song. Somehow that made me feel better.

I still want to write a devotional book, but for now I am working on becoming a contributor here and there and build my platform.

>I revamped my query after two rejections. The next agent I sent it to requested a full within hours of receiving my new and improved query. Three months later she told me she loved the story and my writing, but my main character lacked depth. She also said she'd like to see my future work.

So, I got busy on the rewrite. When I was done, I emailed her to make sure she was still interested. She was and told me she'd read it ASAP. I thought it was in the bag. But, it is almost two months later and I haven't gotten a response except to say that she did receive it and apologized for not getting to it yet but that she would.

I haven't sent any other queries out to agents because I really want her and feel lucky that she's given such great and helpful advice. But waiting stinks.

>I was frustrated by queries not getting any response. Was it the query? The story? The font I used?? And then I entered some contests (Genesis, The Frasier). Now I have feedback on my novel from some incredibily qualified readers. My MS has benefited greatly from some kind, thoughtful judges. They not only pointed out some flaws, but were also very encouraging about my concept. I've never enjoyed criticism so much! If you want to save your book enter contests and get a critique group. Then query.

>This is so what i needed to see right now! I was querying for several months (queried about 40 agents total) and only got 2 partial requests. I have had my query letter torn apart and put back together in one of the harshest places ever (a thread on a writer's forum called Query Letter Hell and let me tell you, I went to hell and back and back and back until I was told the query was ready to go). I've also had this novel BETA read by 8 different people (some of whom are agented) and was told I have a very well written, unique story (X-Men meets Girl Interrupted w/a slice of Taken), but still no bite. The one comment I got from a couple of BETA readers is that the story might be better received by agents if I can get to the inciting event a little faster. So, I cut out 3 chapters from my beginning and rearranged things a bit, but after another round of R's I'm not sure what to do. So, I'm working on other projects while I mull things over and try to figure out what to do because giving up is simply NOT an option.

>Recently queried to a mass of agents and have had a few bites. The hardest part is waiting for sure…that and dealing with the frustration that comes with rejection. Understanding what a tough business it is, helps but ultimately, it's what I love to do. While I wait (non-fiction proposal), I am constantly fine-tuning my chapters. Unfortunately, this has me thinking that the partial I already sent off to one agent will definitely land me in the "reject" pile for sure. Hopefully not but only time will tell.

Great post and thank you for posting it!

>For my first novel I have 3 FM out with agents right now. I didn't query many though, so I'll send it out to more soon. Since that manuscript is the first of a planned series, I've been tinkering with outlines of the next ones, and have an idea for a standalone that is simmering, which I've started. At some point alone the way I remember you blogging that we should just outline the sequels until we know the first in the series sells, rather than invest a lot of time in them before we know if the idea floats. That was super helpful. So although I'm eager to hear what these agents thought, I'm pretty excited about my other projects, too.

I'd love to hear your thoughts as to how long we should wait before following up on FMs that are out. I know agents are super busy so I don't like to bug them. Thanks for all your helpful pointers!

>Still working on my rough draft, haven't written query yet, figure I need a solid draft and edit first. Although one agent suggested writing query for the memoir first so that an agent can help frame the way the story should go.

I have a question. If you are asked to submit sample chapters, do they have to be the first two or three or can you submit chapter one, thirteen, and twenty or three representative chapters? In my story there are different segments, one detailing abuse, the next one detailing many new age and occult paths. The story line changes from victim toward victor. So how do you do sample chapters?

Thanks,
Heather

>I hired an editor to go through the first draft of the ms with me and now I'm almost through rewrites. God willing, I'll start to query at the end of summer.

>I've submitted to 8 agents and received a rejection for one. I assume the others aren't interested either. Unfortunately, my work schedule has prevented me from proceeding with querying more agents and submitting work anywhere. I'm struggling to find a balance and time to do those things, since writing is my career.

I haven’t even tried sending out a query for this very reason. I am not confident in my manuscript yet. I really feel as if it needs edited to be the best it can be, and my pride will not let me send it in otherwise. I’m glad this post somewhat agrees with this.

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Most comments here are not answering the basic question, so I’ll try to. Here are some numbers.

On my first novel (comedic fiction), I sent 69 queries, got 3 full reads and offers of rep. I also got 20 to 25 form-rejections, the rest silent passes.

I am just beginning to pitch a much stronger second novel (YA paranormal). Have sent 70 queries so far. After a week I have 4 rejections. But a week is too soon to tell anything, obviously. Two of the rejections were interesting. One agent said she enjoyed reading my words and called me “a terrific writer,” but passed because of insufficient editorial/publishing connections for this specific flavor of book. Another told me the concept itself was “strong” but she just didn’t fall in love with the style. One agent loved my writing and the other didn’t. It shows how varied agents’ tastes are, I think.