I belong to three writers’ forums and five more writerly groups on
Facebook. Many have multi-published veterans who participate. Almost all have
many more newbies, and the questions they ask are surprisingly similar.
Why “surprisingly”? Because a simple
search or quiet observation for a short amount of time would have given the answers
to most.
Here are some questions I see over
and over (and over and over)😦. There are different opinions as to the “right”
answers, but I’ll give mine here because they reflect a general consensus, some
experience, and this is my blog, after all 😜
*Should
you nudge an agent who has had your unsolicited submission for a while?
Basically, no. You’ll be
adding to their bursting Inbox. Let them know you have an offer from another
when you do. That’s all the nudging that makes sense.
*Should
you send the latest revision to all the agents who have yet to reply to your unsolicited
submission, since you made changes you are excited about?
Basically, no. Unless the changes
are vast and make a story unrecognizable, you will be making changes many times
after feedback and spontaneous brainstorms. No agent is thrilled to know you
sent him or her something that you hadn’t already vetted and polished before
approaching them.
*Should
you mention to an agent that you got another’s full request?
Basically, no. A full
request shows interest, but most do not lead to offers. Only offers are possibly
relevant to an agent.
*Should
you mention how much another much-lauded writer praised the manuscript at a critique
session? How much your critique group loved it?
Certainly not. And don’t
mention your kids’ approval or your mother’s, if you’re lucky enough to have
such a family.
The thing is, unsolicited queries require only one thing—
that you wait
patiently, keep querying others, and don’t reveal your inner fretting as you
move forward to, hopefully, an offer you are happy to accept.
And after that, it’s your agent who
gets to wait on editors’ responses.
