This is part 8/11 in our series about How to Land a Literary Agent:
- Your Fishing Guide: What I Know About These Waters
- The Prey: What Exactly Is An Agent?
- The Why: Who Actually Needs an Agent?
- Dawn or Dusk: When to Start Fishing
- The Fish Finder: Locating Agents
- The Bait: Writing a Pitch
- Casting Your Line: Query Letters
- The Nibble: When an Agent Expresses Interest
- The Bite: Getting an Offer
- The Play: Interviewing Agents
- The Keeper: Final Decisions and Next Steps
Agents are a canny bunch, and usually you don’t know if they’ve so much as sniffed at your bait. You pull up your line, only to find that the minnow is gone—or dead. But once in a blue moon, you’re going to get a nibble. It usually comes in the form of an email response (or a message on QueryTracker, or some other portal). The message will probably be very short — along the lines of, “I enjoyed the sample. Please send manuscript.”
Does that sound terse? Don’t take it that way! To the contrary, it’s high praise. The last thing an agent wants to do is waste their time reading something that’s going nowhere, so an invitation to send the manuscript is awesome.
The temptation at this point is to blubber with gratitude and commence groveling. After all, writing is a famously thankless task, filled with rejection. When someone simply refrains from rejecting you, you’re overjoyed. You look at those three little words (“Please send manuscript”) and you want to embrace them, or send a bribe along with your pages. Because, in the end, you’re absolutely desperate, and you’d do close to anything to have an agent.
But hang on. This is a business dealing—the beginning of a possible negotiation. In negotiations you don’t want people to know how desperate you truly are. Be cool. I’m not saying you shouldn’t show interest. After all, your future may hang in the balance. All I mean is that your tone should be pleasant and engaging. All groveling should be set aside.
So, you send the agent the manuscript. Then what? Well, you wait. And wait. And wait. And wait. It can take an agent a month to read a manuscript, and I’d give them at least that long before nudging them for news.
In the meantime, there’s always the chance that another agent will also want a peek at the manuscript. That’s absolutely fine! And unless they have a stated policy against simultaneous submissions, you don’t need to mention that the manuscript is under consideration with anyone else. In short, while remaining frank and honest, don’t say anything that will blunt the edge of their interest.
Once you've responded to the nibble, there's nothing to do but sit on your hands. Why? Because sitting on your hands keeps you from biting your nails. Because waiting is hard.
And after a few days or a couple weeks or a month, maybe—just maybe—one of these agents will respond. It might be a swift rejection. But perhaps it will go in the other direction: they liked what they’ve read, and they think it has promise. Maybe they want to talk to you. And in the best of all possible worlds, they offer to represent you.
Wow. Amazing. Relish the moment. Raise a glass, if that's your thing. Kick up your heels. Call your mom.
And then take a deep breath. Calm yourself. There's still more to do.
What could possibly be left? Well, let me tell you.
Next Up: The Bite: Getting an Offer